Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, video conferencing has become more popular than ever. In 2020, many students had to use platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams for e-learning, many conferences and events were held online, and hundreds of thousands of employees traded in their cubicles for their kitchen tables and home offices to work remotely.
As many states enacted stay-at-home mandates and other in-person meeting restrictions during the pandemic, video conferencing also started to take off in the health industry. Instead of meeting with health professionals in person, many people embraced telehealth to meet “face-to-face” with their doctors and therapists over video conferencing platforms.
While this might not seem like the most ideal way for people to receive the treatment they need, telehealth has been beneficial for countless people across the nation.
According to studies published in Telemedicine and e-Health and Psychological Services, telepsychology can be equally as effective as in-person care when it comes to treating depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and PTSD, especially with adolescents.
If you’ve been hesitant about using teletherapy for your teen because it seems like it would be a less effective modality for treatment, it’s important to know that existing and emerging research shows the opposite. Thousands of teens have successfully started and been discharged from therapy while being online the whole time, and many find meeting online to be less daunting and more productive than meeting in person.
Here are a few reasons why telehealth can be beneficial for teenagers:
Convenience
There is a reason why therapy apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace have become increasingly popular during 2020 and have continued to experience a boom in users even after many therapists have returned to seeing patients in person.
With telehealth, professional help is only a click away. Meeting online instead of attending in-person sessions allows teenagers to receive help in an instant, which is great for parents and teenagers who have busy schedules.
When your teen’s therapy sessions are online, they no longer need to be transported to and from sessions, which can free up time for more sessions or activities throughout the week or allow them to participate in therapy when it would not have been convenient to do so otherwise.
When your schedule is packed, an extra 30 minutes of driving to and from a therapy session might make it difficult or downright impossible to help your teen attend therapy regularly. Telehealth alleviates this issue by providing extra flexibility.
Reduced anxiety
Attending therapy can be nerve-wracking, especially for teenagers who have never gone to a therapy session before.
Telehealth helps reduce some of the anxiety around attending therapy by allowing them to attend sessions in a space that is more comfortable for them. When they are in their room surrounded by familiar and comfortable objects, they will feel more relaxed and safe heading into therapy sessions. This may allow them to open up more when speaking with a therapist.
Furthermore, teens who have severe social anxiety might feel more comfortable and less anxious talking with their therapist through a screen first before eventually working toward meeting with the therapist in person.
Accessibility
If you live in a rural area, you or your teen have disabilities that make it challenging to travel, or you don’t have reliable transportation, telehealth provides unparalleled access to therapy that may not have been available for your teen before.
Telehealth makes it so that anyone with internet access can receive the treatment they need, even if they are unable to physically travel to a therapist’s office.
Ease of therapeutic intervention
It’s one thing for therapists to encourage their patients to do things like create self-soothe boxes or hang notes with positive affirmations around their rooms; it’s another to utilize the teen’s actual space for therapeutic intervention.
With telehealth, therapists can get a glimpse into your teen’s environment and see how they can use that space to engage in therapeutic practices.
Increased rapport
Sitting face to face in an office can feel formal, or even frightening, to many teens. This can make it more difficult for them to feel like they can open up and share information about their lives during a therapy session.
Telehealth can help reduce this formality and allow the therapist the opportunity to build a strong rapport with their clients.
For instance, if your teen has a cat that walks by the screen, it will give the therapist an opportunity to connect with your teen about loving pets or how interacting with pets can be a calming activity.
While telehealth might seem like a strange way for your teen to get the treatment they need, it can be incredibly beneficial and just as helpful and effective as receiving in-person treatment.