eTheraphy Winning Terrain in Mental Healthcare
eTheraphy Winning Terrain in Mental Healthcare
The cost of mental health care is generally prohibitive, especially for the people that most need it. Health insurance rarely covers enough for regular treatments — especially if you suffer from mental health issues but not a diagnosable disorder.
This is a problem. A very large portion of the population can benefit from some type of mental health care treatment, and yet few people get the help they need.
Discovering a Low Cost Solution
While most modern research explores the idea of more effective therapeutic solutions, one of the greatest challenges effecting mental healthcare is the cost. More research money needs to be dedicated to lower cost solutions — solutions that the modern day family can afford, or that insurance agencies may be more willing to cover.
One type of therapy that researchers are only now beginning to explore is online therapy, also known as eTherapy. This style of therapy has the potential to drastically change mental health care, but — as is the case with all new methods of treatment — may not yet be a realistic strategy.
What is eTherapy?
eTherapy is a blanket term for any type of online treatment option. It may include:
- Video/Software therapy and skills training sessions.
- Online forums for support and guidance.
- Web conference therapy sessions with trained therapists.
- Email and chat access to therapists and assistants.
Because eTherapy is a broad term for any type of online therapeutic treatment, any method of delivering that treatment would qualify under the eTherapy header, but the above list represents the most common ideas behind eTherapy treatment.
The advantages of this type of therapy should be obvious. Depending on the type of therapy, it would easily be more affordable — monthly/weekly payment options, software downloads, easy marketing and forums could easily help deliver a far lower cost of therapy than the modern day psychotherapist office. Similarly, online therapy would be available instantly, so anyone that needs help would be able to get access. There may even be advantages to the anonymity of therapy, although that idea is questionable.
Weaknesses of This Therapeutic Technique
The advantages of this technique are fairly obvious. Does that mean that we can expect to see eTherapy in the not-too-distant future?
Not necessarily. Unfortunately there are also several problems with this type of technique. These include:
- Accountability
Accountability would be a serious problem with this type of therapy. Even with extensive research, there's no way to know with certainty that the therapy is effective, or that the developers of future eTherapy techniques are going to put as much research into their programs as the initial researchers.
- Anonymity
The anonymity of the Internet can also be dangerous. Should something go wrong, there isn't necessarily a way to contact the proper help. And if some information gets shared that a psychologist ethically might need to address, that may not be possible.
- Security
The old saying is that anything that's ever placed online stays online forever, and unfortunately that means there may be security problems with using this service. It's always possible for a hacker to break in and steal or release information about patients, which could be dangerous and unethical.
- No Rapport
Rapport is also an important part of therapy, and it's much harder to create rapport with no human interaction. In addition, the human element often plays a role in treatment, using social pressure to keep someone accountable.
- Bugs
Finally, any type of online program may have bugs, and these bugs could impact delivery of the service or the availability of help when the client needs it.
The Future of Low Cost Therapy
For the reasons stated above, effective, clinically proven eTherapy may not be ready for years, if it's ready at all. But the idea behind eTherapy is sound: Find a low cost method of addressing mental healthcare that is easily accessible to anyone that needs it.
eTherapy may not be the therapy of the future, but it represents a direction that more research needs to be headed during today's tough economic times.
About the Author: Ryan Rivera is an author and ex-anxiety sufferer that provides free information on anxiety cures and causes at Calmclinic.com.
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