What is meant by online therapy?
Strictly speaking, online therapy means psychotherapy carried out by psychological psychotherapists via video conference – it is then also called online psychotherapy.
Especially since the Corona pandemic, many psychotherapists have been offering video sessions, enabling those affected to receive psychotherapy from home.
Colloquially, however, all digital therapy offerings are often summarized under the term online therapy. This means that many people, for example, also understand online therapy courses as a form of online therapy, even though they don’t actually fall under this category.
What are online therapy courses?
Online therapy courses use electronic devices such as computers, smartphones and tablets in the prevention, treatment and aftercare of mental and physical illnesses. These include, for example, online self-help programs, health apps, online courses, digital health applications, but also virtual realities for confronting anxiety-provoking situations.
The focus is on a specific area of mental or physical health – for example depression, stress, chronic pain or sleep disorders. In addition, most online therapy courses can be carried out completely independently. If they include support from psychologists or psychotherapists, this contact will primarily take place via email or telephone instead of via video conference as in classic online therapy.
Overall, offers in the area of online therapy – whether as a video conference or digital therapy course – open up a variety of possibilities to reach those affected even better and to further advance health care.
Benefits of psychological help online
Both video-based psychotherapy and online therapy courses reach people who cannot or do not want to take part in on-site psychotherapy. This can be due to health, personal, time, location or other reasons. With video-based psychotherapy, for example, no appointment would have to be canceled if the bus is canceled or you are on a trip.
Online therapy courses also have the great advantage that they can be used independently and flexibly at times and places you specify. In this way, they enable self-determined handling of the symptoms and can strengthen the self-confidence of the user. They can also be used when everyday demands make it difficult to keep to a fixed weekly therapy appointment. They are also suitable for people who would like support but do not feel “sick enough” to start psychotherapy.
Good to know: There are now a number of studies that show the effectiveness of online therapy courses. Especially as supported self-help and in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders, online therapy courses and classic on-site psychotherapy are even comparable in their effectiveness.
In addition, there are no long waiting times for independently conducted or accompanied online therapy courses. As soon as you have logged in or downloaded the relevant app, you can get started. Maybe you already have a psychotherapy place in mind and want to use the time wisely until then? Online therapy courses can be effective in themselves, but they can also prepare or complement psychotherapy well.
Limits and disadvantages of online therapy
A disadvantage of online psychotherapy could be that the digital sessions can be disrupted by internet problems or a lack of privacy at home. This means they may not be as profitable as on-site sessions. Certain exercises such as role plays are also difficult to implement via video sessions. Many psychotherapists therefore offer a mixture of on-site psychotherapy and the option of online sessions in order to combine the advantages of both worlds.
Good to know: If individual video sessions or pure online psychotherapy are important to you, it’s worth asking specifically about them in advance. Because not all psychotherapists offer this option.
Online therapy courses can also reach their limits. The use of computers and smartphones is now a normal part of life for most people. Nevertheless, online therapy courses can overwhelm or frustrate users. Be it because the implementation in everyday life is not successful, certain exercises are not sufficiently explained or because the online therapy course does not suit your own problems. Additionally, an online therapy course may often feel less obligatory and it may be easier to abandon the exercises.
Some online therapy courses try to counteract these risks by offering personal support from psychologists and allowing users to adapt the course as much as possible to their own focus.
How much does online therapy cost?
In Germany, psychotherapy is paid for by health insurance companies – provided that the psychotherapist has a so-called health insurance office and can bill the health insurance companies. Online sessions as part of psychotherapy are also covered by health insurance companies.
In the case of online therapy courses, there are both free and paid options. The providers usually inform you directly whether the costs of their course are covered by health insurance companies. Some health insurance companies also reimburse online therapy courses on a pro-rata basis. If you want to make sure that the cost of an online therapy course is fully covered, look for so-called digital health applications – also known as „prescription apps“.
Digital health applications are available for various mental and physical illnesses. They are prescribed by a doctor or psychotherapist and the statutory health insurance companies cover all costs.
How do I find online therapy that is right for me?
If you find out about online therapies on the Internet, you will quickly notice that there are many offers. And the market for online courses, online psychologists and health apps continues to grow. That’s good news at first. The problem is that the quality of these offers is often not guaranteed or clearly identifiable. The most important question is: Have the quality and effectiveness of the offers been scientifically tested?
If you want an online therapy course whose quality and effectiveness has already been tested, you can also use the so-called digital health applications as a guide for this topic.
These are tested in detail by the Federal Ministry for Drugs and Medical Devices and must meet many requirements. Only after a successful testing process are online therapy courses certified as digital health applications.
If you would like psychotherapy that takes place partially or completely via video sessions, it is best to ask the psychotherapist you are considering about this option. Because not all psychotherapists offer video sessions. If you would like to know how to find a psychotherapy place , you can find out more in our blog article.
HelloBetter online therapy courses as a digital health application
We at HelloBetter have also successfully completed the certification process with many of our online therapy courses. This means you can have these courses prescribed free of charge as digital health applications – for example “ HelloBetter Stress and Burnout ”, “ HelloBetter Panic ”, “ HelloBetter Sleep ” or “ Chronic Pain ”. Our courses meet the highest scientific standards and have already proven their effectiveness in numerous studies.
1 november 2019