How to make the most of online therapy

Online therapy is a great way to seek support from the comfort of your home. Doing sessions online enables you to continue working with your therapist across distance or during any “lockdown” conditions where face-to-face contact is not possible or may not be preferable. Many people have busy lives with multiple responsibilities (e.g. shift work, children, pets etc). Given these many demands, the commute to therapy might be a barrier to receiving the help and support we most need. Thankfully we are able to offer psychology sessions via video link or telephone.

To achieve positive goal directed change in our lives, we need to look realistically at a few key considerations.

We need to understand the details of that goal, and then begin to formulate what the reasonable steps are between what is, and what we would like to be. It stands to reason then, that we will need a pretty accurate picture of what the current reality is. For example, if my goal is to be able to play a Chopin Nocturne by December, I have to look at what the current situation is. Do I  have access to a piano or a keyboard? Can I afford one? Do I have the sheet music required? Can I even read sheet music? Have I ever played the piano?  The only way I can get from ‘here’ to ‘there’ is to be clear about where ‘here’ even is.

Therapy generally includes some desire for change in our lives. Whether our desired change is big or small our inspirations and goals are valuable and hopefully bring much joy and purpose to our lives.  

When seeking to make some change, we start with an inspiration for a goal and then we have the chance to define the goal clearly and map out a path toward that goal. What often happens is that we aim high (not a bad idea in and of itself) and then we tend to fall a bit short of where we aimed (also not a bad thing). This is where we find there is a gap between expectation and reality. It is common to have some unrealistic ideas about what we can achieve or how quickly we can accomplish something. It is the job of the strong psyche to manage that gap with curiosity and kindness. A good therapist can partner with you in building a healthier psyche.