Top 10 Reasons to Offer Online Therapy
Offering online therapy can be extremely rewarding both for you, the mental health provider, and for your clients. Here’s the top 10 reasons why it’s awesome.
1. Ease & Convenience
Nothing beats the convenience of online therapy for both you and your client. Save time by saying good bye to your commute. With online therapy, you can perform sessions anywhere you have an internet connection. For you, that probably means a quiet space in your home. For your client that can be their home, their office, their car (while parked!) – anywhere they can find privacy and some free time. What’s more, it’s easy – providing an online video therapy session is much the same as providing a session in-office. Establishing a connection with the client is as simple as clicking a link. After that, you just talk to them like normal. Contact Us for a free demo!
2. Keep in touch
If you’ve ever had to stop sessions with a client due to a move, you know how frustrating that can be. With online therapy, you might not have to stop your sessions.
“I have been using iTherapy as my virtual practice office. I am extremely pleased with the training, follow ups, and ability to reach out at any time if I have any questions or concerns. The staff has been very responsive. My clients are very pleased to have the ability to continue meeting with me, even after my move, with a HIPAA compliant program. I would recommend this service to any practitioner.”
-Cami Findley, Licensed Professional Counselor
3. Help more people
Not only can online therapy enable you to help people across geographical distance, but it can make therapy accessible to people who might not be able to make it an office. It’s perfect for new moms, people with extremely busy schedules, people with chronic pain, clients with agoraphobia, and more.
4. Accepted by Insurance
Many insurance companies in many states are already accepting online therapy and ever more are moving towards greater and greater acceptance of the mode. The market is ready for an influx of online mental health providers.
5. Less competition
Fewer therapists are offering online services than in-office. Because of that, you’re competing with fewer other therapists for clients that want online therapy. Better yet, it’s still seen as a luxury service, allowing for higher fee for service and attracting clients more likely to be able to pay private practice fees.
6. Affordable
Renting a physical office is expensive! Even a modest office can be a few hundred if not a thousand dollars each month! It takes a lot of sessions to cover that cost! By contrast, iTherapy offers the tools you need for online therapy in packages starting as low as $79/mo! That means it pays for itself after your first session each month! That’s cheaper than an office by far!
7. Fewer No shows!
Believe it or not, we’ve noticed fewer no shows with online therapy. This is anecdotal to be sure, but it seems as though the convenience of being able to perform a session from anywhere really makes a difference to how often clients make it to their sessions. This is invaluable! Nothing is more frustrating in private practice than the wasted time and lost income from a no show.
8. Clients love it!
There are a lot of reasons why clients love online therapy: Of course they love the convenience we already mentioned; Many clients are tech natives so tech is easier and more natural for them than in person; And they’re comfortable in their own environment, often their home. Which brings us to our next point…
9. More intimate
Unlike traditional therapy where your client has to come to you, with online therapy you’re able to come to them. You’re able to see the client’s own space. This opens up opportunities that just aren’t possible with traditional in-office therapy. For example, an iTherapy provider was discussing with their client how preparing for each day can be helpful – picking out clothes, packing bags for work, etc. Getting a good start to your morning can set the tone for the rest of your day. But then, instead of only discussing it, that therapist was able to “go with” that client and help them overcome any resistance as they went through that process. That kind of connection is simply not possible with traditional in-office therapy – online therapy allows a different, often deeper connection with clients.
10. Comfort & Control
When you have your own private practice offering online therapy, you’re your own boss in your own, relaxed atmosphere. You get to make your own schedule. You decide what clients you take on. You determine what your rates are, where you work from, what you wear. And you’ll have more flexibility than you might imagine – we’ve had iTherapy providers that have performed sessions with pajama pants on and others that have performed sessions from a boat while on vacation. You are in control. You have the flexibility to decide how and when you will work.
There are many advantages to offering online therapy – the convenience, the affordability, the ability to help more clients and interact with them in their own space.
Nobody does more to help you get started with online therapy than iTherapy. We provide all of our subscribers with free, live training, and we offer 24/7 support with our online counseling platform.
If you think online therapy is right for you, we’re ready to help. Subscribe to any of our packages and we’ll get you going.
If you’re still in the planning phase of starting your private practice, checking out our private practice business plan generator. With it, we walk you through every step of creating a business plan for your practice.
I have a Masters in Nursing – Psychiatric Community Mental Health. I graduated in 1996. But have not practiced since I graduated. I did work at an adolescent psychiatric hospital part time. What would I need to do to become a part of this network?
Hi Janet. In order to practice again, you’d need to renew your license. We can point you in the right direction there – one of our Jumpstart Your Practice partners specializes in helping people get licensed. We’ll send you an email and help you get going! 🙂
I like that this article mentions how online therapy allows you to perform sessions anywhere there is an internet connection. This would be useful to ensure both you and your client are comfortable. In order to make sure the sessions go well and your clients have access to you, you’d probably want to research the different online tools and websites for psychologists in order to find one that will work for what you want to do.
Thank you Tiffany! We couldn’t agree more. We are happy to offer all the tools necessary for counselors to provide secure online therapy. You can learn more about what we have to offer our teletherapy providers in these other helpful articles and page: Psychologist Tools, Jumpstart Your Practice, and Our Pricing Page has all the information regarding the services we offer.
Don’t you need a license for the state the client is in in order to treat that client? Can you do this internationally?
You can work internationally – some iTherapy providers are doing that now! Just make sure you follow the guidelines of the country your client is in. You likely do need to be licensed in the state the client is in, but check with your board.
That’s great that many insurance companies are accepting online therapy in order to cover it so it can reach more people. My cousin has some of her own issues she struggles with and would benefit from therapy but she travels a lot for work. I’ll have to tell her she should look for a doctor that does online therapy so she can still get sessions when she’s out of state and can hopefully get some emotional support.