![\"Circles](\"https:\/\/www.healthdigest.com\/img\/gallery\/mental-health-expert-yohnit-spruch-breaks-down-online-therapy-versus-in-person-sessions-exclusive\/how-online-therapy-compares-to-in-person-sessions-1661528916.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nSince the beginning of the pandemic, almost everything has shifted online \u2014 including therapy. Being able to see a therapist from the comfort of your own home, and without having to deal with traffic, can make therapy feel more accessible. “Even though in-person support is more available again, people are still choosing to connect virtually. The safety and convenience of being able to connect with others without having to leave your home is very appealing to many,” says\u00a0Yohnit Spruch, a mental health expert. But is online therapy just as effective as in-person sessions?\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an exclusive interview with Health Digest, Spruch talks about the pros and cons of online therapy versus in-person sessions.\u00a0Spruch is the head of emotional health at Circles,\u00a0a mental health service that offers support groups.\u00a0Through Circles, people going through similar life challenges are matched into groups and meet weekly via video chat to give and receive emotional support, guided by trained, vetted mental health professionals.<\/p>\n
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Some people may argue that online-only therapy sessions create a literal barrier between therapist and client,\u00a0making it difficult for them to really connect, and that it may be a challenge to fully understand each other \u2014 it can be harder to pick up on body language and facial expressions when speaking virtually.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, according to Yohnit Spruch, “The virtual relationships that form can often mirror the deep, meaningful connections that can occur in the in-person space. People in the online space may feel safer to be true to themselves and talk to other people much more openly than if they were people in their daily lives.” Sometimes it can feel vulnerable and stressful to share openly with a stranger \u2014 many people find that speaking to a screen instead of a person helps ease this anxiety. “Virtual connections can be honest and transparent right from the start. Even though it might take time to feel comfortable, with less body language online, people learn to be much more direct with their communication,” shares Spruch. In fact, many psychological studies have shown that online therapy\u00a0is just as effective as in-person therapy.<\/p>\n
Circles offers small online support groups, guided by trained, vetted mental health professionals, to ensure that no one has to cope with life’s challenges alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since the beginning of the pandemic, almost everything has shifted online \u2014 including therapy. Being able to see a therapist from the comfort of your own home, and without having to deal with traffic, can make therapy feel more accessible. “Even though in-person support is more available again, people are still choosing to connect virtually. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}