In-person Therapy

I'll start by acknowledging the obvious here. Remote therapy, ESPECIALLY during a few year long stretch beginning in 2020, has provided innumerable benefits to an equally large group of people. It also continues to provide massive benefits to those who simply cannot make it to therapy in person due to physical ailment, severe psychological ailment, living in an extraordinarily remote location etc. It also serves as a gentle bridge into therapy for those who are terrified to go in person and would otherwise not partake. It also helps therapists keep a steady client load across their state(s).

For the rest of us, I cannot overstate the value I find, see and believe in regarding an in-person therapeutic relationship. My reasoning comes down to five pillars:

1.) Having a dedicated 'healing space'. Getting out of your everyday space (and for those of you who work from home, your all-day every-day space) in order to engage in a meaningful block of time is just that — meaningful. You understand what you're there for, your focus shifts appropriately and you can more easily engage with the rest of your day/week knowing that space exists independently from your own.

2.) It allows therapists (and you frankly) to read the non stop torrent of nonverbal cues. They're plentiful, they're valuable and they're almost entirely missed when engaging remotely.

3.) Stronger therapeutic alliance and trust. Sharing the same physical space naturally fosters a higher level of trust, rapport, and human connection — there is no way around that fact. That trust and connection is the backbone of a successful and productive therapeutic relationship.

4.) Privacy and focus are extraordinarily hard to come by in the remote setting. Beyond the fact that you're literally doing the therapy from a device that can do anything, anytime and poses infinite potential distractions, you're also in a space where sights, sounds and often, other people are ever present and ready to take you out of an hour that requires your fullest self.

5.) Certain specialized treatments, such as the ones I've already posted about—somatic therapy, psychodrama & EMDR—while all possible to engage with online, become a whole different beast in person. They're allowed to be as productive and meaningful as they were designed to be.