Since the pandemic, mental health services have been more accessible than ever. Virtual therapy and counseling allows for convenience. No more sitting in traffic to get to your therapy appointment. And now you can even see a therapist who lives in a completely different state! In this post we'll discuss the benefits of virtual therapy in more detail.  

Accessibility

One of the best advantages we have today regarding virtual therapy is that there are no limiting geographical barriers. Individuals who want to receive high quality, evidence-based care at Mind Body Health, for example, may not have been able to come see us if they lived in rural areas hours away from our office. Sometimes it might take just as long to get to one of our offices in Virginia or Washington, DC if you're further away and stuck waiting for the metro or sitting in traffic. Now, you can jump on to a telehealth session with one of our providers without the additional stress of commuting. 

Privacy & Flexibility 

With virtual therapy and counseling, you can now have sessions be done in the comfort and privacy of your own home. If you're working from home, you can schedule a therapy session during your lunch hour or first thing in the morning before work starts. You can time your sessions with our team so that you'll have a session when you know everyone in your home will be out and about. 

Overcoming Stigma
For many years, coming to a physical office space would create a barrier for folks who were concerned that they'd be seen walking into a counseling center. While we believe in combating stigma around recieving mental health services, we understand that it is still a very much a reality for folks who could face judgement from others. So virtual therapy allows for more anonymitiy and therefore can help people open up more about their struggles. This can lead to better therapy outcomes. 

Long distance virtual couples and family therapy

At our practice we sometimes do family-based eating disorder treatment. If your loved one is going to college, continuing to conduct family therapy sessions becomes easy with virtual therapy. Are you in a long distance relationship with someone? Because our therapists are able to practice in over 30 states, we can often conduct virtual couples counseling sessions for couples who are traveling for work or dating long distance. 

Continuity of Care
Pre-pandemic, psychologists faced the burden of having to be licensed in whatever state the client was physically in. Now, with PSYPACT, a consortium of states have agreed that if a psychologist is licensed in one state, they're able to provide virtual services in other states that have joined the consortium. At Mind Body Health, nearly all of our psychologists can now practice in over 30 states via virtual therapy. This helps tremendously with continuity of care. If you're starting with us in a transient area such as Washington, DC, Arlington, VA, or Bethesda, MD, for instance, you might find yourself moving out of the state after a few years. Well now you can take your therapist with you most places you move to! Say you're traveling for a month. Well guess what? Our therapists can likely continue to see you wherever you're traveling because of virtual therapy! 

Convenience for those suffering from chronic health or chronic pain issues

One of our specialty areas is considered behavioral medicine. This is essentially a field of psychology focused on helping individuals manage their health. We specialize in insomnia, chronic pain, obesity, and chronic health conditions. We know that one of the barriers to therapy can be getting to the office when you are feeling physically unwell. Well now with virtual therapy, we're able to see clients with physical limitations or disabilities from the comfort of their home. 

Environmental Impact
Lastly, virtual therapy helps us help the earth! With less commuting on the part of therapists and clients, we can help the polar bears a little bit more :)

While we do continue to have physical locations in Washington, DC, and Arlington, VA, we provide virtual therapy in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC. 

Virtual Therapy is also offered by our psychologists in many of the following large cities across the United States: 

Virtual Therapy in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado; Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Washington, DC, Wisconsin, & Wyoming.