I work in person and online. Most people are familiar with what in-person therapy is like. You arrive in the room, we’ll talk and have a conversation.

The same thing happens online, only you’ll be in your home. We’ll talk over Proton, which is end-to-end encrypted.

Working online has a few obvious advantages. If you’re someone who feels pulled in multiple places at once — you have to be at work, maybe your work asks you to travel, maybe you have kids to pick up — online therapy allows you to avoid more travel and more ‘being somewhere’. You might also want to work with me but can’t come to East London every week. You might have mobility issues that make travelling difficult and climbing two flights of stairs impossible.

Your location

When you’re doing online therapy, it’s important to be somewhere private, so no one can overhear you, and somewhere that allows you to focus on the process. You shouldn’t be driving or doing something else when you’re in therapy. For most people, that leaves your home or your work.

If you do therapy at work, that can be useful on occasion. It can be the difference between seeing each other every week and not, and it’s certainly better than nothing. However, if you are going to leave therapy and then immediately be surrounded by colleagues, you might find yourself holding back — which is not ideal.

If you’re in your home, there are a few other things to think about. Many people feel safe at home. Being surrounded by familiarity — their furniture, the cat — helps create a sense of calm. From here, it’s easier to open up and explore what’s happening for you. But equally, you might find the opposite happens. You might find yourself wanting, perhaps not consciously, to keep your home a place of calm and relaxation, and you might find yourself holding back in order to preserve that.

You might also want to think about other people. If you live with your partner or your family, will it feel safe to talk about them if they’re in the other room? Might you find yourself holding back? There are no right or wrong answers here, but there are things worth considering.

Screens

They are everywhere, and if we do online work, they will be the medium through which we communicate. How are you likely to feel about that? For many, the screen allows some distance, and in that distance is safety. Many people struggle to open up to someone face to face, but they can connect to their emotions when they are alone. The screen allows them to feel ‘alone enough’ to access what they need to.

But for others, the opposite is true. The distance created by the camera means that they don’t feel connected, don’t feel seen.

My view is that online therapy works — though I think it asks a little more of you than sitting in a room together. It invites intentionality: where are you going to be, and how can you make that space feel private, secure, perhaps even sacred. If you’re not sure whether online is right for you, that’s worth talking about on our first call.