Exploring the Newer Horizons of Online Therapy – Its use and Effectiveness

Abstract

The advancement of computing technology is becoming more important in the healthcare industry. Remotely assisted pain management treatments (Eaton et al., 2014) and tele-psychology (Godleski et al., 2012; Caver et al., 2020) have both been effectively adopted in the Veterans Affairs (VA) system throughout the United States. The American Psychological Association (2013) notes that the increasing reliance on technology to facilitate the delivery of psychological services brings with it a number of novel possibilities, factors to consider, and obstacles to practise. Glueckauf et al. (2018) found that although approximately 40% of practising clinical psychologists in the United States had utilised tele-psychology, the vast majority (60%) had never done so. Most clinical psychologists they surveyed expressed reservations about providing services through video chat and hence exclusively saw patients in person. Glueckauf et al. (2018) found that over half of psychologists surveyed felt they needed more training in crisis management for online therapy, and that nearly all therapists (79%) were worried about issues related to security, confidentiality, and HIPAA.