Online Therapy for Couples
What Is Online Therapy?
Online therapy refers to mental health counseling services that you can receive remotely via video sessions, phone calls, texting, or live chat. Often referred to as “e-therapy” or “internet therapy,” online therapy offers non-crises therapy for people of all ages suffering from depression, anxiety, trauma, phobias, and a wide range of other mental health issues.
Online therapy isn’t meant for people who are in the midst of a mental health emergency or who need urgent medical care. Rather, it’s a more accessible, affordable alternative to in-person counseling or in-person couples therapy. Online therapists are fully trained, and licensed in their fields and hold PhDs, LMFTs, LCSWs, or LPCs. Just as in traditional therapy and couples therapy, each online therapist will have their own approach and specialties, ranging from CTB to talk therapy, couples counseling, and more.
What is Online Therapy for Couples?
Just as in face-to-face couples therapy, online couples therapy offers a space for partners, spouses, and couples to work through obstacles in their relationships. Online couples therapists work together with their clients to help couples communicate better, resolve conflicts in their relationship, strengthen trust, reconnect emotionally, overcome intimacy issues, and find healthy solutions to any other problems that arise in a relationship.
How Does Online Couples Therapy Work?
Online couples therapy can work a number of ways, though it utilizes the internet in order to allow clients to speak with their counselors both individually and together. Most online therapy companies offer 3 main types of counseling: real-time chat, video chat, and phone chat. The exact format sessions will take will depend on the preferences and needs of you and your partner as well as on the suggestions of the therapist, though most couples counseling work will focus on live talk therapy with your partner and therapist present. Online couples therapy may also include written exercises and exercises to be completed between sessions. You may have sessions with your partner and follow up with personal consultations or individual sessions with your therapist.
Email and text message counseling is popular with people who want to be able to think out their questions and write them out before asking, though these options may be less ideal for couples counseling. These tend to not be free-flowing conversations like with phone or video chats, but being able to write out what you want to say can be preferable. Typically these chats are done through your personal email to a special email provided through the site, which can help safeguard your anonymity.
Video chat will require a reliable internet connection and will allow you and your partner to speak with a counselor face-to-face, if not in the same room. It’s intimate, personal, and allows you to establish a rapport that can be more difficult with the written word.
When you sign up for an online therapy service, you’ll typically be asked to take a short quiz to determine which sorts of issues you’re dealing with, which can be used to help the service match you with a counselor who may specialize in your concerns. It’s important to remember that you and your partner have complete control over finding a therapist that’s best for you, and you’ll be able to voice concerns or request a new therapist if the two of you don’t connect with your first counselor.
How Much Does it Cost?
The prices vary by company, but typically online therapy services charge a monthly fee to use the service, and don't charge by minute or hour or text. For instance, BetterHelp, one of the bigger names in the industry, charges a flat fee of between $40-$70 per week for individual therapy, including all messaging, chats, phone, and video sessions. Couples therapy may cost a bit more, as online therapy sites on average charge between $80-$100 per week.
These memberships tend to be quite flexible, and allow you to quit at any time.
Most online counseling is not covered by insurance, so while it’s cheaper than in-person therapists, you will typically have to pay out of pocket.
How to Choose the Right Online Couples Therapy Service
Before you sign up for an online therapy service and specifically, couples therapy, do a little research. Take a look at how the company screens its counselors and if their certification checks out. You can also look at online testimonials by customers to get an idea about the quality of service.
You’ll want to decide which types of counseling you want—chat, video, or email—and if they’re available through the service. If you’re interested in using the service on your smartphone, see if the company has an app and if you’re allowed to have sessions with your counselor by chat on your phone.
Look at the price for couples therapy also, and see if it fits your budget. In addition, see if you can quit the membership at any time, or if it’s binding.
Once you’ve found a platform you’re happy with, it’s important to find a couples therapist that both you and your partner can agree on. Successful therapy requires that all parties feel comfortable, heard, and represented, so a good practice is to consult with your partner after every session and make sure both of you feel comfortable with your therapist before moving ahead.
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