Consultations with a psychotherapist via video chat are not much different than live sessions.
The first step is to exchange several messages by mail. I need to know what the problem is in order to determine if I am the right specialist for you, or if I should refer you to a colleague. Then we exchange contacts and hold a video call using protected software.
All you need is a quiet place where you can talk without being disturbed, a stable internet connection, and a desire to make a change 🙂
Who can’t benefit from them?
For better or for worse, we are all connected with the immense stream of digital information and all we can do now is take advantage of it.
Psychotherapy isn’t excluded from this tendency. Many specialists turn to the digital means of communication in order to give more options to their clients. I am one of these professionals. This method of work allows our clients more flexibility with their schedules, making it more accessible and location independent. In addition, getting in contact with us is much easier and faster as a result. And of course, we can offer more affordable rates thanks to the savings we make from not renting an expensive office in a fancy area of the city. Now you can receive psychotherapy from your comfortable home, office or even your favorite cafe.
By using an online platform we see a multitude of new advantages, since the client-consultant relationship doesn’t have to be interrupted during work trips or family reunions (paradoxically, these are some of the most stressful situations for many of my clients).
It is difficult to accurately determine when ordinary sadness progresses into a depressive state, nevertheless with time passing, they are quite clearly identifiable. Sadness has a certain cause, it lasts for a while (usually a few months) and at some point begins to slowly fade away. This is where the old cliché that time heals everything comes from. Yes, time definitely heals the healthy sadness, but not depression.
Sometimes this condition, instead of fading, grows into existential grief, which little by little covers all aspects of everyday life and builds up in the consciousness as a permanent state of despair. Then it manifests on a physiological level, interferes the normal functioning of the individual, and the condition becomes incapacitating. It has to be treated on several fronts – with medications (especially in severe cases), with exercises – meditation, cognitive behavioral methods, and last but not least with psychoanalysis or other types of depth psychotherapy. In a long-term depression, the root of the problem is usually less clear.
Thoughts of suicide or self-harm usually come at a time when it is no longer possible to deal with so much psychological tension. In this state of helplessness the only way out seems to be actual physical pain. These are quite typical for depressive states. The client should not be afraid of them but it is very important to share them with the therapist, so that they may better help them in their path of recovery.
If said thoughts extend to urge for action, the subject must reach for emergency psychiatrical help immediately. Remember that deep depression and suicidal thoughts should be consulted first with medical professionals and clinical psychologists. Online counseling can only be considered as complimentary help for less serious conditions.
What is the difference between fear, phobia and anxiety?
Fear is a perfectly normal way for a living being to survive in hostile nature. For us, however, fears can be very abstract. Fear of commitment, for instance, is related to all conscious or unconscious connotations that burden the word “relationship” with negative meaning. Fear of failure may be very logical, at first glance, but it is also a product of many personal motives that do not have a universal explanation.
Anxiety is a very frequent reason why people nowadays are seeking a psychotherapist. Sometimes it can become incapacitating. The most stressful thing about it is that anxiety has all the physiological dimensions of fear, but there is no specific source related to it. An anxious individual lives in a constant state of fear without knowing what he/she is afraid of.
Phobia is an interesting phenomenon where all this fear and anxiety is focused on one object that cannot hurt us. It is an attempt of consciousness to deal with anxiety by giving it some physical shape.
In psychoanalytic therapy, we seek out the origin of these fears, anxiety and insecurities, and we look for a solution to the underlying problem, not just to its current manifestations.
When it comes to dealing with stress in the workplace, we usually think of training techniques or relaxation methods. They are valid of course and more often than not there is a significant effect, but when short term stress-relievers are not enough, what then?
Psychoanalytic therapy helps the client learn about his/her deeper thoughts that make the usual stress unbearable. They might be related to fear of failure, the reluctance to recognize an authority, or quite the opposite – too much obedience. Often, conflicts at work are just a reflection of the inability to adapt to the environment or the desire to be elsewhere.
My experience as a corporative employee helps me understand the dynamics of the workplace and identify the problems that can be solved with simple self-help techniques, while distinguishing them from those that need to be addressed in detail due to their deep, personal and subjective nature.
It is a widely known concept that talking about our problems helps us understand what their origin is and how to go about solving them. Sometimes the mere act of putting our feelings into words, discussing them with a friend or relative, is extremely therapeutic. However, oftentimes this is not enough to tackle the root source of the problem.
Psychotherapy is an effective treatment because it brings this process to a professional level, in which the client consults with an experienced professional capable of interpreting more adequately the nature of the issue. The therapist knows how to direct the client to more profound self reflection, as well as to point out the logical connections between different issues initially perceived as independent.
Many people do not feel comfortable sharing details about traumatic experiences with their closest friends and relatives. For them, therapy is the only way to get rid of the burden caused by these traumatic events, as well as other unhealthy thoughts and feelings.