We deliver CBT that is at least as effective as face-to-face therapy and also:

• Faster – 24 hour booking vs several weeks/months wait
• More efficient – no travel, no room booking, less admin
• More flexible – anytime of day, multiple languages

Our service is ideal for people

• Who need sessions outside working hours
• Who are struggling with inhibition due to the perceived shame of having a mental health problem
• With mobility problems
• For whom English is not their first language
• Who wish to select their therapist

Why text?

We have strong clinical evidence (PDF, 132 KB) for this approach from a 300 patient clinical trial. The trial data show that our text-based approach is both effective and fast.

Unlike face-to-face and telephone, communication by text removes pressure from conversations, giving the respondent time to reflect on the question posed and formulate an answer in their own time. The act of writing an answer also forces a structure into the process, ensuring that thoughts are developed before they are communicated.

From the therapist perspective, the delay between question and response gives time to review the transcript of the session (and previous sessions) to understand the narrative and use this to generate the next question.

Each session’s text transcript can be downloaded by therapist and patient for review and reflection between sessions. This provides a valuable therapy tool.

What about voice and video?

PsychologyOnline is not an attempt to replicate face-to-face therapy remotely, it is a different approach altogether for which we have hard clinical evidence about its effectiveness. There is no similar evidence for therapy delivered over the internet using voice and video.

People who use PsychologyOnline like the interface because of its relative anonymity, when compared with face-to-face and telephone. Simplicity is also very important. A text based approach is simple to use and doesn’t require high powered computing or high-speed internet connection. Users with old computers and slow connection speeds can access our service without difficulty.