Stuart Cameron, MSW, RSW 
I wanted to write a post that focuses on the benefits of remote therapy for therapists. Most posts that cover Tele counseling and online psychotherapy focus on the benefits for clients, like convenience and affordability, and neglect to mention the benefits on the other side.
As a therapist that works exclusively remotely, I wanted to create a condensed post discussing some of the research on remote therapy (often referred to as Tele Counseling in the academic literature). Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, people have questioned whether doing psychotherapy remotely is as effective as in-person.
Remote therapy can sometimes get a bad reputation for failing to capture the “true essence” of in-person therapy. There is validity to this argument, and I do accept that remote therapy can never be the same as in-person. However, I also think that a lot of remote therapy setups just aren’t optimized, and if there were to be, the experience would be significantly improved for both clients and therapists.
A father should stop cuddling with their son only when it becomes uncomfortable for either party or when the son expresses that the cuddling needs to stop. Cuddling a child from a young age holds many benefits for both the parent and child and should be encouraged for as long as possible.
Uninvolved parenting practices continuous emotional detachment between the children and parents. It is hands-off, providing only the necessities like food, clothing, and shelter, while essentially expecting children to fend for themselves in terms of structure and emotional support. Parents are uninterested in their child’s school life and interests.
Parallel parenting is a parenting approach where each parent will raise their child according to their own rules and guidelines. There is limited communication between parents confined to necessary interactions only. Co-parenting is a method where parents work together to raise their children in a stable and healthy environment, albeit under 2 roofs.
I’m a big fan of remote work and remote therapy but there are still disadvantages to remote therapy and Tele counseling services that are worth discussing and bringing attention to. Some of these disadvantages can be “improved”, and are inherent to the therapist’s or client’s “less than optimal” setup. But, as I will discuss, some of them are not.
Coercive parenting is harsh parental conduct that includes criticizing, intimidating, beating, screaming, and psychological control to compel a child’s obedience. Negative orders, verbal abuse, blatant acts of rage, and physical abuse are also common among coercive (or authoritarian) parents.
Permissive parenting is when parents give their children significant freedom. These parents consider their children their equals and don’t fulfill a clear supervisory role. Permissive parenting includes rarely disciplining the child, being overly nurturing, and bribing the child to behave.
As we continue in the “post-pandemic” world, adopting and adapting technology, wherever possible, to make remote work more accessible and efficient, one of the areas that continues to be scrutinized is therapy. Whether we’re using terms like remote therapy, online therapy, e-counselling, e-therapy, telepsychology, tele-counselling, or teletherapy, we’re talking about the same thing: psychotherapy for … Read more
