online psychotherapy?

Online Psychotherapy: What It Is, Who It Is For, and What Benefits It Can Offer

In this article, we will explore what is meant by psychotherapy, what online psychotherapy consists of, and what benefits it can bring to an individual’s life and daily experience. We will explain in which cases it is possible to seek help from an online psychologist or an online psychotherapist, and what the purpose of a psychotherapy or psychological support path is.

We will analyze the differences between psychotherapy and psychological support, what services are offered by an online psychologist, and what services are provided by an online psychotherapist. We will look in detail at the advantages of online psychotherapy and the difficulties it can help address. We will then discuss what the word “symptom” means and what the functions of symptoms are.

The aim of psychotherapy is to pass through pain in order to lighten the weight of loss and achieve a new balance.

Who can turn to an online psychologist or online psychotherapist?

During the course of life, anyone may experience difficulty and inner distress. The reasons can be very different: inner questions, changes, crises, traumatic episodes, important choices to make, or difficulties in building one’s life project.

In these moments, one may feel alone and without a way out; one may think that only oneself and a few others experience these feelings and have negative thoughts. This is not the case. We all experience difficulties at certain stages of life.

An online psychologist can help a person bring order within themselves and focus on their resources and limits. Requesting support from a professional is therefore possible for anyone who needs to clarify inner elements and engage with their own inner world.

The purpose of online psychotherapy and psychological support

The aim of psychological and psychotherapeutic work is to make the person autonomous in building their own life path and in understanding the messages of their inner world.

After an initial phase of getting to know each other, a process is structured in which the online psychologist accompanies the person in expressing themselves, their abilities, and their limits.

The purpose of this kind of path is to make the individual more aware of their life project, of what they are able to do, and of what they cannot do.

The online psychotherapist does not replace the patient, nor can they provide general or prepackaged solutions. Rather, they accompany the person in recognizing and expressing themselves.

Psychotherapy as a tool of knowledge and transformation

Online psychotherapy is a path of discovery and knowledge of our inner world. It represents a way to pause and focus on ourselves. Concentrating on our inner space means welcoming our wounds and needs, and listening to our resources and limits. The psychotherapeutic path allows us to better express our potential, manage our wounds, and face the difficulties we experience in daily life.

There is no absolute way to respond to problems. The online psychotherapist and the patient understand together, within a unique and particular relationship, which responses can guide the person and, where there are no answers, what way may help them accept and welcome not knowing, as well as the limits of both the external and internal world.

Devoting time to listening to oneself is already transformative in itself, because it allows us to approach ourselves with a different gaze.

Online psychotherapist and inner dialogue

There is no defined and absolute answer to the questions a person asks themselves. Often, one would like clear and definitive answers to the difficulties life places before us. Psychotherapy teaches us to understand that there are no absolute answers, but that we can train ourselves to listen to ourselves and to dialogue with our inner parts. This dialogue can help us identify our resources more quickly and understand the limits of life, so that we can process and face them with less effort.

C. G. Jung describes the psyche as a dimension made up of complexes: psychic elements with opposing polarities that include emotional and cognitive aspects. Each complex revolves around the others and communicates with them, as in a galaxy where different planets move through space. It is important to facilitate communication between these complexes. If communication between the various dimensions of the psyche is not fluid, blocks or disturbances may arise. Complexes can be made up of unconscious and conscious dimensions. It is very important to work on bringing unconscious aspects into awareness and placing them in dialogue with consciousness.

The online psychotherapist can help the person achieve greater awareness and make communication between the various elements of their psyche more fluid.

What online psychotherapy consists of

The online psychotherapist is a professional who carries out a psychotherapy path through platforms that allow video calls. A number of introductory sessions may be held, during which the online psychotherapist understands the patient’s needs and the person begins to share something about themselves in a protected space. After the introductory meetings, an online psychotherapy path begins, in which patient and therapist define goals and different points of view through which to read the world.

Online intervention preserves privacy and confidentiality just like a path carried out in an office, because it takes place without the presence of third parties and in a safe environment.

The effectiveness of online psychotherapy can be the same as in-person therapy. The same techniques are used, in some cases adapted. Furthermore, since the relationship between therapist and patient is the central core of the work, it can also be established online and support the effectiveness of the path.

In any case, it is important to discuss with the professional whether online psychotherapy may be suitable for the person, since everyone has different needs, resources, and limits.

The importance of the relationship with the online psychologist

For C. G. Jung, the central element of psychological support and psychotherapy work is the relationship established between professional and patient. The online psychologist is not indifferent to the patient’s story, but is involved in what the person tells and experiences. Jung states that the relationship that is created resembles a chemical reaction, in which the reagents influence each other and create a third substance, a third path, a new possibility of living and reading reality.

Every therapeutic relationship is unique and particular, and is itself a driving force of change. The online psychologist therefore listens to the person’s inner world, approaching it with respect and without judgment.

Difference between an online psychologist and an online psychotherapist

The online psychologist is a specialist who can offer interventions of prevention, diagnosis, rehabilitation, and support in the psychological field, as well as research. They provide their services online instead of in an office and hold the same qualifications as a professional who works in person. The online psychologist has a degree in Psychology, has passed the State Examination, and is registered with the Register of Psychologists in their region.

The online psychotherapist is a specialist who, after obtaining a degree in Psychology or Medicine, has completed a Specialization School in psychotherapy, and therefore holds two qualifications. They are also registered with the Register of Psychotherapists in their region. An online psychotherapist can provide additional services compared with an online psychologist; in fact, they can carry out interventions aimed at resolving symptoms arising from psychopathologies, maladjustments, or suffering.

Benefits of online psychological support and online psychotherapy

The online psychologist and online psychotherapist can therefore carry out paths that intervene directly in the person’s daily life.

A path of online psychological support or online psychotherapy is not intended only for people with serious problems, but also for anyone who wishes to engage with inner questions, know themselves better, face crises, contingent changes, broader symptoms, or circumscribed symptoms.

An online psychologist or online psychotherapist can, for example, intervene in the following areas:

Stress and anxiety management

Anxiety can arise from different factors: inner fragilities, external changes, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, or difficulties in defining one’s life project. It can appear in different forms: tachycardia, shortness of breath, fear of dying, agitation. It is important to welcome this suffering and understand it together with the online psychologist.

Improvement of interpersonal relationships

Relationships with other people occupy an important space in our lives: within the family, among friends, and at work. It can be useful to be accompanied by an online psychotherapist in order to identify one’s needs and understand how to express them better within relationships.

Support in facing crises or changes

Changes and crises are part of life. The cycle of our existence often includes transformations or crises. These are painful and tiring elements, but also necessary and transformative. It is necessary to listen to and welcome the difficulties and potential expressed by the person during these phases. Focusing on each person’s limits and resources can be useful in facing a moment of change or crisis.

Encouraging understanding of one’s lived experiences and inner world

An online psychologist and online psychotherapist can accompany people in welcoming and listening to their inner world. The moment of therapy can help us stop and listen to certain parts of ourselves that we had not previously focused on well, as well as identify and give space to emotions, thoughts, and reflections on our past and present story. Building a space of reflection on ourselves can support inner well-being and the construction of our life project, because it helps us focus on our emotions and thoughts.

Promoting self-esteem and self-confidence

The online psychologist can work to expand self-esteem and confidence in ourselves. It is not always easy to focus on our limits and potential; sometimes we may be unable to identify our achievements and may concentrate only on failures. In other cases, a person may idealize their abilities and feel frustration if they cannot achieve a certain goal. At other times, one may interpret a failure as depending on oneself when, in reality, it was influenced by external circumstances. It is therefore important, together with the online psychotherapist, to identify our actual resources and limits, in order to increase our confidence in ourselves and our sense of self-efficacy.

Facing deeper wounds and broader suffering

In the course of every individual’s life, events occur that provoke strong and difficult emotions; these situations are called traumas. They can cause deep inner wounds because they activate complicated emotions and thoughts. In these cases, the online psychologist can welcome the person and, with gradualness and respect, help them express experiences and memories linked to those specific events. Later, it becomes possible to find alternatives for processing the emotions felt and transforming what was experienced.

Online psychologist and online psychotherapist for understanding symptoms

A symptom is a very bothersome aspect that interferes with daily life. We may experience intense anxiety, panic attacks, sleep disturbances, psychosomatic problems, eating difficulties, or other symptoms. Although these problems cause suffering, they also carry a message that comes from our inner world. Through symptoms, our psyche wants to stop and show us something about ourselves. It becomes difficult to listen to these symptoms because they cause suffering and distress; it is complicated to think that they may also bring usefulness and change into our life, since at first they are uncomfortable, painful, and obstructive.

An online psychologist can support us in welcoming this suffering, understanding it, and transforming it. Sometimes, beneath the symptoms that appear on the surface, there may be needs and lived experiences that must be listened to.

Thus, even if symptoms are very heavy and understandably experienced with great difficulty, they can be helpful in understanding the psyche and encouraging the emergence of aspects of the self that have remained hidden.

How long does online psychotherapy or psychological support last?

It is not possible to define in advance how long online psychotherapy may last, because each individual has particular needs that may change over time, and each person requires their own time to achieve the inner transformations necessary for the improvement of their psychological well-being. It is necessary to maintain an attitude of listening, respect, and patience toward oneself and one’s inner time. This is the first step in building a path toward greater awareness and inner balance.