Texting your therapist? Mental Health and Digital Therapy

Over the past few weeks, I had noticed ads appearing on my Pinterest feed with the headline “Text your therapist, not an ex.” This line caught my attention, for a few reasons. Even though I am currently in a happy long-term relationship and am not struggling with mental health issues, I have close friends and family members that are. The aspect of “texting your therapist” was completely foreign to me so I decided to dig a little deeper and found that there are many online and sometimes automated services claiming to offer secure, private connections to talk to a therapist. This raises many concerns about the role that technology plays in the legitimacy, automation, and privacy of treating mental health in a digital age.

Two examples of these types of sites are Talkspace and 7 Cups of Tea, both of which offer online access to a variety of “trained online therapists” and listening communities. These sites offer different benefits than traditional in-person session. By talking online users can forgo limitations such as having to figure out transportation to an office location, fitting a session into a busy schedule, allowing for anonymity due to perceived stigma of mental health treatment, and in some cases affordability based on how much the service is used. These types of services could help reach individuals that may not have access to mental health services due to their income, location, or family situation. It could also serve to alleviate the issue of a lack of trained professionals for the growing number of people that need help, especially since some individuals would be more comfortable communicating about difficult topics through texting rather than a face-to-face conversation.

In a recent article published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, Stanford scholars have raised some concerns regarding the reliance on technology to solve very real and sensitive situations. For instance, if a user has a negative experience with a digital entity, they may be even less inclined to seek help for mental health issues in real life. These programs may be good for initially triaging the severity of a concern but there are nuances of in-person conversation that cannot be captured through a screen. Additionally, using a technologically-based therapist may lead to increased feelings of disconnection from the real world or an unhealthy reliance on texting their professional with unlimited accessibility. Finally, privacy can be a concern especially when it comes to HIPPA laws, which is why many hospitals and mental health facilities are wary about implementing these types of systems. Overall these sites seem to be operating for the purpose of improving mental health but certainly need to be held to a high standard in order to bring the right benefits to people who need it most.

Stanford scholars discuss mental health and technology

https://www.talkspace.com/online-therapy/unlimited-messaging-therapy/

https://www.7cups.com/

Image Credit: http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/05/smallbusiness/text-therapy/index.html