For face-to-face treatment, therapist and client are physically in the same room. For an online consultation using video calling, people do not have to leave the house, which reduces travel time and means care is not bound to a particular location. However, internet connections are not always stable. This must be taken into account if you want to use video calling. If you use written communication, care is not bound to a specific location or time. This presents both advantages and disadvantages.
A disadvantage of the lack of face-to-face contact is that the therapist cannot pick up on non-verbal communication cues (such as posture, motor skills, facial expressions). This means that they might miss important information. However, the opposite can also be true: face-to-face contact can mislead the therapist – for example, they may form preconceptions about a client’s appearance. One of the main advantages of using written communication is that you can save messages and read them back at a later time. Asynchronicity (which literally means ‘not at the same time’) also creates much more flexibility, because clients and therapists can send each other messages at a time that suits them. There is more time for the client to think and/or to talk to others before reacting and responding to a message. This also applies for the therapist.
