In Person vs. Online: Should I Find Therapy Near Me?

If you’re ready to start seeing a therapist, you have options. Lots of different mental health professionals exist offering lots of different specialties. A simple internet search of “therapy near me” will turn up plenty of results in the San Fernando Valley. You’re not limited geographically, either. You also have the choice of seeing your therapist online.

Sitting in a room with someone can be helpful in certain situations, but virtual therapy offers some benefits. To help you find the right path for yourself and what you want to get out of therapy, let’s compare the pros and cons.

The pros and cons of virtual therapy

A lot of big companies now offer online therapy all over the country. That comes with some benefits, but there are also some drawbacks you should know about.

Pros:

Virtual therapy comes with two big upsides:

• Convenience: With online therapy, you only need to carve an hour out of your day. You don’t need to account for any travel time to or from an office, and you can even take the call in your PJ bottoms if you feel more comfortable that way.  
• Lots of choices: If you search “therapy near me,” you’ll turn up dozens of options. If you go the online route, though, you’ll have thousands of therapists from which to choose.

 

Cons:

There are some downsides of choosing online therapy. Those include:

• More time in front of a computer: In our digital era, a lot of people have Zoom fatigue. Choosing virtual therapy means adding another hour of sitting in front of a screen. 
• Less privacy at home: If your living situation makes it hard to get a quiet area alone, it can make therapy harder. You want to be able to fully open up during your sessions. That can be difficult if you’re worried someone might overhear or you’ve got a child who’s prone to barging in.

• Less information for your therapist to use: Body language says a lot, and therapists are trained to read it. Since they only see the top part of you on a video call, they lose information. They might not see that you’re nervously fiddling with your hands, for example. In an in-person session, that might signal your therapist that it’s time to do some regulating activities, which can help make therapy more manageable.

 

The pros and cons of in-person therapy

Maybe you’ve thought, “Should I find therapy near me?” If that’s entered your mind, it’s a sign you would probably benefit from mental health support. Before you decide to pursue it in-person, weigh the pros and cons.

Pros:

The main benefits of in-person therapy include:

• Easier connection with your therapist: When you’re only seeing your therapist digitally, it can take more time to build trust. In person, you get the benefit of being in the room together. They can read your nonverbal cues to see when you might need to slow things down and take a centering breath, for example. 
• Access to physical tools: Your therapist might be able to offer resources to keep you more comfortable during your appointments. Doing something with your hands like playing with putty or a fidget toy might help you regulate as you do emotional work. And your therapist may already have these things on hand for you in their office.

• Potential for cost flexibility: A lot of the online therapy companies have fixed fees. If you find an in-person therapist, they can often work with you to find a cost per session that works with your budget.

• A safe, separated space: Therapy often feels raw or sensitive. When you do this work in your therapist’s office, you get the chance to leave it after your appointment. You can choose what you take home with you. If you do this work in your own house or apartment, it can be harder to get that separation from the emotions you faced during therapy.

 

Cons:

• More schedule strain: Getting to and from your therapist’s office adds time on either side of your appointment. A lot of people say the drive/walk/bike ride can be helpful decompression time after their appointment, but if you’re really busy, those added minutes might be a challenge. 
• Fewer options: While you’ll have hundreds of online therapists from which to choose, you’ll find fewer if you want to see someone close to you. Still, that “therapy near me” search should pull up plenty of choices.

 

How do I find therapy near me?

We can make this easy. At our office in Tarzana, we serve the San Fernando Valley and the surrounding area.

When you call our office, our intake coordinator gathers a bit of information from you. That allows us to pair you with a therapist who we think would be a good fit.

That said, you might not click with that person — that’s totally normal and okay. It takes a lot of people a few tries to find the right therapist for them. And we have multiple therapists you can explore with our team.

To get paired with a therapist here at West Valley Counseling Center, contact us.