When I began training as a therapist, half my experience took place in the traditional therapy room: sitting across from a client, noticing body language, feeling the shared silence; the other half happened during the pandemic, mediated by screens, sometimes from my bedroom. That shift from face-to-face to online has shaped a whole generation of therapists in training.
According to the APA (American Psychological Association), Covid-19 affected 43% of trainees who lost clinical experience. This raises a big question: what does therapy lose or gain when it becomes digital?聽
I have noticed when therapy moves online, subtle human elements can go unnoticed. The micro-expressions, the way a client shifts in the chair, even how they walk in and out of the therapy space becomes harder to determine. At the start of my practice, I found clients reluctant to show their face on camera, whilst in the room, facial expressions were a key element of the therapeutic relationship.聽
Yet during those Zoom sessions, therapy became accessible to those who had never stepped into a clinic. For many, logging on seemed less intimidating than stepping into the therapeutic room, with a noticeable increase in clients reaching for the Counselling Directory, an online website providing online/telephone sessions. In March 2020, this increased to 53%. For us as therapists, this meant we have been more adaptable to listen and create new ways of building presence without being physically there to pick up noticeable in-person cues.聽
Despite these shifts, the heart of therapy is still the same: human connection. Whether within the consulting room or via a laptop, healing arises when we as counsellors bring authenticity, empathy, and trust. The platform changes, but the relationship in therapy remains the same. As we carry the profession forward, the questions are not about debating whether online or in-person is better, but how we integrate both holding on to what is timeless whilst staying open to new ways of connecting. 聽
