On the rise of remote therapy

KFF Health News published an article about how remote therapy ("teletherapy") has become more popular, according to a survey of households in California and a study of the Veterans Affairs system. The survey found that "Almost half of the roughly 4.8 million adults who visited a medical professional for mental health or substance use disorders in 2023 did so exclusively through teletherapy."

There might be conflicting evidence about whether or not remote therapy is as effective as in-person therapy. One one hand, a researcher noted that "Research has basically shown that there's no difference between teletherapy versus in-person therapy — so, basically, as effective as in-person therapy." On the other hand, the same researcher believes that therapists have fewer cues available to them, and has gathered some evidence that remote therapy "is less effective than video conferences."