Shrink Rap: Internet Therapy, Free or Not, Good News?

19 Mar Shrink Rap: Internet Therapy, Free or Not, Good News?

Does the Internet of Things include a virtual shrink’s couch? And is that a good thing? Regular TIO contributor Dr. Paul Hokemeyer, a NYC-based addictions and family therapist, is dubious. Dr. Paul is featured in a recent article by Laura Barcella in Elle magazine: “I Spilled My Guts to Strangers on Free Internet-Therapy Sites.”

Confession time: I’ve been in talk therapy for more than 20 years (I started when I was 15—today I’m 37). Nope, I’m not proud of that—it’s vaguely embarrassing, this commitment I’ve made to worship at the altar of my most deep-seated issues.

I go to therapy because I have to, because I’ve been doing it for so long that I can hardly remember what it was like not to have that cozy, womb-like little room to heave myself into on a weekly basis. Therapy has become a customary part of my self-care song-and-dance, despite the sad truth that I haven’t seen tons of progress when it comes to my struggles with depression, relationships, et al. Frankly, all those aforementioned deep-seated issues are still very much alive and kicking, therapy be damned.

So when I heard about free “Internet therapy” websites, I was curious. Could spilling my guts to faceless strangers on an online message board or chat room possibly compare to “real” therapy? Dr. Paul Hokemeyer, a NYC-based addictions and family therapist, is dubious. “Therapy that changes people’s lives is a nuanced process,” he says. “The dialogue that occurs online is much more shallow and transient. It’s like comparing an artificial sweetener to honey, or instant coffee to slow-brewed.”


I suspected as much, but I wanted to see for myself.

1. THE THERAPY SITE: Talktala.com

Talktala.com is the slickest of the three sites I tried. It has the most appealing design, and it helpfully provides sympathetic-looking photos of its roster of online therapists waiting, with bated breath, to help me. The site’s mission? For “everyone [to] have real-time, simple, and affordable access to professional advice whenever and wherever we need it.”

Talktala offers paid online support from legit online therapists—it costs $9 for an “initial help” session; $29 for a one-on-one “chat for a week” service in which you get to, yes, e-chat with a therapist one-on-one for a week; and $29 for a 30-minute one-on-one video session with a therapist of your choosing. The site also includes free therapist-run forums where users can air their mental-health challenges; a therapist will respond to up to 5 posts per user before charging a fee…

Continue reading here.

Dr. Paul Hokemeyer

Editor’s Note: Dr. Paul Hokemeyer is a nationally recognized expert on Eastern philosophies, relationships, and emotional healing. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, he holds a PhD in psychology, as well as a doctorate in the law. The part-time Telluride resident is based in the New York City office of the Caron Treatment Center. He is also a contributor to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, “The Dr. Oz Show,”  Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN’s Prime News, Fox News, Oprah Radio and more.