Therapy Chat Helps You Communicate Your Feelings in Writing

Online therapy offers a unique way to communicate your emotions. Therapy chat is used to express how you feel to your online counselor or therapist. Maybe you’re somebody who expresses themselves best through writing, and that’s why therapy chat can help you. You might have anxiety about seeing a therapist face-to-face in person because you’re on the spot and it’s difficult to express your emotions. If you feel more comfortable communicating using the written word, therapy chat is a secure and ideal way to express yourself. 

How it works

With any online therapy service, such as Talkspace, BetterHelp, 7cups, or e-counseling, you’ll log into your account, and many of these companies have apps to use. You can chat with your therapist about what’s going on. Whether you want to talk during a session or between sessions is up to you; you get to decide how you use therapy chat. BetterHelp provides a downloadable phone app that you can use to communicate your feelings to your therapist during your session with them, or if you happen to think about something to say in between sessions, you’re welcome to express that as well. If you’re in a session, your therapist will reply immediately, and if you’re not, they’ll get back to you when they’re able to do so, but understand that your feelings matter. It’s not just talking to a friend — you’re getting secure mental health treatment. 

Therapy chat is mental health treatment

You might think of therapy chat as a simple instant message, but it’s more than that. You’re receiving mental health treatment that is real. You have the right to communicate with a therapist in a way that makes sense to you, and if you’re somebody who’s very good at writing your feelings or journaling them, this could be an excellent opportunity to express yourself. Some people are hyperverbal, whereas others struggle to verbalize their emotions, and with online therapy, you have the freedom to decide what mode of treatment is the best for you. Forcing yourself to try to fit in a box that doesn’t work for you isn’t going to help you get well.

Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences

Howard Gardner coined the “multiple intelligences,” and what he determined is that people learn in different ways. For example, you could be a visual learner, an auditory learner, or a kinesthetic learner. Therapy chat can be great for visual learners because you’re receiving information in a way that you can best internalize it, whereas someone who is auditory might benefit from talking to an online counselor over the phone. There isn’t one single way to receive mental health treatment, and it’s important to try out different methods to see what works the best for you. Therapy chat might be a perfect fit for you, or you might prefer receiving treatment through video chat or over the phone. 

Trying out therapy chat

You might not know if therapy chat is going to be the best way for you to access online therapy, but if you try it, you’ll know if it works for you or not. Perhaps you’ll find that you enjoy it and that you feel like your therapist hears you; that it’s easier for you to get your words out by typing them rather than saying them, and that your brain processes information from a session better this way as opposed to a more traditional setting for talk therapy. In a generation where we’re viewing a screen more often than not, it’s advantageous to have a way to access mental health treatment from a licensed professional online because we’re used to communicating and receiving information that way, whether it’s through social media or looking things up online. 

Online therapy 

Online therapy is an excellent way to try out therapy chat and see if it works for you. If you’re wondering if this treatment will be a good fit for you, don’t be afraid to try it out. Feeling alone in the world is difficult, and if you can figure out a way to communicate to an online therapist that works for you, why not give it a shot?