Telehealth? In-Person Sessions? What to Know as You Seek the Right Balance for Your Practice

For decades, individuals seeking therapy generally had one option: find the nearest qualified 
professional in the area, book an appointment, and head to the office for an in-person 
session.  
Then came COVID-19, which forced most therapy online practically overnight.  
One silver lining to the pandemic is the fact that the virus transformed psychotherapy 
altogether — and in a good way.  
All of a sudden, the industry shifted to telehealth, making it easier and more comfortable
than ever before for clients to get the care they needed to live their best lives.  
As vaccines roll out and life begins to resemble something closer to normal, many therapists
are now considering how to structure their practices in a post-pandemic world. 
Are you trying to decide whether you should conduct therapy in person or therapy online?  
If so, you’re not alone.  
Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of each type of session — and why your 
private practice might be best off taking the hybrid approach and offering options for 
both therapy online and in person. 

Pros and Cons of Telehealth and In-Person Sessions
As you begin to think about the next phase of your practice, it’s important to weigh 
the pros and cons of both telehealth and in-person sessions.

Pros of Telehealth 
Social distancing and client safety 

Telehealth enables your practice to treat clients remotely — something that has proven
to be critical during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual sessions enable your practice 
to maintain social distancing — which, in turn, improves the health of your community. 

Convenience 
In today’s fast-paced world, clients are busier each day. As everyone who’s had to 
see a doctor or therapist on a regular basis knows too well, traveling to the office
isn’t always the most enjoyable experience. For this reason, it comes as no surprise 
that more than three times as many clients kept their telehealth appointments than those 
who had in-person sessions. 

Inclusivity 
Practicing telehealth allows your practice to become more inclusive by offering options 
to disabled individuals. Additionally, it helps folks who live in remote areas and can’t 
easily get to your office to get the help they need. 

Client expectations 
Believe it or not, clients actually prefer convenience over quality of care. By offering 
telehealth services, your practice can meet client expectations and increase operational 
efficiency — all while delivering the same caliber of care as in-person sessions.   

Cons of telehealth 
Insurance issues
Before the pandemic, insurers were hesitant to cover therapy online. In the aftermath of 
COVID-19, many changed their tune. That said, some insurance companies are still holding 
back, which could be a barrier for some would-be clients. 

Technical issues 
Even the most adept technology user runs into problems every now and again. When you host 
telehealth sessions, there’s always a chance things like connectivity issues, uncharged 
devices, and platform problems can derail your efforts. 

Privacy issues 
Ensuring the best outcomes for clients starts with keeping their information private. 
Unfortunately, bad actors have been increasingly targeting telehealth providers in the 
wake of the COVID-19 pandemic — which means there’s a non-zero chance telehealth platforms 
get hacked, hurting client privacy. 

Physical distance 
While telehealth can help practitioners meet social distancing requirements, physical 
distance is not without its downsides. For example. in the event a client is going through 
a significant event in the real world — perhaps a physical one — therapists can’t intervene 
through a screen.  

Pros of In-Person Sessions 
Change of pace 
Most of us have been stuck at home for the better part of a year. By returning to in-person 
sessions, you get a change of pace — while giving the same to your clients. As a result, 
you’ll reforge personal connections and feel less isolated because of it. 

Insurance 
While mental health coverage varies, insurers that cover therapy are more likely to 
sign off on real-world sessions versus virtual ones. 

Proximity 
By delivering treatment in person, you can be there, physically, when your clients are 
struggling the most. Additionally, in-person sessions make it much easier to read body 
language, which plays a critical role in communication. 

Cons of in-person sessions 
Expensive 
If you’re like most therapists, you have an office in a building that’s not your house. 
While in-person sessions provide tremendous upsides, they can also eat into your practice’s 
margins if you don’t own your own real estate. 

Inconvenient
It’s not easy for most clients to carve a chunk out of the day to see their therapist particularly 
— when there’s a pandemic going on and they’re working from home and taking care of their kids. 
While in-person sessions can be transformative in certain environments, virtual appointments 
can be especially convenient for clients, making that much easier to improve overall 
health outcomes. 

Inefficient
 
When a client gets stuck in traffic and shows up 20 minutes late, it can mess up your whole day. 
Over a long enough timeline, this could lead to inefficiencies that prevent your practice from 
reaching its full potential. 

Why You Might Not Want to Put All Your Cards in One Basket 
Whether you’re a therapist who’s itching to go back to the office or one who’s wondering if you 
even need a dedicated space to begin with, it’s important to determine your ultimate goals to
define your game plan moving forward. 

Keep in mind there’s no rule stating you have to go 100 percent in-person or 100 percent virtual. 
For many therapists, a hybrid approach is probably the best option.  

By offering a combination of both therapy online and in-person, you can cater to the preference 
of boomers, Gen Xers, millennials, and zoomers alike — delivering care in the format that each 
client prefers. 
How to Determine the Best Approach for Your Private Practice 
1. Survey your clients.
Ask existing clients what they think about online sessions versus in-office visits. 
Tabulate the results.
2. Leverage that feedback.
Let those answers guide your decisions. If 80 percent of your clients tell you they prefer 
telehealth to in-office visits, you need to respond to those demands.  

On the flip side, if everyone’s telling you they can’t wait to get back to an in-person setting, you 
need to figure out how to make that happen as soon as is safely possible.