There are a lot of “it depends” in these situations. Like what you’re seeking therapy for, what type of access you want to a therapist, different comfort levels, price ranges, etc. You might head to one of the therapy subs and search for people’s experiences with services like BetterHelp. I’ve never tried it, but frankly I’ve heard enough from both clients and practitioners of the types of services they provide to never waste my money on an attempt. Again, maybe an “it depends” sort of thing. I have heard some level of success from people who have short-term needs, want more “coaching” than therapy, don’t mind constant changes in providers, etc.

I was doing in-person sessions prior to teletherapy, so my experience is skewed, but I don’t care for it much. That would be my plug for trying to get something set up with someone within a distance you may be willing to drive to at some point (if you see this as something more long-term potentially, or believe you may need more of a “connection” with your provider) if you’re even interested in future in-person sessions. The only positive I see at this point is there are some sessions where the distance created by telehealth has been helpful because it’s less intense.

I don’t look at my T, but I still need video sessions vs. phone. It makes a difference to me being able to see they exist and their focus. There have also been times we’ve quickly showed thins over video we wouldn’t be able to do with just phone calls. The more senses I can use to pick up on the nuances, the better(although sometimes uncomfortable), and I think it’s valuable for the T to be able to use both visual and audio clues to facilitate the process as well.

It’s a super personal decision with a lot of “it depends”. Depending on your location you may also want to check prices of things like BetterHelp in comparison to finding someone else. Where I live I can find someone in private practice that isn’t wildly different, and for me it’s worth the cost to pay more to go this route. From what I can tell BetterHelp is often a second gig for a lot of practitioners and/or full of new practitioners getting their feet wet. I’ve just read a lot of therapists complain about services such as BetterHelp and the complaints from clients seem even more abundant.