Teleshrink

There's an interesting article in yesterday's New York Times about the practice of therapy by remote, technological set up.

What struck me about the article was this snippet:

"Basically, doctors can do, surprisingly, almost everything," said Don McBeath, the director of telemedicine and rural health at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. "The difference is they can't touch you or smell you."

Dr. Gibson said the lack of smelling and touching, at least when it comes to psychiatry, has proved to be a good thing. Being physically in the presence of another human being, she said, can be overwhelming, with an avalanche of sensory data that can distract patient and doctor alike without either being aware of it.

"Initially we all said, 'Well, of course it would be better to be there in person,' " she said. "But some people with trauma, or who have been abused, are actually more comfortable. I'm less intimidating at a distance."


This is completely counter to what I would have expected. To me, it would seem that therapy would be more effective in person. I was surprised to find that some patients and clinicians actually prefer remote counseling to face-to-face.