Remote therapy’s popularity has made in-person therapy a challenge to find in NYC
Early in 2020, the world moved online. Some professions made the shift more smoothly than others. Video and phone therapy were far from new—every therapist had already worked remotely when in-person therapy wasn’t possible. However, the success of online therapy as the sole or main format was unproven. Mercifully, to the benefit of those seeking or wanting to continue treatment, the format proved viable, though not without its difficulties or trade-offs.
Gradually, therapists and patients alike became used to remote therapy’s conveniences: the ability to save commuting time to the office, take a session from anywhere, and run a load of laundry or roast a chicken while doing it. For therapists, especially in a competitive real estate market like New York City, giving up in-person work in whole or in part saved the huge expense of maintaining an office for in-person therapy.
Because online therapy works, the status of in-person therapy in the last several years has been in limbo. Many therapists kept their former offices listed on their websites and online profiles (perhaps intending to return or out of an affinity for their old neighborhoods since many they treated still lived or worked nearby). Others returned to the office a few days a week only to discover, like many office workers, that “hybrid” often means doing a good deal of remote therapy from the office. A smaller number have returned in person. Still, all therapists are doing more online therapy than ever before.