Therapy would be completely inaccessible to me without telehealth. It's a massive boon. The downsides of not being physically present with my therapist are heav

Therapy would be completely inaccessible to me without telehealth. It's a massive boon. The downsides of not being physically present with my therapist are heavily outweighed by the added benefits of having regular and consistent access to said therapist. It takes something that would otherwise be an irregular and stressful chore and makes it predictable and pleasant and something I look forward to -- and that helps make therapy a useful tool where I can pick things to work on, process how I'm doing, and plan next steps on a regular basis. I also think it's worth noting that the point of therapy is not really to form or reinforce a friendship with a therapist? This isn't like a long distance romantic or platonic relationship, my therapist is not a buddy. Therapy is a tool. I am not trying to form an emotional connection with my therapist; my therapist is there to help me process and plan and work on parts of my life that I want to improve. That's not to say that the human part of therapy isn't important, but it's important because of how it services that goal. A therapist is not a substitute for other human interaction, it's designed to be a one-way relationship. A therapist should not be the primary way that anyone is fulfilling their needs for human intimacy or vulnerability; what a therapist can do is help you identify if you're not meeting those needs and help you form an actionable plan for you to meet them better in your regular life.