A new service offering psychotherapy by text message can help some patients who lack any other means to get therapy, George Nitzburg, an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Researcher at TC, tells WWLP.com.

According to CNN, a startup called Talkspace pairs patients with a psychotherapist who will read and respond any time, any day, for $25 per week. Talkspace also offers couples therapy for $149 per month.

Nitzburg is an advocate of text therapy, but understands its limitations.

“Traditional face-to-face psychotherapy, in conjunction with medication, is the gold standard in terms of what constitutes the best practices when it comes to treatment. There’s no doubt about it,” Nitzburg said. “The issue is, though, for many patients, a comparison isn’t about the gold standard versus some lower standard, the comparison is about starting something versus starting nothing at all.”

Nitzburg argues text therapy can help lots of people struggling with mental illness that have obstacles that prevent them from getting help. A 2013 study by the Center of Disease Control said only 38 percent of Americans with a mental health issue seek help. According to Nitzburg, only 30 percent of Americans with a mental health issue seek proper medical help. Some people seek help from their primary care physician or a spiritual healer.

Nitzburg believes text therapy can be an effective way to get more people with mental illness to seek help.

Link: Textual healing: A new therapy trend on the rise

Published Tuesday, May. 26, 2015