You’ve probably thought about it at some point and dismissed it just as quickly.
“Therapy through a screen? It’s not the same.”
And you’re right: it’s not the same. But that doesn’t make it any less valid.
I’ve spent years accompanying processes over video call, with people who live in another city, another country, or simply a life where leaving the house for an hour and a half is a luxury they don’t have. And here’s what I’ve learned: what heals in therapy isn’t in the room. It’s in the bond.
Does online therapy actually work?
Yes. And I’m not saying that as a slogan.
The research is fairly clear: for most of the reasons people come to therapy — anxiety, feeling stuck, self-esteem, life transitions — online therapy produces results comparable to in-person therapy.
But beyond the studies, there’s something I see session after session. When you’re in your own home, on your own couch, with your cup of tea beside you, sometimes you dare to say things that would be harder in an office. There’s an intimacy in your own territory that works in your favor.
Not always. Not for everyone. But more than people imagine before trying it.
What happens in an online session
Nothing strange. A video call, camera on, fifty minutes.
There are no worksheets to download or slides to share. It’s a conversation, the same kind we’d have face to face: attentive to what you say and also to what you don’t say, to how your breathing changes, to that gesture that slips out when we touch on something that matters.
The screen filters less than it seems. The body is still there. The emotion shows.
All you need is a place where you can be private and uninterrupted for that stretch of time. That, and a decent connection.
Who it’s especially good for
I think mainly of a few situations.
You live outside your country and want to do therapy in a language that feels like your own, with someone who understands where you come from. Working in your mother tongue isn’t a small detail: it’s where the things that really hurt get said.
You’re in a city where you can’t find a therapist you click with. Geographic proximity shouldn’t decide who you work with on something this intimate.
Your life doesn’t allow for fixed, in-person time slots. Work, kids, travel. Online therapy adapts to that without you having to give up the process.
The “Gestalt” part matters here too. Because Gestalt works with what’s alive in the present — what you feel right now, in your body, while we talk — and the format matters less than the presence. And presence travels better through a screen than most people expect.
And who it might not be for
I’d rather be honest about this too.
If you’re going through an acute crisis that needs immediate in-person containment, or if you know that in front of a screen you’ll get distracted and check out, online might not be your best starting point.
That’s fine. Every person needs their own format. What matters is that you start where you can actually hold yourself.
The first step is a conversation
You don’t need to have anything clear before writing.
Most people who reach out don’t. They just know something isn’t working and want to look at it differently. That’s enough to start.
Message me for a video call and we’ll see where you’re at, what you’re looking for, and whether it makes sense for us to work together.
Gestalt therapy in English and Spanish. Online for all of Spain and Europe, and in person in Barcelona (Pl. d’Urquinaona).
You can read more about how I work in Gestalt therapy in Barcelona and online.