There are many benefits of tele mental health services. The main benefits are overcoming various barriers to services. There are not enough mental health providers on the ground to meet the growing needs of people requiring services, and tele mental health has helped curb the issue. Attending therapy regularly is a commitment that many working families cannot afford due to their busy working schedule. Obtaining online services means greater access to people with busy schedules. Obtaining services digitally also provides easy access to people with disabilities or travel restrictions. Some people are not able to access services due to financial limitations or lack of medical insurance. Offering people free services through information and applications they can use through the internet reaches a wide population, even those who do not have medical insurance.
Mental health conditions are associated with stigma, biases, cultural norms and preconceived notions and all of these contribute to reasons why people do not seek mental health services. Additionally, the idea of sitting face to face with a stranger and having a one-on-one conversation sharing intimate secrets and opinions is intimidating and it is another reason why people lack to seek mental health services. Allowing people to access services and information from their own comfort of their personal spaces and using devices to access services makes seeking treatment much less intimating. Tele mental health can also offer services to populations who might have limited access due to language or cultural barriers because they often offer services in different languages.
Tele mental health offers a unique potential for better fidelity to manualized treatments, which often require more adherence to session objectives, timelines and assignments that are difficult to maintain in conventional therapeutic settings. Technology creates the option of better adherence to therapeutic learning and practicing outside the therapy room and in between sessions fostering more effective learning. Services offered through the night allow people to distress during odd hours of the night which really helps people.