The Good, the Bad, and the Aesthetically Challenged: The Good, the Bad, and the Aesthetically Challenged [Opinion]

This article takes the conventional method, face-to-face therapy, as its baseline, and will be concerned firstly, with a discussion of the advantages (the good), and secondly with potential drawbacks (the bad), of technology-mediated face-to-face counseling or psychotherapy, or online therapy. This typically might involve Skype, Face Time, Zoom, WhatsApp, email and in some instances, even text messaging. Thirdly, some comments on AI-based and self-help therapies (the aesthetically challenged) will be made. Finally, we conclude with some remarks on the implicit obligations on professional bodies to monitor technological progress against quality of treatment, and their role and responsibility in ensuring that considerations optimizing client health outcomes should take precedence over bottom-line cost reductions.