If you are weighing therapy in Ontario, one of the first practical decisions is format: secure video from wherever you are, or a chair in an office. The question people usually ask is which one is better. The more useful question is which one fits your situation, because the honest answer to the first is that it depends on the person.
A note on where this article comes from: Anchor & Bloom is a virtual-first practice. Most of our sessions happen online, with in-person appointments offered in Mississauga by availability. That shapes our perspective, so this piece tries to be fair to both formats, including the cases where in-person is the better choice.
The short version
For many people working on common concerns such as anxiety, low mood, stress, relationship strain, or life transitions, video-delivered psychotherapy does substantially the same work as in-person sessions. What tends to matter more than format is the relationship with the therapist, the consistency of attending, and what you bring to the work between sessions. Format is mostly a question of logistics, privacy, and personal preference, and those are worth taking seriously.
What online therapy does well
- It removes the commute. No drive, no parking, no waiting room. For a weekly appointment, that can be the difference between a sustainable routine and one that quietly collapses by month two.
- It opens up the whole province. A therapist registered with CRPO can see adults anywhere in Ontario by video. If you live in a smaller town, or you want a specific specialty that no one nearby offers, online widens the field considerably.
- Familiar surroundings. Some people find it easier to talk about hard things from their own room, with their tea and their dog, and to step straight back into their day afterward.
- Continuity. Travel, a busy stretch at work, or a sick kid no longer forces a cancellation. Momentum is part of what makes therapy useful, and online sessions are easier to protect.
- Privacy of a different kind. Nobody sees you walk into a clinic. For some people, especially in smaller communities, that matters.
Online sessions at Anchor & Bloom run through Jane, a PHIPA-compliant Canadian platform built for healthcare, so the confidentiality standards match what you would expect in an office.
What in-person therapy does well
- A room that is not your room. Therapy in a dedicated space creates separation. Some people process differently when they physically leave their environment, and the drive home can serve as a decompression chamber that closing a laptop does not provide.
- No competition for private space. If you share a small apartment, work from home alongside a partner, or have children within earshot, finding fifty truly private minutes at home can be genuinely hard. An office solves that completely.
- Full presence. Most nonverbal communication carries over video, but not all of it. Some people, and some therapists, simply prefer sharing a room.
- No technology between you. A frozen screen mid-sentence is a small thing, but it is not nothing, and if your internet connection is unreliable it stops being small.
Situations where the choice is clearer
Online tends to fit when the commute is the main obstacle, when you live far from the therapist you want to work with, when your schedule is tight, or when leaving home is itself difficult right now.
In-person tends to fit when private space at home does not exist, when screens are already most of your day and one more feels like a barrier, or when you have tried video and found you could not settle into it.
There are also situations where the right setting depends on clinical factors rather than preference, and that is a conversation to have with the therapist rather than a decision to make from a checklist. A consultation is where fit, including format, gets discussed honestly.
The practical details
Fees at Anchor & Bloom are the same for online and in-person sessions, and a receipt is provided either way for extended health claims. Whether a plan covers Registered Psychotherapist services varies from plan to plan, so your own plan documents or member portal are the reliable place to check. Our article on therapy costs in Ontario covers fees and coverage in more detail.
One more practical point: this is not a permanent decision. Some clients do most of their work online and book an in-person session when circumstances allow. Others start in person and move online when life gets busy. The format can follow your life rather than the other way around.
Trying it before deciding
Reading about formats only gets you so far. A free 15-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to ask about both options, describe your situation, and get a straight answer about what would fit. You can also read more about how online therapy works at Anchor & Bloom, with in-person availability in Mississauga. It is a conversation, not a commitment.