How online OEI Therapy can be more effective than in-person talk therapy

Many people assume in-person therapy is always better, especially for trauma work. but that’s not always true.

Online OEI therapy can actually be more effective than traditional talk therapy, even when done remotely.

Why OEI therapy works well online

OEI therapy is experiential. It focuses on what you feel and sense in the moment, not just what you say and uses techniques like covering one eye or tracking emotional shifts in visual fields.

OEI tools work just as well over video, because it is a visual medium and your eyes and brain is doing the processing.

What matters most in OEI isn’t proximity. it’s presence. When you feel safe, seen, and guided in the right way, your nervous system can settle. and online sessions can actually help with that.

Less talking, more noticing

Traditional talk therapy often relies on telling the story—again and again, which revivifies the trauma. This is an iatrogenic effect of talking about your trauma, it can unintentionally makes your trauma more complex because it remembering causes you to revivify your trauma.

Who said you need to remember to recover?

No one. Ever.

Additionally, some trauma can’t be explained in words because it’s not stored in the verbal part of the brain.

OEI doesn’t require you to talk through painful, personal details of your past. Instead, you notice what comes up in the present moment as you. This is why OEI uses visual pathways to healing and often bypasses verbal defenses to get to the root faster—even through a screen.

You’re in your own environment

For many clients, the stress of commuting, parking, or entering a clinical office takes up mental energy before the session even starts. With online OEI, you can do the work wherever you are. And when the session ends, you don’t have to put your emotional armor back on to get home. You can rest, take a walk or continue what you were doing before the session—all of which support integration.

Why online may feel safer

When you do therapy from home, you’re already in a familiar space. For many trauma survivors, that reduces anxiety and gives a sense of control.

If you feel overwhelmed, you can reach for a blanket, pause the session, or stay seated in a way that feels grounding. These small things help the work go deeper.

Focus stays with you

Because OEI uses your own body’s cues, you don’t need the therapist to be physically present. You can just notice what’s shifting in your own space.

I work online with OEI clients in Canada, US, and Australia. My clients get big shifts from working with visual pathways to healing trauma, which is why OEI therapy works just as well online—and sometimes even better, because there’s less distraction and more focus.

Let’s connect – online!