In addition to in-person services, we also provide telehealth services using Google Meet. Here are several tips to help you have the best experience with your session over video.
1.) Privacy: Just like when we meet in person at the office, confidentiality is of the utmost importance to ensure a safe experience, enable you to share private information, and make it easier to process your thoughts and feelings comfortably. Please attend your session in a quiet space where you can close the door. Some alternatives include sitting in a parked vehicle, where you can still access WiFi, or in a room placing a white noise machine by the door, just as we have at the office, to prevent noise transfer. No white noise machine? No problem! There are several white noise apps you can download to your phone. Using headphones also helps reduce the chances therapist’s voice can be heard by others.
2.) Connectivity: Sometimes, we can’t avoid the signal cutting out, but there a few things we can do to control it. Restart your computer before session, make sure there are no other tabs open, and if you have options, try meeting in a room closest to the modem. Additionally, you can try to plug in an Ethernet connection directly to your computer.
3.) Reduce distractions: Just as you wouldn’t surf the internet in an in-person session, try to avoid having other internet sites or email open during session to make the most out of our time together. Often times, you can set your device to do not disturb to reduce texts, calls, or emails that might be distracting or interrupt session.
4.) Teletherapy and Couples Therapy: Yes, therapy over video works for couples! We have successfully conducted sessions with partners in the same room or with partners in different locations.
5.) Teletherapy and Child Therapy: Yes, this is possible, too! We engage in a hybrid of parent work and individual child therapy time, depending on the child age. Using items in your home like, games, toys, as well as art supplies like crayons, markers, and a white board or paper, can work well to assist with the therapy process and assist with both acquiring coping skills and processing feelings.
6.) Many of our therapists are PSYPACT providers, which means they are a part of the interstate compact for psychologists, and allows them to provide psychological services across state lines in 42+ states and U.S. territories.
7.) Location Verification: Your therapist will ask you about the specific location from which you are calling at the start of your appointment, which your clinician will document.
8.) Miscellaneous: If you are attending session from a different state in which your therapist is not licensed, you are driving a motor vehicle, or you are not in a private location, your clinician will end the session, and you could be subject to a late cancelation fee.
Even if you’re not quite sure about it, we invite you to try one session and see how it feels. We have found that most folks feel much more comfortable with teletherapy by the end of session. We are also happy to address any barriers that are unique to your particular situation.
Take care,
Dr. Maria Hanzlik