Please contact me if you would like to schedule a teletherapy appointment. All video chat appointments are conducted through a HIPAA compliant telemedicine platform.

What to expect?

1. Contact me to setup a brief 10-15 phone consultation to determine if teletherapy is a good fit for you.
2. If teletherapy is an appropriate option and we decide to start working together, forms will be sent to you to be completed electronically through a secure platform. The forms will include information about confidentiality, informed consent, benefits and challenges of tele-mental health, private practice policies, and more.
3. On the day of your appointment, it is recommended that you sign on 5 minutes before our scheduled time to get the most out of your 50 minutes.
4. Payment is due at time of each scheduled appointment. Credit card payments will be made using Stripe, a Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant secure credit card processor.

Suggestions for teletherapy

The benefit of teletherapy is that it makes therapy more accessible to patients worldwide. In the U.S., therapists are only allowed to provide therapy to individuals in states where the therapist holds an active license. Although this is a limitation, the possibility to engage in therapy with a therapist of your choice is more available than anytime in history.

There are costs to consider. When engaging in therapy via video chat, a lot of information is lost. For instance, non-verbal communication, posture, physical disabilities, gait and motor coordination, etc. can be missed when using video chat. As such, for some patients, video chat may not be the best option for therapy.

Another cost is the absence of physical space.  For many people, having a physical office space that they can travel to is important. The physical space creates a sense of privacy and safety that many value. The act of traveling to the therapy office can also be meaningful (e.g. looking forward to driving alone to therapy, taking a walk to the office, grabbing a beverage to bring to session, etc.).

Lastly, on occasion, connectivity can be an issue. Dropped calls, frozen images, loss of audio, etc. may occur and can be disruptive to the flow of therapy. As magical as the internet is, it is imperfect.

If teletherapy is something you would like to try, I would recommend the following:

1. Create a ritual. For example, make a cup of tea and/or journal before your video session. Take a walk after the session to reflect. A routine activity can help you settle into the therapy time.
2. Safe space. Find a quiet place where you will have privacy for the entire duration of your session. Privacy is key to feeling safe and safety is integral to engaging in therapy.
3. Consistency. To the best of your ability, try to choose the same space for every video session.
4. Movement. Be aware of camera movement especially if you’re holding a phone or are setting a laptop on your lap. This can be a distraction in session.
5. Awareness. Be thoughtful of what can be seen on the screen. For example, wear appropriate clothing that you would wear if you were to travel outside of your home to attend therapy. Be attentive of what else can be seen on your screen in the background.
6. Consent. In D.C. and the State of California, it is illegal to record confidential information without all parties’ consent. Please do not record or snap photos or screenshots of our sessions without my consent.

These are a few ideas to help you create a sense of sacredness to your teletherapy experience. If you are interested in finding out more information, please contact me. For information about therapy in general, click here.