Online Therapy or Telemental Health
Why telemental health? |
Sometimes life gets in the way of getting to therapy - whether because of illness, being on bedrest, or having a newborn to care for. For clients that are used to meeting with me in the office, using telemental health as needed can make it easier to get consistent support.
For some pregnant and postpartum individuals, finding a therapist trained in perinatal mental health in your area (particularly outside of Seattle) can be a challenge so I also offer telemental health to adults in WA state who are pregnant or in the first "year-ish" postpartum so that you can have access to expert care and if we identify that ongoing long-term support is needed we'll evaluate if continuing with me online or finding a local therapist would best meet your needs. During the COVID19 crisis, I have moved my entire practice online - offering telemental health therapy to existing clients and new clients to cope with the stressors and challenges brought by the virus, staying at home, schools closing, working from home, unemployment, financial stressors, and balancing needs. |
Is it secure? |
To offer telemental health, I use a secure, HIPAA-compliant version of Zoom where they have signed a Business Associate Agreement acknowledging their responsibility for keeping your information secure and reporting security breaches involving personal healthcare information. Zoom does not have access to identifiable health information and protects and encrypts all audio, video, and screen sharing data with complete end-to-end 256-bit AES encryption. You can find more information about Zoom and HIPAA here: https://zoom.us/docs/doc/Zoom-hipaa.pdf
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Is it reliable? |
Zoom can be used on a mobile phone, tablet or computer with an Internet connection. If your Internet connection isn't strong, you have a lot of programs or apps running at the same time, or a lot of people are using it at the same time, it can get glitchy like any video conferencing software, but I chose Zoom for sessions because of its ability to provide high quality video conferencing, even in low-bandwidth environments. While it rarely happens, if we're noticing lots of interruptions we have the option of turning off the video and just using audio, or turning off the audio and talking on the phone while we still use the video of Zoom. There are some things you can do to help outlined here: https://personcenteredtech.com/tmh/clients/.
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Is it the same as in-person? |
It's definitely not going to be the same as meeting in person in the office, but more and more I think we're getting used to using video conferencing at work and FaceTime or Skype to connect with family and friends. There's good evidence that therapy delivered via telemental health is effective and that clients find it helpful. We can discuss the benefits and risks of telemental health for your situation together.
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What if I don't feel natural doing online therapy? |
I get it. The first few times I did sessions online I was nervous too, but actually thought they went much better than I expected! And the more we do telemental health, the more comfortable we get.
Before the session make sure you have
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Where do I go for online sessions? |
You'll always go to https://zoom.us/my/laurieganberglicsw and will enter the "waiting room" and then I'll "admit" you to the meeting at our appointment time. If you run into any problems, please call me at 425-434-5594.
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What about kids who are at home, too? |
I'm used to doing therapy with babies in session and I completely understand the challenges of childcare. Infants and mobile babies are welcome - if you need to feed, stand and bounce, or keep an eye on the kiddo, we can make it work. If older children need to be in the room with you, I recommend considering headphones for you and for them to give you a little added privacy. I'm happy to troubleshoot with you to make sure you can get the support you need.
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