Everything You Need to Know About Virtual Therapy Appointments

Do you feel like it is difficult to find time for yourself? Do you find that your schedule just won’t allow for regular appointments with a therapist? If so, virtual therapy appointments may be the solution. Virtual therapy is an innovative form of mental health treatment that allows people access to professional psychotherapy or counseling without leaving their home. It has many benefits:

• You don’t have to worry about scheduling conflicts because you can get in touch at any time of day
• You don’t have to leave the comfort of your own living room and there’s no need for travel expenses
• You choose whether you want a video chat or phone call based on what works best for your busy life

Increased Flexibility

Traditional therapy is usually scheduled during 9–5 business hours, which doesn’t always work for everyone. With virtual therapy, you can schedule an appointment at any time of day that works best with your schedule!

Some therapists offer phone consultations too, so if the face to face interaction is difficult due to software cost or connectivity constraints, a voice call may be better suited for you.

Virtual therapy takes away the need to leave your home and compromises in other areas like transportation and scheduling conflicts are no longer an issue because they’re all done online. The freedom this provides can make it easier to heal from mental health issues such as anxiety disorders, depression symptoms, PTSD triggers or more serious conditions like bipolar disorder that often make leaving home an unneeded cause of stress.

Since there’s less pressure on when sessions happen (or how many), people have found greater relief through virtual therapy.

Location is Important

Just like with an in-person appointment, you want to find a quiet place with plenty of space.

It is important to find a place with privacy and good lighting when you have your virtual therapy session. The location should be comfortable, quiet, and free from distractions so that both the therapist and client can focus on their work in progress without being interrupted by things such as noise or light levels which may make it hard for one person to get into deep thought processes.

Bring Your Notes

In order to get the most of your therapy appointments, you’ll want to have your notes from the last appointment. If you cannot remember what was said during that meeting, you may tend to bring up old topics again and again forgetting the progress you made last.

It’s important to bring any notes or thoughts with you when coming in for virtual therapy appointments so you can work on them together as needed without having to repeat everything that has happened before then.

Review Your Progress at Each Appointment

You may need an extra session if things seem harder than expected, but this is part of the path towards success.

Each session may include reviewing your progress, looking at specific strategies or techniques for dealing with problems that come up again and discussing how to handle them next time they occur. It is important to take some time after each meeting to process everything said and done so you can continue from where you left off at the last appointment.

What If You Are Struggling With Your Outlook?

A common question therapists get asked by clients during initial sessions is whether it’s possible in therapy for someone who has struggled with depression or other mood disorders their whole life can ever feel better about themselves?”

It’s true that many virtual therapy clients have made impressive progress towards reducing symptoms and increasing their quality of life, but that doesn’t mean everyone can or will feel better.

In fact, for many people who are struggling with depression and mood disorders, it may be a long process to get where they want to go. Therapy isn’t always quick-fix magic!

There is no timeline really in therapy when someone suddenly feels like everything in the world has been resolved or “fixed”. It depends on the individual. It’s important during virtual appointments not just for you as a client to take some time after each meeting to process everything said and done so your therapist can continue from where they left off during the last appointment and keep an even keel going forward together.”

It May Take Some Time to Adjust

We get it- at first it can take some getting used to! Whether it’s your first time attending a therapy session or you’ve been attending for years, seeing a therapist on a screen is something to get used to.

It may take some time for you to adjust, but we’re sure that once you do it will be a wonderful experience.

If your virtual therapy appointment is just not working out and you need something different, there are other options! You can always request another therapist or change the day of the week.

Legal Concerns — Is it HIPPA Compliant?

There have been many changes in the medical world as a result of the pandemic. As a result, the law has changed to more closely align with virtual therapy.

A HIPAA compliant company will have procedures in place to protect all of your personal information and any other details that you may share during virtual therapy sessions (such as your social security number). The therapist that is seeing you for your appointments must also be licensed by their state.

Are You An Employer?

Many businesses are finding there’s a cost savings associated with virtual practice management and telemedicine services like virtual therapy sessions. Copays tend to be lower and there are innovative add-on employee benefits that can make sure your employees have access to these innovative care options.