8 Things to Know Before Your First Online Therapy Session

The popularity of online therapy will continue to grow in the coming years as the upcoming generations begin to take their health-care into their own hands (the younger generations more-than-likely will prefer online video to in-person therapy). Also, people are becoming busier and getting to a physical location to have a session can prove difficult. Maybe you have kids, and the only time to squeeze in a session is when they are napping (insert whatever other barrier you can think of here).

We can’t let life get in the way of our mental health. If you are facing barriers to getting treatment because of your physical location, life circumstance or perhaps a specialist for what you need is nowhere nearby, online therapy is the answer.
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Personally, I prefer in-person, however I believe that online therapy is equally as effective as in-person, although I do both types of sessions. I believe a person who is seeking online therapy needs to have a certain comfort level in engaging in face-to-face video sessions virtually. If you are not comfortable with that in general, you may want to stick to finding a local therapist you can see in-person.

Let’s say you are looking to see a therapist via online video, here’s what you need to know ahead of time;

1. Make sure that you can carve out a time and location that you can have distraction-free, alone-time. This is your therapy and it’s important to treat it just the same as if you were coming in-person.
2. Whatever location you choose, make sure you have good wi-fi connection!
3. Treat it as though you were in-person. Try to close all browsers on whatever device you’re using, turn notifications off during that time and again minimize distractions that may surface.
4. Sit down and be prepared to stay tight for the entire session. It’s not the time to be cooking your dinner or driving, that is distracting and you won’t be able to get all you can out of therapy.
5. Give yourself about 10 minutes before your first session since you more-than-likely will have to sign up for an account your first time.
6. Commit to sessions just as you would commit to seeing someone in-person. Both you and your therapist are setting this time aside for your treatment, make sure to value that and prioritize this time.
7. Set a recurring reminder for yourself 15 minutes ahead of your regular session time. Sometimes, when you don’t have to drive somewhere, you can get distracted with other tasks and be late to your session or even miss it altogether!
8. Make sure that your therapist is using a HIPPA-Compliant platform to host video sessions. At this time, Skype or FaceTime are NOT HIPPA-Compliant. Using a non-HIPPA-Compliant platform may put your privacy and confidentiality at risk.

If you’re considering online therapy, I would say go for it! It can’t hurt and all that is between you and getting help is a Smart device!

I hope you found this post helpful! If you know anyone else who could benefit from reading this, please share with them. If you have any questions, concerns or requests for future posts, please leave a comment or message me privately.

I wish you wellness on your journey to finding your State of Balance!

Also, check out my Youtube Channel for more inspiration!

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