Video Therapy
We want to make our services as accessible as possible. Teletherapy might be a good option if you:
want to easily make therapy part of your lunch break
are juggling child care or elder care
have physical disabilities that make travel difficult
live out of driving distance
don’t want to deal with traffic
We offer individual, family, and relationship counseling through teletherapy. Please note that all participants must be in Washington State at the time of the session.
Teletherapy is often a great alternative to coming for in person counseling. Our intake coordinator works with you to complete paperwork and answer any logistical questions so you are ready to go for your first appointment with your therapist. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions:
So if I do want to try video sessions, what do I need to do to get ready?
Not much, actually! Here is some direction:
For our sessions, we use a HIPAA-compliant telehealth application, TeleHealth by SimplePractice, which is designed exactly for online therapy and works great. We’ll send you an email that has a link you click from your computer, phone, or tablet to start your online therapy session. A reminder email will also be sent to you 10 minutes before your scheduled appointment, which also has the link for your session.
If you are doing your session from a computer: All you do is click the link contained in the email sent to you, or the reminder email, when your session is scheduled to start. The rest of the prompts from that point on are self-explanatory and easy. Your computer must have a microphone and a camera.
If you are doing your session from a smartphone or tablet: Ahead of your first session, do a one-time download of the Telehealth by SimplePractice (for iOS or Android) app from either the app store or the Google Play store. Then, just like when joining from a computer (mentioned above), just click the link contained in the email sent to you, or the reminder email you receive 10 minutes before your session.
Here are some common questions you may find helpful:
Q. Does health insurance cover teletherapy?
Almost all insurances do cover teletherapy, sometimes even with a reduced co-pay. Please contact us and we are happy to check your benefits.
Q. Is telehealth private?
Just like our face-to-face appointments, your telehealth visit will be private and confidential from our side.
Q. Where is the best place to do a video session?
Try to choose a place that is private and away from household members, coworkers, pets, and other potential distractions. Try to be somewhere that is well-lit (moving a lamp to behind your computer/phone can do it) and relatively quiet (using headphones helps, as does shutting doors & windows).
Q. Can we do couples or family therapy in the online format?
Absolutely! You can choose to either be in the same room and connect to the session from the same computer, or you can connect from separate computers.
That’s all there is to it!
Please don’t hesitate to call or email your therapist with any other questions, as we welcome demystifying this online therapy process for you, or troubleshooting if there is a particular challenge.
An added bonus of teletherapy: you’re welcome to have your sessions while comfortably in pajamas.
