How to Get the Most Out of Teletherapy

Teletherapy allows you to stay connected to your therapist and receive support from the comfort of your own home. We’ve designed our services with your convenience in mind so that we can ensure a streamlined and valuable therapy experience. We offer secure and flexible HIPAA-compliant telehealth sessions to our clients.

It’s common to feel unsure about what to expect from your first teletherapy session. We’ve put together some helpful tips to help put your mind and ease and make sure you get the most out of your first meeting:

Getting started is easy

1. Browse therapists: Browse our selection of licensed practitioners. Learn more about the services they specialize in by reading their bios.

2. Submit your insurance: Submit your insurance information directly through our website so that we can verify your benefits,

3. Have your free consult: Fill out and sign necessary forms in your client portal. Your therapist will contact you to discuss your concerns and goals for therapy. Book here.

4. Schedule your first session: Schedule your appointments and send secure messages to your therapist through your client portal.

Teletherapy allows you to stay connected to your therapist and receive support from the comfort of your own home.

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Tips to ensure a great first session

• Create a Private Environment. Identify a suitable room or area of your home that is quiet, private, and free of distractions.

• Eliminate Noise & Distractions. Make sure to close any doors, shut windows, turn off the television, and keep loud pets in another room if possible. Unless you’re using your phone for the session, consider turning it on silent and setting it aside.

• Improve Sound Quality. Consider using headphones if there’s background or ambient noise where you are. This will improve the sound quality and make it easier for you and your therapist to hear each other.

• Check Your Video. If you plan to use video during your session, make sure there’s ample lighting so that your therapist can see you clearly.

• Identify Goals. Think about what you want to get out of therapy. Do you need help working through a specific stressful situation or are you hoping for a more long-term relationship where you can explore issues as they arise? Identify what you’d like to gain or accomplish through the therapy process so together you and your therapist can track your progress towards success.

• Relax & Trust the Process. Get comfortable and enjoy getting to know your therapist. Good therapy is about relationship building. The more comfortable, candid, and honest you can be during your session the better your therapist will be able to help. Your therapist will guide you through the process to ensure a productive session.

Common Client Questions

Q: What’s the best way for me to connect to my therapist?
A: Discuss your preferred contact method with your therapist prior to your session. Our therapists are flexible and able to connect with you via phone or on a variety of encrypted,  HIPPA-compliant platforms including Spruce, Simple Practice, or doxy.me. Let us know what works best for you and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

Physical distance doesn’t have to mean emotional isolation.

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Q. How do sessions work?
A. After you schedule your free 30 minute phone consultation with a therapist of your choice, you’ll receive a confirmation email of your appointment with some forms to review. Once you’ve submitted your completed forms, your therapist will contact you on your appointment date at the scheduled time. To book future sessions, you can simply schedule your appointments through your client portal. Your therapist will be able to contact you through the preferred method of your choice (Telehealth platform, phone call, etc).

Q: Is Teletherapy private and confidential?
A: We are serious about protecting your privacy. Just like a face-to-face appointment, your Teletherapy visit is private and confidential. Therapists are bound by strict federal privacy regulations and cannot release information about you to anyone without your written permission.

Q: Will the appointments be recorded?
A: None of our appointments are ever recorded or stored.

Q: What online platform do you use? What is SimplePractice?
A: SimplePractice, LLC is our practice management software for scheduling, case management, Teletherapy, and documentation. The platform uses a HIPAA compliant software which ensures your information is secure.

Have more questions? Check out our F.A.Q.

What can I do to improve the quality of my internet connection? Here are some steps you can take that can improve your connection quality:

• Move closer to your router if you experience a choppy audio and video connection. If your connection doesn’t improve you can try using wired ethernet instead of wifi. Wired internet will provide more consistent internet quality.

• Test your connection speed. Test your connection by searching “internet speed test and using a free tool like www.speedtest.net. If it’s under 10mbps and you’re using wifi, try connecting your ethernet or restarting your router.

• Close programs running in the background. If you have other programs running in the background, closing them should improve your overall connection quality. Make sure you’re not downloading any large files as this can also impede your connection.

If you’re feeling nervous before your meeting these are some proactive steps you can take to ease your anxiety and ensure a successful first session. Just remember, your therapist is a trained professional who is here to help you. 

While each therapist has their own philosophy and theoretical background, the therapist’s goal is to provide a collaborative and non-judgemental environment that allows you to harness your inner resilience to improve your quality of life.

We look forward to meeting you where you are.