5 Tips on Engaging in Telehealth

Since our office will continue to offer solely telehealth therapy sessions for the foreseeable future due to the current pandemic, I wanted to share some tips about how to help yourself or your child/teen get the most out of their session.

While some people have been reluctant to try out telehealth (video) therapy sessions – including us as therapists – we have noticed that overall we have been able to adapt our sessions to work well using video as our platform.

We think that it will help you out to also try to follow some of these tips and suggestions!

• Just give it a try – Even if you are feeling reluctant to engage in video sessions, I would encourage you to try at least one to see if you might like it more than you think. For example, I had always preferred to have in person visits with my clients and even my own therapist, but in this situation, it has been such a blessing not to have to worry about the possibility of one of us being sick or spreading the virus amongst us. I have been grateful to be able to continue working with my therapist and my clients despite the health risks of being in an office together! My clients have said the same thing, that while they would prefer in person sessions, this is the best path forward for now and meets their needs just as well as in person sessions.
• Finding a private space before session – Since privacy can also be a challenge in some families’ homes, make sure to figure out where you will have your session so that you do have privacy for the session. Feel free to get creative too – we have families who are having sessions in a car, on a walk, closet, or who are using music or white noise to help drown out their voices and keep their information private. Even for younger clients, we recommend they have privacy for their sessions.
• Set up your space ahead of time – It will always be helpful if you can make sure to find a comfortable place for your session prior to the session. Making sure that you are settled in and have water and anything you might need will help you stay focused during the session. Along these lines, it is helpful to try to minimize distractions prior to beginning. Maybe you can turn off notifications on your phone or computer and make sure you are in a quiet space.
• Make sure you have charged your devices – While this might sound basic, make sure to have your devices charged and maybe even have a back up one handy just in case. While our technology is working well most of the time, it is not perfect so having a phone as a backup option might be a good idea in case the video is not working properly at first. If we are having technical issues, please be patient as we are all working on this together! Please also communicate any challenges you are feeling about technology or video sessions with your therapist. While we do not plan to offer in person sessions anytime soon, we are open to feedback about how to make video sessions more effective!
• Check in with us about your child or teen – It is certainly strange for us to be working with kids and teens in such a private setting as we are often used to checking in briefly with parents prior to or at the end of session. Even just a quick hello in the waiting room was nice to make sure we were connected to the whole family. If you are feeling disconnected from your child’s therapist, make sure to reach out to them to talk about it and find a way to check in. I have some families who email me in between sessions and others where I call the parent for the last 15 minutes of the session to check in. We would rather find a plan that works for you to feel supported and connected than for you to feel frustrated or unhappy about how things are going.

While the pandemic has certainly been difficult to adjust to and manage for all of us, we at Thrive are so grateful for our clients and ability to support them during this difficult time. If you are struggling with stress, anxiety, depression, parenting, or how you are adjusting to the pandemic, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of us for help. These are truly unprecedented and unpredictable times in our world and I believe that going through it less alone will help.