Why I Believe in Telehealth

I was in the middle of my graduate school training when the Covid-19 global pandemic forced everyone into lockdown. It was a challenging time for clinicians and clients alike, but humans are creative and adaptive creatures and we quickly pivoted to online care. To my surprise, the shift was mostly seamless, and my colleagues and I just felt grateful that we could continue to serve our clients during an unprecedented time of ongoing uncertainty. Along the way, we became more savvy about how best to utilize technology and when things began to return to in-person, I made the decision to stay remote and become a full-time telehealth clinician on Zoom.

Here's what I observed over the last 3 years:

• I can be as effective at what I do on Zoom as I can in-person. In fact, I can serve more clients online than I can in an office, helping to address the shortage of mental healthcare workers, which feels very gratifying to me.

• My clients are happy not to have the stress of commuting in traffic, finding and paying for parking, or arranging supervision for children or their loved ones who have dementia or are at end-of-life.

• You can drop into a session with little to no disruption to the flow of your day – a 50 minute appointment takes 50 minutes out of your day instead of 2 hours.

• If you’ve ever been depressed, you know that simply showering and leaving the house can feel overwhelming. Stay on your couch and cuddle your dog during session – I love dogs.

• I also found that when my clients were in their natural environment, they were more vulnerable with me, expressed emotions more readily, and had to cancel less frequently because going to therapy was easier for them.

• Research is demonstrating the efficacy of telehealth, as seen in this review from 2019 which found that video therapy is as effective in treating conditions like anxiety, depression, PTSD, and adjustment disorder as in-person therapy.

Are you ready to make the decision to start telehealth sessions with me? I’d be happy to talk with you about your particular situation in a complementary 15-20 minute telephone conversation. If we’re a good fit, we can get started right away.