Online Therapy Through HIPAA Compliant Zoom
Beginning online therapy: We can all imagine the traditional first visit with a therapist--one that involves a brief wait in a waiting room, then settling in to a comfortable chair to talk about what brings us to treatment at this time. For the moment, that time honored ritual is interrupted. This is for the good of your health and the good of the community as a whole.
But this does not mean first therapy sessions have ceased to happen, they are just happening in online therapy platforms. If you find yourself anxious or depressed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be considering talking to a therapist. You will discover that most therapists who traditionally see their clients in person are temporarily turning to online therapy. It is the socially responsible thing to do.
Some questions you might have:
Is online therapy effective? Online therapy has been in use for some years now. Begun as a means of providing treatment to rural communities, the evidence for its effectiveness is clear. For example, Wagner (2013) found online therapy was as effective for treating depression, and Harrison, Proudfoot, Wee and Parker (2011) found stress, anxiety, depression and overall psychological distress were significantly reduced after using a telephone based online treatment model. These results support the feasibility of implementing online therapy interventions, especially now, when meeting in person may place the health of our community at risk
Will online therapy work for me? We know that the X-factor in an effective psychotherapy is, in fact, the relationship. You’ll want to pay close attention to goodness of fit—how does it feel to engage with the therapist you are talking to? And while it may seem more difficult to assess this outside of a face-to-face setting, I want to reassure you that it is much easier than most people imagine.
My suggestion is that you proceed as you would with any new counseling relationship. Consider scheduling first appointments with more than one counselor, in order to assess fit. Pay attention to what it feels like to be in conversation with them. Are they deep listeners? Do they ‘get’ what you are trying to communicate? Do they work in the areas you are hoping to address?
In general, online therapy is considered effective. There are many treatments that have been provided online for some time, including online therapy for depression and anxiety.
Will my therapy stay online if it starts online? One of the challenges we are facing at this moment in time is that we don’t know how long we might be asked to socially distance ourselves. Because of this, it is difficult to know just when you might be invited to join your therapist in his or her physical office. If you are working with me in online therapy, you will certainly be invited to come to my Portland office for our appointments as soon as we can safely do that, but you may find that your own work schedule will make it more convenient to continue to meet with me via HIPAA compliant Zoom. We can work that out as the time comes.
Will my insurance reimburse me for online therapy? As the magnitude of the Corona Virus outbreak became clear, many of the country’s insurance companies have stepped up to the plate, agreeing that therapy is an essential service, and that for the time being they will pay for online therapy. If you plan to seek reimbursement for my services, I strongly encourage you to reach out to your insurance company to learn their reimbursement policy. If we work together, I will provide you with a superbill at the end of every month that will contain all of the information you’ll need to submit for reimbursement.
What to do next: If you are finding the ambiguity of this time difficult, if you are struggling with depression or anxiety, please feel free to contact me at 503-490-5793 to talk about beginning treatment online.