If you had asked me in 2019 if within the next year I would be specialized in providing virtual care to clients with a goal of making it accessible for everyone regardless of ability or location, I wouldn't have believed you. However, I am so happy I have found this path as I have discovered that it is immensely rewarding and effective!

With virtual therapy, there are of course benefits as well as challenges which are both important to understand before getting started. 

Benefits

I have found that many of my clients actually prefer virtual therapy even if they were hesitant and skeptical when we first started. Some of the benefits include: 
 

• Being able to work through some hard shit from the comfort of your own home; my clients who are working through trauma and emotionally challenging situations especially appreciate this as they don't have to worry about travelling after a difficult session. They also benefit from having the comforts of home with them for the session whether that be a pet, a blanket, a fidget, or something else.

• No commute to and from therapy means more time to yourself; this can be particularly helpful for folks who lead busy lives, folks who struggle with motivation, and anyone wanting to maximize the time in their day for other things such as work, family/friends, and hobbies.

• Traffic, weather, and parking aren't concerns.

• While I encourage everyone, including myself and my clients, to take the necessary time to rest when they are sick, sometimes we have lingering symptoms that might be contagious but have the energy to continue engaging in our daily activities. By doing therapy virtually, we can still proceed with sessions even if one of us has lingering cold symptoms such as a cough without the worry of spreading a cold to others if we are feeling well enough to engage. 

Challenges:

In the research completed on virtual therapy, it has been found to be as effective as in-person therapy which is great news. However, it is a different experience so it is important to acknowledge both the benefits and challenges.
 

• Because we are working digitally, it's possible we could lose connection mid-session due to issues with internet or technology. I have been lucky that I haven't experienced a single internet outage in four + years of doing this. On occasion, our connection might result in broken audio or video but if we both have a strong internet, I find this to be infrequent overall. I have upgraded my own internet package to the best available to help with the experience. I typically create a back-up plan with clients in which if connection is a problem we can proceed by phone while leaving our video active as a bonus or try a different video platform as I pay for access to three. 

• Given that hackers can get into NASA, it is always a possibility that a hacker could get into our virtual session. To mitigate this, I have chosen a platform that does not record or store any data from the call which means that, at the end of the call, the data from the call is destroyed and there's nothing left to hack into. The platform I use also uses an encrypted connection which means the call itself is protected as well. I also use a VPN to connect as well.

• When working through emotionally difficult content, it could be easier with virtual therapy to disconnect emotionally and distract yourself from the session because the person you're talking to isn't sitting in front of you - they are on a screen. Personally, I have not found this to be an issue for most of my clients.

Like in-person sessions there are pros and cons to completing virtual therapy. At this time, I find it is meeting my clients' needs. It is comfortable for them to do therapy from their own homes and it saves them a lot of time as they don't have to worry about commuting to and from the session. Because I also don't have to worry about commuting to and setting up an office space, it also means I have more time to dedicate to providing my clients the best availability and the best services possible. Further, providing virtual therapy also allows clients who may have difficulty finding quality services otherwise due to their location or ability connect with more options.

If you are interested in working with me, but have hesitations about virtual therapy please reach out with your questions and we can proceed with a free 15-minute phone consultation. 

What you can expect from me in a virtual session is the same as if we were doing walk & talk or in-office sessions, so if you have questions about how I practice in general, you can check that out here. To learn how to best prepare for a virtual session so you can get the most out of it, check this page out for tips and tricks.