SAJE Education Services is a program specifically designed  to bring self-awareness, psychoeducation, practical, proven strategies and techniques to Adults, Teens and Children who struggle with Attention Deficit, Autism and/or Executive Functions.   

Click here to visit the SAJE website or call 410.314.SAJE.

Teletherapy

Teletherapy may be an option for clients who are not be able to come to our office.  Teletherapy is not a substitute for face-to-face therapy.  Individuals considering teletherapy must be in the state of Maryland for the therapy session.  Many insurance companies will pay for teletherapy. Positive Changes Counseling Center's therapists are trained and eager to offer support and guidance through teletherapy.

 

Online Consent for Teletherapy

 

What is Teletherapy & The Benefits of Online Therapy

(adapted from an article written by Elaine Mead, BSc; online positivepsychology.com)

For most people, we understand the benefits and sometimes the necessity of seeking out therapy. It can be a rewarding and valuable experience, helping us to overcome challenges and barriers in life we might not be able to face on our own.

Unfortunately, seeking out therapy is still something many people find difficult for several reasons. Whether it’s the lingering social stigma of needing support with our mental health or simply finding the time and capacity to sit down with a therapist.

Introducing teletherapy .

In our increasingly digitally connected world, we’re finding new ways to connect. Therapy is yet another area that has caught on to the power of digital connection and is already using it to help more people access the support they need.

What is Teletherapy?

Goode and Shinkle (2019) created the following definition of teletherapy:

“Teletherapy is the online delivery of speech, occupational, and mental health therapy services via high-resolution, live video conferencing.”

Teletherapy, also known as online therapy, e-therapy , or video therapy , is therapy delivered through a virtual platform via a computer. If you’ve ever used FaceTime or Skype, it’s essentially the same thing – except more secure and with a qualified therapist or counselor at the other end instead of a distant friend or relative.

While it has grown in availability over the last few years, teletherapy has been around since the 1990s in the United States and is considered a highly effective method for therapy delivery.

Who is Teletherapy For?

Teletherapy is beneficial for a range of people, for a diverse set of circumstances or experiences, including speech therapy, occupational therapy, and mental health therapy.

It has been used for regular one-to-one therapy sessions but also used in group therapy sessions to support aging individuals diagnosed with HIV (Heckman et al., 2014). Another way teletherapy has been used has been in the delivery of behavioral training to caregivers of young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Tse et al., 2015).

It is worth noting that teletherapy will not prove beneficial for all individuals in all circumstances. Many therapists recommend this as the first step towards therapy, especially for those seeking it for the first time and encourage participants to have open conversations with their therapist over whether this is the best pathway of support for them (Novotney, 2017).

How Do Online Therapy Sessions Work?

Teletherapy sessions work much the same way as traditional therapy sessions with only one significant difference – the therapist and the client are not in the same room.

Sessions are scheduled at an appropriate and suitable time and day for each party, who then log-in via an agreed, secure video platform. The therapist and client can see and hear each other in real-time during the session via the use of webcams and headsets. Through this virtual environment, they can interact with each other, and the therapist uses the same traditional techniques and activities they would use in a face-to-face therapy session (Goode and Shinkle, 2019).

As with face-to-face therapy, a client may only seek out the therapist for one session to deal with a current life situation, or they may agree to on-going sessions.

Are Teletherapy Sessions Private?

Therapists are ethically and legally bound by privacy laws to not share details about their teletherapy sessions with third parties, just as with face-to-face sessions. Therapists must ensure they are in a private and secure room before engaging in any teletherapy sessions. Sessions should not be recorded or shared, unless with explicit agreement from the patient.

From the patient end, it is also down to them to ensure they conduct their end of the session in an equally private area to ensure their confidentiality.

Some therapists have argued that teletherapy is more private than traditional face-to-face sessions, where patients who know each other have the potential to bump into each other on the premises where therapy takes place.

In terms of the security of the software used, therapists utilizing teletherapy must use specialized software that is fully encrypted, offering a high level of security and privacy. Any software that therapists use for telepsychology must be approved by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( HIPAA ). This is legislation that ensures data privacy and security for safeguarding medical information, including therapy.

Is Teletherapy as Effective as Face to Face Therapy?

How effective teletherapy is, really depends on the individual and their reasons for seeking therapy. Since it first began to be used as a treatment method more than 20 years ago, psychological research has explored the different ways teletherapy has been used, and it’s effectiveness.

Overall the research does support that teletherapy is just as effective as traditional face-to-face therapy for a range of circumstances.

A few key studies include:

  • Wagner, Horn, and Maercker (2013) explored the benefits of teletherapy for supporting patients diagnosed with depression. Sixty-two patients were randomly assigned to two groups – one receiving teletherapy and the other receiving more traditional face to face therapy. The patients received eight sessions each, and at the end of their sessions, the group who received teletherapy showed a slightly higher percentage of reporting fewer depressive thoughts and feelings. After three months, the teletherapy group continued to report a decrease in depressive thoughts and feelings, compared to those treated traditionally who reported a minimal decrease.
  • Acierno et al. (2014) studied the benefits of teletherapy for use in therapy with veterans experiencing PTSD. They worked with 132 veterans, asking them to complete a scale to measure PTSD and then randomly assigned them to one of two groups to receive 10-12 sessions of either face to face therapy or teletherapy. After three months and six months, respectively, the participants were asked to complete the PTSD scales again. At both points, the researchers found that those who were treated via teletherapy showed similar improvement to those treated face-to-face.
  • Mitchel et al. (2008) worked with trained therapists to see if teletherapy could be effective with the treatment of patients experiencing bulimia nervosa. One hundred twenty-eight adults diagnosed with bulimia nervosa took part in the study and were randomly assigned to receive therapy either face-to-face or via teletherapy. Participants were asked to report if they were still participating in bingeing and purging behaviors after the initial sessions ended, three months later and twelve months later. The researchers found extremely minimal differences in recovery between the two groups.

Research to date shows very promising effectiveness for teletherapy, however many therapists stress that one of the critical components for successful therapy is the relationship between patient and therapist, and in-person connections can be vital for successful treatment. For individuals who experience difficulty forming relationships or struggle with social interaction, traditional face-to-face therapy could be more beneficial in overcoming these challenges.

 

Shot of someone's legs with paper arrows surrounding them

4 Benefits of Teletherapy for Patients

Aside from its equal effectiveness as a therapy treatment, there are many other benefits to teletherapy for patients seeking it out. A few notable ones include:

 

1. Accessible to More People

For individuals living in rural communities, living with a disability that makes travel difficult, or those who are just unsure about trying therapy for the first time, teletherapy is a highly beneficial option. Teletherapy removes many of the barriers – physical, emotional, or mental – towards seeking out therapy and makes it accessible for more people.

Research has found that those who participate in teletherapy are also more likely to seek out face-to-face therapy as a result of a positive experience (Jones et al., 2014).

 

2. Offers Greater Flexibility

It’s easy to put off attending therapy when sessions are offered during limited office hours. For many people who already have a lot of commitments to juggle, seeking out this form of support can easily be bumped down the priority list. When a therapist can be readily available at a time that suits the patient, it offers greater flexibility and could even encourage more people to seek the right support when they need it most.

 

3. Reduced wait times

It might seem like a small benefit, but increased flexibility also means reduced waiting times for patients wanting to speak with a therapist urgently or for the first time. It can take a lot of courage making an appointment for therapy, and the less time someone has to wait, the more likely it will be they’ll follow through and get the help they need.

Taking time off from work to battle traffic while going to the therapist, wasting even more time in the waiting room, having the session, and then battling traffic to return to work, is also a huge deterrent to many. Being able to brew a quick coffee, step into a private room for the scheduled therapy session, and ready to return fairly soon to ‘work-mode’ is a much more viable solution for many office workers.

 

4. Creates a Safer Environment

That feeling of anxiety many experiences when sitting in the waiting room of the dentist or doctor surgery? It’s the same anxiety experienced when waiting for a therapy session. The process of going to a new environment to meet with a therapist can be a stressful one. Teletherapy alleviates this stress by allowing patients to familiarize themselves with the process in the comfort of their own home.

 

How do I connect with my clinician for Teletherapy?

Positive Changes Counseling Center uses Google Meet as a Teletherapy platform. Using Google meet is simple. Your clinician will email you a link to a meeting room. If you are on a computer, just click on the link and your browser will open to the meeting. If you are asked to allow access to your computer's camera and microphone, click accept or allow. If you are using an iOS device like an iPhone or iPad, search in the App Store for Google Meet or click here. If you are using an Android device, search in the Play Store for Google Meet or click here. Install the app. When you click on the meeting link in the email you receive from your clinician, the app will automatically launch.

 

A few tips:

  • Google Meet works best if you download and install Google Chrome.
  • If you are using a Chromebook and it is the property of or managed by a school or business, you will have to open a private browsing tab in order to connect with us. This is because many organizations block the use of your organization based account when connecting with accounts outside of the organization.
  • Sometimes, organizations still block the use of Meet in a private browsing tab. If this happens to you, you will have to use another device or ask your IT Administrator for their assistance in "connecting with Google Meet to someone outside of our domain."
  • Google Meet will be smoother if you have a strong WiFi connection or are using a computer connected with an ethernet cable.