Therapy on the Internet in 2012 (January Special Offer)
I have been saving this blog for the right time and now seems like a good time to talk about therapy on the internet. Why? It’s this time of the year that people write New Year’s Resolutions and start seeing a therapist to help them start anew in 2012. I can help you change your mindset to reach your goals!
When your therapist is only a click away
Several weeks ago the NY Times had an article in the newspaper about therapy on the internet; the pro’s and the con’s. Some of the pro’s were that you could be in the comfort of your own environment, you did’t have to look for parking and you could if you wanted to have anonymity. The con’s were as follows: anonymity :-), insurance, exploitation and confidentiality.
My work with clients online
The ability to be in the comfort of your own environment (I am not comfortable with my clients drinking martini’s while we in session), not having to drive and look for parking are definite pro’s of online therapy for sure. As the article stated this does work better for some diagnoses than others; i.e. you would want an alcoholic to come into your office. Other pro’s are that I can see individual clients or work with groups who live anywhere and because clients are in their own environment they feel comfortable and willing to share more than they would if they’d come into my office. I also have the ability to deal with spontaneous situations as they arise. For example, if I am working with a pro athlete who needs some fine tuning right before an event I have the ability to be able to do that.
Ethically speaking
The pro’s stated in the article are pro’s whether my client is online or in my office. Lets face it shading therapists are going to exploit and break confidentiality regardless of how they work with their client.
In my mind anonymity is not ethical and I would not personally allow it.
I would not do or allow anything to happen in an online session that would not happen in my office.
It works
Yes sometimes Skype goes out for a variety of reasons but my clients and I have dealt with that pretty effectively. We are all under the understanding that it’s not yet a perfect system. Bottom line is that online therapy is effect and does work. I’ve seen similar results with my online clients as I do with the clients that come to my office.
January offer
I already offer a free initial consultation but if you been thinking about therapy and haven’t known what to do, how to get started and couldn’t afford it, I am offering a special January rate: 4 Skype sessions for $300. That is half off my per session price.
Happy New Year! I can help you change your mindset to reach your goals!
Dr. Michelle
Photo credit: fstenbeck
