How to Have an Awesome, Effective Virtual Session
Tips for call quality, what to cover, and how to get the most out of our time together.
Compassionate Counseling St. Louis always offers teletherapy options, including virtual video sessions and phone check ins, when you’re feeling sick and can’t make it into the office. Below we have a few suggestions to make sure your virtual session is as useful as can be.
Remember, this is just like a regular therapy session.
That means, if you’re on the phone, turn off notifications so you’re not getting interrupted by texts, emails, or updates. At home, try to remove as many distractions as possible and keep your door closed, and make sure that your privacy will be respected.
But, there are actually some bonuses you get from doing a virtual session.
If you feel comfortable with it and on your phone, you can walk outside during our session - just note that the video quality may go a little spotty so it usually works best if you’re doing a phone session. In house, you can meet with us in the comfort of your own room! And if you’re a kid, you get to show off all of your cool toys and games that normally your therapist just gets to hear about.
Tech recs:
Meeting on your computer, we recommend that you restart your whole system before session and close out any extra pages on your browser and any programs running in the background. Video quality is improved the closer you are to your router. And, keep your phone close by in case the video call drops, on your end or ours, and we need to move to a phonecall instead. Most importantly, use headphones. This helps to prevent sound feedback (that annoying whiny echo) and also ups the privacy of your counseling session.
We’ve also found that, on computers, doxy.me seems to work slightly better on google chrome than on other browsers. But our sample size is small, so give it a try on whatever you already have!
Our session outline is pretty much the same.
With parents, we usually spend the first 10 or so minutes checking in with you, and the rest of the time working one-on-one with your child. With young kids, it may be easier to shift to more parent consultation, with a briefer check in with your child. For older kids and teens, we’ll still be able to talk for the majority of our session time.
We’ll still be checking in on your week and answering specific questions you have. For some clients or parents, it’s helpful to keep a list of things you want to make sure we address and questions we can answer.
Instead of having you fill out the ORS and SRS, we’ll ask you to give us your score on a 1-10 scale of how you’re child is doing for the past week individually, with family stuff, with school, and overall. At the end of session, your child will still be able to tell us how our listening was, how important the session felt, how much they liked the approach, and the overall clinical fit.
For teens and college students who attend sessions independently, you’ll still be meeting one-on-one with your therapist, talking and processing what’s going on. It usually feels a little strange at first, but then you’ll slip right back into the easy back-and-forth that you’re used to.
We do need to make some modifications.
Obviously, in person we get to use markers, toys, play doh, etc. When we’re doing a virtual session, we’re all talk. Sometimes, it’s harder for us to catch body language or facial cues than when we meet in person, so in case we’re missing out on some important info, let us know.
We still incorporate creative tools in to our virtual work with your child. We might have your kiddo bring paper and markers to the desk when we’re meeting, so that they can still do some drawing, coloring, and writing. We have a whole list of conversation games that we like to use, like “Would You Rather,” “Name 10,” and “2 Truths and a Lie.” And, while we’re not teaching your child relaxation tools in person, we’re still able to demonstrate and practice effective coping skills.
Virtual sessions / Teletherapy / Telemental Health: Our Flexible Option For You
We want to provide you with a flexible option for when you can’t make it into the office. We have a strict cancellation policy, which is why we always offer to do a phone or video session or parent consultation in lieu of you our your child being unable to make it in.
Current clients can request teletherapy sessions from their therapist directly. If you’re a potential new client wanting to learn more about teletherapy here at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, you can set up your free phone screening right here.
Curious to learn more about counseling in St. Louis, MO. Wondering how teletherapy works for anxious kids, teens, and college students? Our therapists work with kids and teens throughout the St. Louis region, specializing in anxiety and anger management from age 4 on up. Set up your free phone screening at www.compassionatecounselingstl.com/consult.
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