Telehealth Therapy
What Does Telehealth Therapy Look Like?
I get a lot of questions about what to expect in therapy. I'm hoping this will lay out the information for you so that you can understand my approach to the therapeutic environment.
Sessions
In the first session this is typically a get-to-know-you session. During this session I will ask you assessment questions looking at your history including questions about your previous mental health treatment, substance use, family, employment, education, and social. This is also a good time for you to ask me any questions you have and I welcome questions throughout our sessions. We tend to come up with a general treatment plan during this session often focused around decreasing your depression, anxiety, or other mental health symptoms, increasing your coping skills, developing healthier social supports, and developing routines. Throughout the sessions we may come up with homework in the sessions that focus on these things. Additionally I will at times send out links to websites, videos, podcasts, or books that I feel may be helpful or beneficial to you.
Frequency of Sessions
Sessions tend to be once a week or once every 2 weeks to start, we typically talk about this further in the first session. The goal will be to use the initial sessions to get an idea of your history and concerns so we have an idea on what you want to work on and begin developing rapport and helping you learn skills to better manage your emotions. Then at some point in the process we begin to drop down these sessions always talking about it prior, for example going from weekly to every 2 weeks then to every month then to every other month. Ultimately we want you to be able to stop therapy or attend only as needed as you've developed the skills and insight to manage your emotions without more frequent sessions.Â
Occasionally people will be in a crisis so twice weekly may be needed, these are typically rare situations and are time-limited. This is partly because of the way traditional insurances tend to reimburse and more importantly to keep you from developing an unhealthy dependence on the therapy. My goal is NOT to make you dependent on me in any way, I much prefer you to find independence within yourself and freedom from what could be an unhealthy reactivity to your emotions.
If more intensive services are needed there are Intensive Outpatient Programs and Partial Hospitalization Programs that offer several weeks to months of 3-4x weekly treatment programs. These programs are often offered by psychiatric hospitals and larger health centers. If at any point in time you feel you need these services we can talk about this or you can even self-refer yourself to such a program. If I feel such a program could be helpful I will bring it up as well.
Location of Therapy
All appointments are telehealth via Zoom. When I book them myself I do so through HelloAlma since they handle the billing for me. They should send you emails about the appointments with links and reminders. Use the HelloAlma email link to join the zoom session in this case.
If you choose to you can always book your own session via my Zoom Pro Scheduler (https://scheduler.zoom.us/jennifer-campbell/individual-sessions). When you book the session yourself Zoom will send you the link and will send you reminders. Since after you book the appointment I also schedule it on HelloAlma to help me with my billing process you may also get reminders from HelloAlma. Use the Zoom Pro Scheduler email link to join the session in this case.
If you have any problems joining the Zoom session feel free to text me at 314-390-9006 and I can share a link via text with you to join.
If you are using insurance to pay for your sessions you MUST enable your camera. Most insurances do not reimburse for sessions which are not audio and video. If you are private pay I prefer if you can enable your video and understand that there are sometimes technological issues that may prevent this.
