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Q:
What
is psychotherapy/therapy/counseling?
A:
It can be
one or several supportive, interactive conversations with me. I ask questions,
make observations or suggestions about what you see as problems and we work out
together what you can do to get what you want in your life.
Q:
How is online counseling or cyber-counseling different
from regular psychotherapy?
A:
It has the
same goal and approach as in psychotherapy but it is different in two important
ways. The first is that supportive sessions are via what’s called encrypted
email which keeps others from being able to read what’s being “said” so the
email remains confidential.
The second
difference is that online counseling cannot replace psychotherapy or
face-to-face therapy because of the limitations of this form of counseling. It
may not be the best type of medium for you or the challenges you want to explore
with me…you’ll get to answer a series of questions at a point in the process of
signing up which will guide you to the best option for you.
Q:
How
does it work or what’s the process?
A:
Our first
conversation is to talk about what you expect from this so that you get the most
out of our time. It's also about finding out if you’d like to work with me. Then
in the first few sessions, I get to know you, about your family or job or
whatever makes sense to tell me and what's been happening with you.
Q:
How much can I “tell” you in an email or how
much do I write?
A:
If your message is long it will
probably take an hour or more to read and to respond to in a way that does it
justice. I’d summarize what I see as the key points then respond to what seems
the most pressing. Another email would probably be necessary upon your reply so
that would take us into another session.
It’s like a face-to-face
appointment with you where I would wait for a considerate moment to tell you
that “Your time is up” and schedule the next appointment to continue.
Q:
What if I can’t email you or you can’t email
me because of computer/internet connection problems?
A:
You mean we’d be experiencing “technical difficulties”? Then
we go to Plan B, use the telephone to leave a brief message that this is
the reason for the delay and there is no charge to you because this counts as a
“clarification contact”.
Q:
How about if the emergency I have is
not a technical one but related to what we’re working on?
A:
The way we’d handle that is
with the understanding that you would first send an email and then follow it up
with a phone message. I would then return your phone message.
We would handle it pretty much
the same way if you “said” that something we’d “talked” about had created a
major misunderstanding. I’d send you an email then follow it up with a phone
message. You then have the option to respond via return phone message or via
email with no charge.
Q:
How
do I know that you’re the therapist for me?
A:
This may
depend on a few things you should consider. Let’s take a look
at the following.
Q:
What
are your credentials?
A:
I
am licensed in the state of Florida to provide clinical psychotherapy. My
undergraduate degree and graduate degrees are from the University of Western
Ontario and University of Toronto respectively.
I have also completed a
five month certificate course in online counseling accredited through the
University of Toronto.
Q:
Are you
experienced in your profession?
A:
I have more
than 20 years of experience in the mental/behavioral health and medical health
fields. I provide counseling to individuals, couples, seniors, families, and
groups; gay and straight and all different races and cultures. Many of the
issues ( just to name a few), are related to loneliness, depression, anxiety,
anger management, self esteem and self confidence, family or marital conflict,
job stress, substance addiction, grief and loss and post-traumatic stress.
Q:
Do
you have a particular style or approach in counseling?
A:
I help you
look at what's happening in your life by having you look at what you're thinking
about the situation and why. Then we see how those thoughts may be making you
feel good or bad. Lastly, we check out your behavior or reactions and get to
better ways of dealing with things. I'll be right there with you, putting in a
little humor here or there; calling you on your stuff and letting you know what
I think. Then, you take your “home-work” and work on it until the next
time we speak. After all, only practice makes ( nearly ) perfect!
Q:
Can appointments
be scheduled for my convenience?
A:
Appointments are usually once a week. At times of emergency, more frequent
appointments may be scheduled.
Online appointments are again a
little different: you email me which begins the session and I respond three days
later which ends that session. In my response I’ll give you a timeline in which
to respond to my email if you wish to. It’s important for you to respond then
because I’d schedule the date to read and reply to you then just as I would
create time to sit, wait and speak to you in a face-to-face office.
Q:
What
happens if I have to miss an appointment ( or a timeline for me to respond by) ?
A:
Then we reschedule and if 2
consecutive timelines are missed a percentage of the full fee will be charged to
you for my rescheduled response
except in an emergency,
Q:
Does my insurance cover this type of
counseling?
A:
Most
likely, it does not at this time but there is no harm in checking with them
especially if you have chosen this type of counseling because you are out of
area or the country, travel a lot, cannot get around or out easily due to
disability or illness or therapists are not easily available in your area.
Q:
How much does
online counseling cost?
A:
An online
session begins when I receive your first email describing your challenges and
ends when I reply to it and you’d pay per session just as with face-to-face
therapy appointments.
Each session costs US$85. per session ( not per hour). Sometimes in between those emails, there are “clarification contact
emails”( two as an allowable maximum) for which you will not be charged especially as you learn how to
use this medium. After the second one, usually 25 or 50 % of the full
fee will be charged for
responses depending on their length.
I’ve
counseled many people over the years and I know that it takes time to get to the
heart of things so I do offer some cost effective suggestions such as:
(i) one month of unlimited
TherapEmail messages for a fixed fee. Or
(ii) you pay for 4 consecutive
sessions and get 50% off the next session. Or
(iii) you pay for 2 months and
get one additional
session free which can be used anytime within 6 months of the last session
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