Telehealth In Utah

Telehealth in Utah for anxiety, depression, marriage problems, pornography issues or even couples therapy can be effective. During the last few years at the Center for Couples and Families we have offered online counseling sessions for many Utah clients (Related Article: How Utah Telehealth Counseling Works). I’d like to share with you how to get the most out of therapy for relational problems or individual issues through Telehealth in Utah. These ideas come from what we have learned offering video sessions. Review these techniques that can make your experience better and more effective. 

The Difficulty With Telehealth From Home

When you are doing Telehealth for therapy the trap is to treat it differently. You are at home, you don’t have to drive into a therapist’s office, or your kids and animals are right there with you. These are among many of the reasons why you might be tempted to treat these sessions differently. I have seen clients battle with these distractions in a way that impacts therapy’s effectiveness. It is difficult to be emotionally vulnerable (Related Article: What Is Emotional Safety In A Relationship and Couples Counseling: Building Emotional Intimacy), when your teenagers are walking through your room. 

When clients take a casual approach to Telehealth therapy, their outcomes seem to diminish. They don’t have to though. Telehealth can be just as effective if done right. So, treat Telehealth like and in-office visit. It’s nice that you can stay home and get help, and you need to do a few things to make it more effective. Here are some ways to do that. 

Create An Office Atmosphere At Home

Instead of laying on your bed, or sitting on the couch in your living room with everyone walking around, create an office atmosphere in your environment. Be in a room that has a door that is closed and that keeps children, other family members, animals and distractions out. Ask family members to give you privacy during that hour of therapy. You don’t have to tell them what you are doing, but you can let them know you need some privacy and space for that time. 

Avoid using common areas for your session. Also, avoid using your car (especially when driving!), walking around or being outside. These can all create distractions that might make it difficult to get the most out of therapy online.

Consider dressing in clothes that you would wear to a therapist’s office. Make the Telehealth experience different from your everyday life at home. You don’t want to treat it as if you are sitting down at the couch to watch TV. This helps change your mindset, approach to therapy and hopefully outcomes of treatment. 

Use Equipment That Works

You might be surprised, or not, about how many clients struggle with technical issues in Telehealth sessions. Not being able to hear each other well, for example, makes therapy more difficult to participate in. Use headphones that work instead of a speaker. This makes it so that you don’t have to work so hard to understand your therapist and instead, you can focus on what you need in therapy. Headphones also make your conversation more private. 

Also, make sure you have good lighting in your room. This allows the therapist to see you and you to see the therapist. Avoid have a bring light or window behind you as it will cause your face and body to be difficult to see. And, when you are on screen, make sure that the therapist can see more than just your face. Back the camera up so they can see your shoulders and arms, perhaps. This helps to reduce video fatigue. It is difficult to read a person when all you see is their face. 

Use your computer instead of your phone. This is a big one! Having a large enough screen to see your therapist helps you connect well. Make sure you can see them and they can see you. Furthermore, using a phone brings the temptation to pick it up and walk around. Or at least tempts you to hold it in front of you while you are sitting. Both of these approaches can be distracting for you and the therapist. You want to focus on individual and relationship healing instead of making sure you are in the picture frame of your phone. 

I’ve actually had some clients join a Telehealth session with me as they are driving in their car. We, of course, stopped the session and they joined when they were safe. Holding on to your phone as you hold the steering wheel isn’t a good place to do a video call for therapy. It’s dangerous. 

Allow For A Slight Delay In Communication

Sometimes there is a delay in communicating through technology. Allow space for your therapist to intervene and interject as you and your spouse work through problems. This is especially important if you and your partner have a volatile relationship. Without being in the room together, the therapist can struggle to help you not damage each other. They also won’t be able to help you work on emotional safety if you don’t give them space. They can’t stop you from talking or fighting as easily on a computer. 

Circumstances dictate, at times, your ability to make it into a therapist’s office. You aren’t able to come in for sessions because your car breaks down, the weather is bad or you forgot about the session and are running late. Video sessions can be a good alternative in these situations. It’s also helpful when you live in a location that is difficult to find services. You don’t have to drive 2 hours to a therapist’s office when doing Telehealth. 

Telehealth in Utah can be helpful for marriage problems, anxiety, depression, pornography problems and more (Related Articles: Common Marriage Problems: What To Do, 4 Signs You Have A Marriage Problem, Just Breath! Reduce Anxiety With This Simple Exercise, Depression Counseling, Pornography Counseling: Find Recovery And Healing). 

We have counselors ready to help you. Schedule an online counseling session – Telehealth in Utah. If you want to come in person we have therapy offices in South Jordan, Orem and Spanish Fork. 

Written by Triston Morgan, PhD, Marriage and Family Therapist