Azalea Counseling & Wellness, LLC is open for telehealth counseling!  But what is telehealth counseling?

The world is a strange, confusing, and at times, scary place with the Covid-19 pandemic.  We have never experienced a pandemic in our lifetime triggering anxiety and depression.  It is to a point where the thought of getting out of the car to walk into the grocery store triggers a panic attack.  Your mind may be racing with questions of what if I get sick, what if my family members get sick, and even, what if I lose my job?  The carpet has been pulled out from underneath you regarding your daily schedule.  You once commuted to work and now you work from home, try homeschooling your child, and try to figure out social distancing without feeling socially isolated.  The reality is you feel your anxiety is at an all-time high and feel isolated even among your family.  You want to reach out for counseling, but everything seems closed as people are encouraged to stay home.  What do you do?

This is where online therapy comes in.  Counseling is done over a video session.  The easiest way to describe  an online therapy session is that it is like Face Timing a therapist for counseling, only done over a HIPAA (private) compliant video platform.  No driving into the office, sitting in a waiting room, or sitting on a couch were someone just previously sat.  Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Azalea Counseling & Wellness, LLC is providing only online therapy services for the time being.  Since making this change, I have been working with clients to adapt from in-person sessions to video sessions.  A lot of questions naturally came up, so I thought I would share the most common questions and answers.

What is telehealth and do I need special equipment to use it? 

Telehealth is a safe way to have a therapy session from the comfort of you own home via video.  You need access to internet and either  a smartphone, tablet, or laptop.  I have been using a HIPAA compliant platform called Doxy.me.  I email you a link for Doxy.me.  Using your cell phone, tablet, or laptop, you click on the link which brings you to my waiting room.  From there, you well get a welcome message telling you to type in your name to let me know that you have “arrived”.  This will bring you to the virtual waiting room.  When I see that you are there waiting, I can click on your name to connect for a video call.  While you are waiting, on the bottom left hand corner of the screen, you can click the button that says Pre-call Test to do a test call.  This helps you to make sure your camera and your microphone on your phone, laptop, or tablet is working correctly.  I would recommend using Chrome as your web browser.  To recap, you click the link that I emailed, type in your name, and hit enter.  It’s on me to connect the call. 

What is the sight and sound situation with using telehealth for a video session? 

A video session allows for us to see each other and hear each other.  Video calls can not be recorded, shared, or saved.  I would recommend wearing headphones to increase privacy.

I want to use telehealth for a video session, but how do I keep my session private? 

This does get tricky with more and more people now working from home.  People have been getting very creative in finding privacy for their session.  Some people sit in their parked car for their session.  Others sit in their bedroom with the door closed.  I would recommend wearing some type of headphones/earbuds to eliminate sound from half of the conversation (I wear earbuds during the session).  Some people play music outside the room they are in to help muffle sound.  Again, the platform Doxy.me is a HIPAA compliant platform which in encrypted to protect your privacy. 

How much does online therapy cost? 

The laws and insurance coverage for telehealth have been changing near daily since the Covid-19 outbreak.  Currently, Medicare and Medicaid (Husky) are temporarily covering telehealth services during the pandemic.  Coverage for each commercial plan (Anthem, Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Cigna, Connecticare, Harvard Pilgrim, Oxford, and United) vary from plan to plan.  The best thing to do is to call your insurance company (the phone number is on the back of the insurance card) and ask if you have telehealth benefits and what is your financial responsibility.  I will also verify your benefits to find out your financial responsibility as well because no one likes a surprise bill!  From what I have seen over the past few weeks, the telehealth cost is typical to what your cost would be for an in-person session.  Call your insurance company to find out. 

Many people are struggling with increased anxiety and depression during this time.  You do not have to wait until social distancing is over to get help.  This is were having a video session for therapy can help!  Call me at 860-888-2516 for a phone consultation and for more information on video sessions.