When you have just had a baby, getting out of the house can seem very difficult. You are sleep deprived and are just learning the ropes of feeding, diapering, getting baby in and out of the car, and remembering to bring everything that you need with you. You might have had a c-section or be recovering from a birth injury, both of which can restrict how much you can lift and how much you can even walk. Nap schedules, feeding schedules, appointments for baby, work schedules, and of course, childcare, can all make getting yourself to your own appointments, especially a weekly one, feel almost insurmountable. Add to that experiencing depressed mood and/or anxiety symptoms, and many new moms just give up on getting help for themselves.
While I would always encourage any client to get out of the house when they can, sometimes the need for therapy takes priority over being ready to handle all of the above. That is why I am happy to offer online video-conferencing sessions. If you are local, I will ask you to come to my office for an intake session if at all possible. If you are in New Jersey but not local to the Voorhees/Cherry Hill area, I will attempt to arrange a way for us to have your intake session in person local to you. If meeting in person is not possible, we will determine whether we can do your intake in an online session. If we agree online therapy will be a good fit for you, we will schedule a video-based session for you in the comfort of your own home (or other private place of your choosing). In addition to the usual paperwork I will ask you to complete in my client portal, I will also send you a link to my HIPAA compliant telemental health platform on Simple Practice.
To engage in online therapy*, you will need a reliable internet connection (preferably WiFi) and be relatively comfortable using a computer. I will provide you with an additional informed consent document outlining the benefits and risks of using this modality, to be signed prior to the first online session. I will have an opening protocol for each session in which we will identify ourselves and our locations, make sure that you are in a place that is private and where you will not be interrupted, and that sound and lighting are optimal. You are welcome, as in in-person therapy, to bring your baby under one year old into your session, unless it proves to be too distracting for you. In that case we would discuss alternative options.
This is an exciting new method of service delivery, and I hope that if you do choose online therapy, that it makes your life just a bit easier!
*Please note that by New Jersey state law, text messaging and email are not considered to be legitimate methods of delivering telemedicine, and therefore should only be used for scheduling/administrative purposes. Additionally, I can provide online therapy only to residents of New Jersey at this time.