On line therapy

[Zoe Girl]

So I was going to look into this. I have done a fair amount of school and training online already so I am familiar. I got a call to see if i wanted to stay on that wait list, so that seems not likely any time soon,

Anynthought

[iris lilies]

We are talking about face to face therapy via a Skype type mechanism, right?

In general, it seems like a good idea to explore. It woild give you access to a range of therapists and at a range of times of day that may be convenient for you. It seems to me that you would have a better chance of finding someone to work with who would be effective, really good.

Lisa Kidrow does a funny tv show about video therapy where she is the all knowing (but idiotic) therapist. She is funny,
I often think of her talk of “therapy modalities” which always makes me laugh.

But I do wonder what the professional therapy community thinks about video meetings for therapy. One disadvantage is that the therapist may miss reactions from their patients, miss small facial expressions and signs of pain or fear or etc. and then there is the camera that distorts what we see in real life, that would have an effect but I dont know how.

[Zoe Girl]

I think the big reason right now is that it would get me therapy much sooner and more often than what I am doing. I could afford more sessions and schedule them easier. With starting a new job I do not want to take time off to attend appointments but I am seeing that I need to keep going.

What is also beneficial is that I already have done a lot of distance community work, so it is familiar to me. We have monthly meetings with our facilitator group and weekly phone calls that we take turn with. Sometimes we will skype in our Buddhist teacher and it works amazingly well honestly. There is a scandal in our lineage and she skyped in to support our local group in processing this.

After retreat and when I get my new work schedule I will look into it more.

[iris lilies]

I think the big reason right now is that it would get me therapy much sooner and more often than what I am doing. I could afford more sessions and schedule them easier. With starting a new job I do not want to take time off to attend appointments but I am seeing that I need to keep going.

What is also beneficial is that I already have done a lot of distance community work, so it is familiar to me. We have monthly meetings with our facilitator group and weekly phone calls that we take turn with. Sometimes we will skype in our Buddhist teacher and it works amazingly well honestly. There is a scandal in our lineage and she skyped in to support our local group in processing this.

After retreat and when I get my new work schedule I will look into it more.

therapy more often and at a price you can afford, go for it.

[nswef]

It sounds like a winning combination for you Zoe Girl.

[bae]

I've done some research quite recently on the effectiveness of online therapy - for some common problems, it is similarly-effective to face-to-face therapy, and well worth pursuing.

I am using such a therapist now to help develop some skills to work with a troubled person in my life, and help me avoid getting sucked into their vortex, and it has been going well.

[Tammy]

Telemedicine is a newer promising technology throughout psychiatry. Remote areas are using it to expedite medication management appointments.

[Zoe Girl]

So I signed up today, and I already feel better to just have the process going. It feels good to talk/write about this without feeling the urge to dump too much on friends and family. I have had some unexpected emotions come up with my new job for example and I am so ready to be done talking about all of this. I would rather focus my relationships on moving forward and positives, but also realizing this was SERIOUS. I can't just say it was one job and move on.

I have exchanged one message so far, I also have a friend who is in a coaching program. She has a colleague who needs to have hours documented working as a personal coach. My friend connected us and I have 6 free coaching sessions along with an orientation. It is good that I have both so I am using each one as they are really supposed to be used. I let the personal coach know what was going on, but also that I was getting a personal counselor so if things went out of her realm I would be okay focusing that topic with the other person.

Lots of support! It feels like care and concern that have been lacking for a long time.

[dado potato]

My 2 cents: you need support. Get support wherever, whenever, however you can. If you find that this helper and communication link amount to a disappointment, I bet you can easily drop out without ruffling anybody's feathers.

[Zoe Girl]

It sounds super easy to change counselors in this program without a fuss, much easier than calling an office or insurance company.

Yes I am able to admit I could use as much support as I can get

[dado potato]

It feels good to talk/write about this without feeling the urge to dump too much on friends and family.

When I live a well-tuned routine (which is not always!), I sit in the early morning for the sunrise. I have a notepad and pen handy, so just before I "get up and go" I can write any nuggets of insight, or any things to do today. Do you keep a journal or a private blog?


The fear of dumping too much may have different components: fear of revealing stuff you may regret saying, and the fear that someone will resent you for wasting their time by talking about your problems.

For the first fear, I think we all have developed an internal censor. We might review it from time to time, because life is short... and there can be over-control as well as under-control of sharing with close friends and family.

For the second fear, if it is based solely on your assumption, I would challenge the assumption. You may not need that fear for your own security and well-being. On the other hand, if you are getting messages from someone to the effect that they really do not care to listen to what you are feeling/needing, then that person is probably not someone to further confide in.

I have found that friends are somewhat elastic in their capacity to listen and care. If a person is tired and bitchy, it is not an opportune time to talk to that person... but maybe it would be a good time to talk to someone else. Got speed dial on your phone?