Telehealth
Digital Therapy
Telehealth includes the provision of mental health, medical, or psychiatric care via digital systems of communication, including text, video or audio devices. There is precedent for the use of Telehealth for a variety of challenges with a high level of efficacy.
We use zoom, a HIPAA confidential platform (with a business associate agreement in place), which can be accessed from a phone, tablet or computer. Just fill out our intake form here, or email your provider to switch to this method.
Common Fears & Misconceptions:
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It won't feel as connected
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My therapist won't understand me as well
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Technical issues will make it hard to understand
What We Know:
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When your therapist is present, they can be just as effective digitally.
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The social engagement system (your nervous system response which regulates threat activation) is engaged through the cranial nerves in your face (eye contact, expressions, vocal tone, sound). In particular, your ventral vagus nerve serves as the communication system to the rest of your autonomic nervous system. As your therapist remains calm, they facilitate co-regulation through mirror neurons in your body. This is the same in video or in person.
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For more on that click here.
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Client feedback is key; during video sessions check in a lot, and share your individual needs during a video or audio call.
"Home-based telemental health services, such as VTH (video to health), are revolutionizing mental healthcare delivery. VTH affords a high degree of flexibility that optimizes patient choice and eliminates major disruptions in care due to practical or logistical issues. With VTH, providers can remotely connect with a broad range of patients to deliver patient-centered, evidence-based care that might have otherwise been inaccessible." (Boykin et. al, 2019)
"Forty patients with depressive and insomnia symptoms were randomized to receive either 10 sessions of CBT-D + CBT-I or usual care (UC). Patients in the integrated CBT condition were engaged in telehealth treatment through Skype at their primary care clinic. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up. CBT-D +CBT-I participants had significantly greater improvements in sleep at post-treatment and 3-month follow-up as compared to the UC participants. The time by group interaction for depression was not significant; both the CBT-D + CBT-I and UC conditions had a decrease in depressive symptoms over time." (Scogin et al., 2018)
"Telehealth offers the opportunity to deliver care that is accessible, convenient, and patient-centered, overcoming many of the barriers inherent in traditional health care delivery systems. However, widespread implementation will require attention to systems engineering approaches to health care design so that it can address incentives, technical and human requirements, work processes, and payment issues." (Dinesen et. al, 2016)