If you are quietly distressed, uncomfortable or even defiant in the face of new challenges you are facing, finding a private space to take your concerns where you can focus on your own needs exclusively can be a relief. 

The benefits of online therapy? Most people have spent a lot of time online by now. The pandemic sent professionals to the corner of a bedroom squished against the window, kids were suddenly encouraged to engage in screen time and families relied on their laptops for catch ups and quiz night. Pre-Covid, I would spend time talking about the legitimacy of online therapy and trying to convince colleagues and clients that convenience and flexibility was enough of a reason to consider telehealth as an option. These days, we mostly have a widespread gratitude and appreciation for internet connectivity, but many have also had too much of it.

So how does online therapy help people who are in online meetings all day, or feeling burnt out and overwhelmed by constant access to each other? 

Top of my list is the sanctuary of home, a comfortable couch or armchair, your dog or cat next to you, a cup of tea, warm blanket and no public transport. Online therapy is a haven in a world of overstimulation.

Beyond that, I can support you in creating a dedicated therapy space, meaning increased opportunities for therapeutic association. This means that when you settle into your Therapy Corner between sessions, you might remember a moment of relief, or remember to do a grounding exercise, or read an article we discussed, which offers continuity and the opportunity for implementation between sessions. 

I won’t tell you all the reasons I love working online so much, because we’ll be here all day and you might like to have a look around the site, but I’ll end on this. Online therapy isn’t less than in person therapy. It’s different. It offers the opportunity for depth, discovery, therapeutic connection and it means you can work with a therapist who you might not have access to in person.

People that come to me are often very concerned about discretion. Confidentiality is a tenet of therapy at the foundational root, and therapists promise privacy within the limitations of the law. There are certain circumstances in which we are obligated to involve someone else in a client’s care, and we will carefully discuss and explore these when we begin to work together. Most people find them completely inapplicable to them and laugh when I say I’ll have to report money laundering, but there are some others that everyone should be aware of, such as being required to release information under a court order, or needing to call emergency services if a client has a seizure in a session.

I take your privacy and safety seriously, and my intake documentation will give you something to look at for reference if you ever need to check back.

I feel incredibly honoured to be trusted by my clients and respect that in some professions such as journalism, medicine, creative arts and business it can feel especially important to have a therapist who understands the importance of discretion. My assistant has been vetted and trained with respect to privacy and is sensitive to the needs of my clients.

I often work with clients who live in a different country to me, or who travel. There is some research involved to make sure I meet the professional and legal requirements of the location of the client as well as myself, so I ask people to let me know their location in advance of a call.

I am based near Paris, France and occasionally practise from other countries. I always let my clients know when I will be working from a different location so they can prepare for a different visual background and I use an automatic scheduling system to ensure changes in timezones do not thwart us!

Part of the reason I work with very few clients is so that I can provide flexibility with scheduling, as my clients tend to have demanding work and personal schedules.

I therefore do not require that we commit to the same time each week, although I am happy to accommodate a regular space. We will usually look one or two weeks ahead and I will give notice of any breaks I am planning to take with as much notice as possible.

I operate a one week rescheduling and cancellation policy, which means that I will not charge any fee if you give notice of one week or more to cancel. If you need to reschedule, I will try to offer a suitable time before Friday of the same week, however if I am unable to, I ask for the full fee to be paid.

Some therapists have 48 hour cancellation policies, or give a certain number of cancellations fee free per year and there are some who require a regular weekly payment no matter what. Each therapist will have made the choice with their clients in mind as well as their own needs. I have landed on this amount of time so that I can plan my professional and personal schedule, and want to reassure you that I am pretty flexible with rescheduling. 

When someone cancels at the last minute and I charge for the time, I take time to read or consider their therapy journey and hold the space, whether they are physically present or not. This is a topic I explore and welcome discussion around in your therapy sessions, because I am aware that cancellation fees can feel punitive (and can lead us to even stopping therapy in some cases), especially when we cancel due to something unavoidable. I always avoid charging them as much as possible and this is why I make provision for rescheduling.