Getting ready for an Online Therapy session

Online therapy sessions have the benefit of immediate access – you can join a session from anywhere, at any time in your day. The downside to this is that you can often miss out on the journey to your therapy session.

If we reflect on how the journey to a therapy session helps the process, we can start to think about what you might need to prepare for an online session.

Thinking time: the travel time to your therapy session can be an opportunity to think about what you want to talk about this time. You may want to make a few notes, or flick back through your journal pages to see what’s been on your mind over the past week

Physical movement: moving your body can help mark transitions, but the journey also marks moving away from your daily life to travel to your “you time”, away from home, work, outside responsibilities, etc.

You might want to go for a short walk before your therapy session, move to a different room or to a different chair, or even just have a few stretches and deep breaths.

Transition: the journey also gives a really clear transition, which is beneficial for most people, but even more so for some neurodivergent people who can struggle with switching between tasks or demands.

Take a moment to reflect on what would support you to make the transition into being in your therapy session – maybe a physical transition like going for a short walk (as above), going to get a drink, shutting down any work tasks.

Getting away from distractions: it’s unlikely that you would be reading and responding to emails on your journey. However tempting it may be to work or squeeze in tasks right up to the start time of your session, it’s probably not going to help you “arrive” well at your therapy session.

Consider logging off or shutting down your emails 10-15 minutes before your therapy session is scheduled to start.

Sitting in the waiting room: this is your final moment to breathe, arrive or “land”, check your phone is on silent, and ground yourself. Joining a zoom link 5-10 minutes before your session start also gives you a moment to arrive, using the virtual waiting room.

No matter what time you join online – I won’t bring you in until the scheduled start time of your session, so there’s no risk that I might appear on your screen unexpectedly!

Privacy & confidentiality for online therapy sessions

If you are joining your therapy session from a home or workplace that you share with other people, it’s important to try and recreate the same sense of privacy that you would have in the therapy room. That means finding somewhere to sit where you are comfortable that you can speak freely, without worrying about being overheard.

You also want to be free from interruption during your whole session, and probably for 5-10 minutes at either end of your time too – so that you can transition in & out of the session.

Your session will never be recorded by me, and I don’t allow AI apps to “listen in” to our sessions either. I ask kindly that you do the same, and respect our confidentiality by not recording any part of our sessions.

If you need to make a note or want to remember something that we’ve talked about, I’m really happy for us to pause so that you can write it down or add it to your phone. I might also offer to send you some email notes afterwards.

My top tips for preparing for an online therapy session

1. Make sure you are sitting somewhere warm, comfy, and private – where you feel okay talking without being overheard

2. Check that your device is charged up, or plugged in

3. Check that you have turned off or muted any notifications

4. Decide if you want to switch off any other apps that may cause interference or slow your connection speed

5. Let other people in the household know that you are having an online meeting, if they are on the same internet connection as you

6. Also let people know not to disturb you during your session time, and ideally not for 5-10 minutes on either side too

7. Consider getting settled & joining the waiting room 5-10 minutes before your session time, in case of any last-minute issues with logging on

8. Think about what you will need to feel comfortable or to ground yourself – a warm blanket, a hot or cold drink, a stim / fidget toy

Find out more about individual or partnered online therapy with me here: https://www.rebeccawilsongreen.com/online-therapy