Benefits of distance consultations
The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the usefulness of distance consultations when a compelling reason prevents to consult in the office. But this kind of consultation can also be combined with standard consultations at certain steps of a psychotherapy.
In some situations, distance consultations allow to solve problems of availability related to work schedules. They allow also to reduce wastes of time, tiredness, costs ans stress associated with constraining car rides.
Limitations
Obviously, the essential of the diagnosis and psychotherapy must take place in the office in order to be fully effective. A first reason is that real interactive communication is much richer than in a videoconference setup, particularly with regard to body language, that is essential to psychotherapy.
Another reason is that an in-depth work requires the use of special equipment like psychometric or neuropsychological testing, biofeedback, virtual reality, or some systems of remediation or training. This limitation is particularly obvious in the context of child psychotherapy, which requires some room for physical activities and material equipment.
What to choose ?
On site consultations remain the basis of diagnosis and psychotherapy. At some stages of the treatment, it is often possible to introduce distance consultations that give more possibilities to cope with external constraints. An appropriate combination of both methods brings a maximum of flexibility in the planning of the treatment.
In some cases, if moving to the office is not possible, the treatment may take place entirely at distance, probably with more limited objectives. It actually depends on the type of problem and the resources that are available in the client’s environment.
In practice
Internet consultations require, on the client side, an adequate computer equipment and a local context adapted to this kind of work (a quiet place and good conditions of confidentiality). We ensure the basic technical support for the installation of the videoconferencing program. A pre-test can be made to verify the feasibility of the selected solution.
The time schedule, cost and duration of the consultations are the same as in the office. All insurance reimbursements apply as well. Payments are made by bank transfer or credit card.