{"id":488,"date":"2020-03-18T22:01:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T21:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/18.185.92.33\/?p=488"},"modified":"2025-08-11T15:33:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T13:33:55","slug":"a-therapists-essential-guide-to-online-counselling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/complicated.life\/blog\/a-therapists-essential-guide-to-online-counselling\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Give Online Therapy: A Therapist’s Guide To Online Counselling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even if you’ve never considered doing online counselling, your perspective might currently be shifting. With these Corona-plagued times, an ever increasing part of the world has to practice social distancing, and so many of us therapists are forced to move our practices online. So we should ask, what is the best way to give online therapy to clients?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karina Lins<\/a> is a Danish psychologist, author, and systemic psychotherapist who has many years of experience working with individuals and couples both offline and online. She reckons that it’s different seeing clients online, but not better or worse than doing in-person therapy. Although there’s the risk of missing out on some visual cues, the online experience sharpens her hearing, she explains. It\u2019s even as if she sometimes reaches a deeper level of listening. And the research<\/a> validates her experience, showing that online therapy can be as effective as face-to-face therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since COVID, Karina had to tend to her client base doing mostly online therapy. This made her realise that she probably has many colleagues who aren\u2019t used to having online consultations, and would benefit from a guide on how to do this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a helpful people-pleaser, as the therapist breed tends to be, Karina has compiled her insights about conducting online therapy in this YouTube video<\/a>. But since it\u2019s in Danish, I\u2019ve asked for her permission to convey the gist of her guidelines into the following tips. (I\u2019ve taken the liberty to merge and reinterpret some of the suggestions, and I\u2019ve also added a few pieces of advice, based on my own experience with online therapy.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here it is, your essential guide to doing online therapy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to give online therapy in 7 steps<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Make sure that you are sitting somewhere comfortable and undisturbed, just like if you were seeing the client in person.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you are very fortunate, you are still able to do online sessions from your therapy room, in which case, the clients that you were already seeing in person, will be familiar and comfortable with the surroundings. If you can’t go to your therapy space, make sure that you have a quite and well-lit space to do your online sessions in. The space you offer online should feel as intimate and contained as if the session was happening offline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Be transparent to create a sense of safety and security. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An idea is to pick up the computer and show the room to the client, so that they get a good feel of your surroundings and see with their own eyes that there is no one else there. Also, if you\u2019re taking notes on a clipboard, simply tell your client this, and show the clipboard or notepad, so that they’re not wondering throughout the session what that scribbling sound is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. It is also important that your client is sitting somewhere undisturbed.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Best is even if you communicate this to your client before the session start, since you can’t expect that this is something your client will have thought of. So much of our day-to-day communication happens in the online realm that it’s easy to forget that the therapeutic space is more sacred and most importantly more confidential than most other conversations. Both Karina and your\u2019s truly have tried becoming almost dizzy from being \u201ccarried around\u201d \u2013 this happens, for example, when clients are inadvertently disturbed mid-session, and therefore have to move rooms and take their therapist along with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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4. Allow ample time for unforeseen technical difficulties in the online therapy session.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the microphone needs to be granted access? Maybe the platform you’re using only is supported by a certain browser? Does the platform need to be updated and reinstalled to function properly? Better if you try out the technology with a friend or colleague beforehand \u2013 there are just so many small technical difficulties that can appear, so you might as well be as prepared as you can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Make sure to use a platform that is secure and compliant with the rules for data privacy. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to use a platform that is secure and compliant with the rules for data privacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data privacy is essential for therapy to remain a confidential and trusted space. In Europe, this means your platform needs to be GDPR compliant, and in the States, HIPAA compliance is the gold standard. Luckily, platforms like It\u2019s Complicated meet these strict data privacy standards, ensuring that your clients\u2019 information stays confidential and safe. But beyond compliance, It\u2019s Complicated also provides practical tools that simplify your online therapy practice. Features like easy scheduling, seamless payment integration, and built-in secure messaging help streamline administrative tasks. This way, you can spend less time worrying about logistics, and more time focusing on building meaningful connections with your clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.<\/strong> Use headphones to minimise the risk of not hearing the verbal nuances of what your client is saying.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Using headphones during online therapy is more crucial than you might think. Without headphones, subtle verbal nuances, slight hesitations, or delicate shifts in tone can easily slip past your ears. Wearing headphones creates a closer auditory connection, helping you catch those valuable cues that reveal your client’s underlying feelings or thoughts. By clearly hearing each nuance, you deepen the therapeutic relationship, offering your client a richer, more engaged online session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Make sure that your email and other programs on your computer are closed, and that \u201cDo Not Disturb\u201d is turned on. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This way you aren\u2019t caught off guard by a “ping” or otherwise distracted by an incoming email during your session. Since the computer is a plethora of possible distractions, safeguard the intimacy and focus of your session by having the session fullscreen and having all applications turned off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These pointers are all targeted those who are getting started, but for your further development, it also makes sense to seek out a supervisor with an explicit focus on or significant experience with online therapy. This way the online aspect doesn’t just become a side-note, but plays an active role in your growth as a therapist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want help in taking your practice online, feel free to contact<\/a> the It\u2019s Complicated<\/a> team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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