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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y-Q9Mm9CpABOjWcJ9nAQiFMvHkogWXkY/view
Meeting on-line for counselling/therapy is a bit different to meeting in-person. If we were meeting in-person, you would travel to get to my office; I would welcome you and show you around; we'd be sitting in armchairs in the same room; we'd have glasses of water or cups of tea or coffee. It would be part of my job to manage the physical space, ensure privacy, and guard against interruptions. It would be outside your daily life in many ways; and when you'd leave, you'd have some time to transition back to your daily life.
When we meet on-line, you're likely still in the same physical space that you are in in your “regular” life.
I invite you to think about ways to make the space you're meeting with me from, and our meeting together on-line, something a bit separate from your daily life.
The basics:
An email address where we can correspond confidentially to arrange sessions and take care of other business.
A reliable internet connection.
Access to Zoom (more information below). If you deeply dislike Zoom, or Zoom is an accessibility problem for you, let me know and we can see about using another platform.
A private, quiet, suitable place to meet.
A non-moving surface to put your device on, without a window or light behind you. This is an accessibility issue for me.
Some additional considerations:
Where you will be sitting, and where your device will go.
I invite you to think about what space would be good for you to meet with me; how to make sure you have enough privacy with minimal interruptions; and also how to make that space comfortable – for example, a reasonable chair, a cushion on the floor, something to drink, tissues, and anything else that will help you be present, whether it's a comfort object or fidget, journal or notepaper and pen, etc.
You may wish to use headphones or your device's speaker. If you're comfortable using headphones, I recommend this, as it minimises feedback and sound distortion. You are welcome to try either or both and see what you like better, and to use different things at different times.
Our first session
At the beginning of our first session, I have some legal and ethical items I need to share, and then I have an intake form where I ask a standard set of questions to help get a sense of what brings you and if I am an appropriate person to work with you. The rest of our session will be more of a free-flow conversation. Subsequent sessions will likely be much less structured, depending on how we choose to work together.
I usually ask us both to take the time between our first and second sessions to think about if we are potentially a good match and wish to work together. If we both agree, we will formally contract at the beginning of our second session. You will have a copy of this to consider ahead of time and we will go over it together.
During sessions
We will usually meet on Zoom. I will email you a confidential, secure link for our sessions.
I will be in my study for our sessions. I live with two cats who go where they wish and who may join us from time to time. For additional privacy, I use a white noise machine, and for my comfort, I usually wear headphones during our sessions. You may occasionally be able to hear noise from the street outside my residence or the hallway of the building.
You can use Zoom for free from a computer, tablet, or phone. There are two main ways to do this:
Download Zoom to your device, and either click on the meeting link I will send you, or enter the meeting information in the app: https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting
Using a web browser and clicking on the meeting link I will send you. More information here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/214629443-Quick-start-guide-for-the-Zoom-web-client
Further information is available at https://zoom.us/