Online therapy in New York makes it easy to connect

Usually yes. Some of our online therapists are 100% virtual, and if you are working with one of them, you would not have the option to do in-person sessions unless you switched to another therapist in our practice. However, many of our therapists are working a hybrid model where they are partially in the office and partially virtual, and you could coordinate with your online therapist to have some of your sessions in-person.

Yes, our clinicians are licensed in New York State, and state law requires that the clients also be physically located in New York State during online therapy sessions. You don’t have to live in New York State necessarily to work with us though. If you travel to New York State for work or school, you could still schedule sessions while in New York.

Yes. For more severe illnesses, it may be best to work in-person rather than online. If this is the case for you, our clinicians can let you know what they feel would be in your best interest. Also, there may be times when you require certain medications that require at least one or some in-person appointments.

Yes! You can meet with one of our psychiatric providers online, have an initial evaluation, and then receive prescriptions and refills for most types of medications. For some medications, like benzodiazepines or some ADHD meds, you may need at least one in-person session to begin treatment, but this is not the case for most medications. You can also contact our New York City based therapy office and our staff or clinicians can also give you specific information for any particular medications you have questions about.

We encourage you to contact your online therapist outside of sessions because we don’t want you to feel your relationship begins and ends within the online therapy session. We are available to you outside of sessions by text, phone, or email. As we also prioritize our therapists’ personal health and wellbeing, we are not available to respond 24/7, but you are free to leave us updates, messages, and requests for callbacks, and the therapist will get back to you as soon as possible.

Make sure you’re in a private area where no one can hear you during your online therapy session. Make sure the area is quiet too so that there aren’t disruptions to your session. Check your Internet to be sure you’re in a location with strong connection. Lastly, it’s helpful to use headphones so that if someone around you does hear you speaking, at least they can’t hear your online therapist.

You’ll need a smartphone, computer, or tablet with a webcam and a secure Internet connection. Before your online therapy session, we’ll email you a secure, HIPAA-compliant link. When you click the link, you’ll be in a virtual waiting room until your therapist accepts you into the session. You’ll use the same link for future appointments.

If you use a computer, you’ll be able to click on your session link and enter the session without downloading any software. If you’re connecting from a smartphone or tablet, you may have to download the indicated app before you can enter the session. Further instructions are included in the initial email with the link.

It’s pretty similar to using other video conferencing programs – the main difference is that we use a secure platform that specifically complies with health-related privacy regulations.

You can call or text your online therapist to troubleshoot what happened, and if it can’t be fixed, you can at least continue by phone.