Unique Families, Unique Therapy

Will you be providing services during the "shelter in place" County order?

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Talk-a-While, Child & Family Therapy Center will be providing therapy through an on-line, video teletherapy format to help "flatten the curve" to slow down the spread of the virus and help our health care system reduce being overwhelmed. We also will provide in-person therapy services - on a case by case basis - for "essential services"/needs.

We recognize that on-line therapy sessions may not resonate with some of our clients, and clients can choose to postpone treatment until the "shelter in place" order is changed or removed.

While we realize our clients' decision to delay treatment, given many children are at home and the worry of exposure to the virus, we recommend in-person therapy session for the following "essential activities":

Reducing overwhelming stress and anxiety/panic episodes

Managing family crisis(es)/dynamics

Supporting family illness, grief, and loss

Caregivers in crisis whose children are noticeably emotionally in distress

Other emergent situations

As therapists we can provide in-person therapy sessions for the above mentioned "essential activities" as long as we continue to maintain the 6-foot social distancing requirements and environmental cleaning practices.

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Can on-line therapy be an effective mode for the delivery of therapeutic care?

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Yes. For many of our clients, there is a long-established in-person relationship so moving onto on-line therapy is an effective way to avoid disruptions in your treatment plan/goals. Regularly scheduled sessions and therapist interactions are an important part of meaningful therapy work. For young children: Our therapists are able to provide needed support to the child and their family through on-line methods. For example, our therapists plan ahead of scheduled appointments and often tailor activities to address the child and family's current challenges.

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What is your cancellation policy during the shelter in place?

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While we have a strict 48-hour cancellation policy to cancel or reschedule sessions, we will not penalize clients for last minute cancellations during the shelter-in-place order. We know these times are stressful and some families may become ill, may have other conflicts that unexpectly arise, or have other challenges that prevents access to on-line therapy sessions.

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Will on-line therapy be covered by my health insurer?

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We are an out-of-network or private pay provider, so we bill for the sessions and provide superbills to our clients for them to submit to their health insurer for possible reimbursement.

If you are considering on-line therapy and want to make sure your health insurer reimburses it, please contact your health insurer to find out what coverage you have under your plan.

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How can I prepare for the on-line therapy session?

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The following is very helpful to set up prior to the start of your on-line session: (1) Find a quiet and private space (maintaining confidentiality is important); (2) Use earphones/headset so that your conversation can be more private; (3) Have your computer/device ready and plugged in a power source to ensure sufficient battery life;
(4) If a link to your on-line therapy sessions has been sent to you, pull up the email and click when session time begins; (5) If you are unable to connect with your therapist, please email them directly so they can assist you in getting online. Please let us know if there is anything else that we can do on our side to make on-line sessions run more smoothly. We appreciate your patience as we transition some clients into this format during the shelter-in-place.

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