More therapists are transitioning from in-person services to remote therapy than ever before.
While there are a lot of benefits to an online practice, there are a few things that telehealth providers need to keep in mind when it comes to transitioning from in-person to online.
Let’s look at 7 tips for therapists transitioning to online therapy.
Create a Virtual Footprint
When you’re solely online, you need a virtual footprint so clients can find you.
In the past, that required a whole team. But in the present, you can create everything your business needs.
What are those needs?
- Website – a clean, easy-to-navigate website can be made in an afternoon (if you’re taking your time). There are many free ways for you to build a website, too, only upgrading to a paid service until you can afford it and make the most out of it.
- Social Media Presence – Creating a social media presence starts with simply making profiles and accounts and posting. Make sure you keep a similar feel between your website, emails, and profiles; including logo, spelling, and tone.
- Email – Once traffic starts finding your website, it’s time to accumulate email addresses and send emails. You can start a healthy email campaign with just a few initial emails and a consistent schedule of new emails going out.
- Content – What are those emails going to be about? Besides introducing yourself , most of the emails you send out should be about your content. First, create interesting content, and put it on your site. Then, all you need to do is put that content on your social media accounts and write up an email about it.
Screen Clients
Whether you’re providing in-person or online care, you’re going to need to screen your clients.
When doing online care, your screening process should be a little bit longer than in-person.
A big thing you need to learn is if this specific client can handle online sessions, as many cannot.
Some may have visual or audio problems, which make connecting over video impossible. Others might not have a computer or trust the technology that provides their care.
A great way to screen clients for this is to do your initial consultations over video. This gives you the chance to screen them as they use the technology, and they get to try it out.
Always Check for Jurisdictional Issues
With the internet, you can connect to a client basically anywhere.
But is that anywhere outside your jurisdiction?
As a telehealth provider, you need to make sure the services you’re offering are within the rules both in your state and the state of the client.
Sometimes, this can be a bit of a nightmare, but it’s something you can easily get used to and figure out during the initial consultation if you know how important it is.
Once your remote practice is up and running, you’re going to need to market yourself.
If you feel uneasy about that, keep in mind that marketing is your way to finding clients that NEED your services.
As long as you keep your marketing in this scope, you won’t encounter the seedy side of marketing.
If you want to know more about marketing as a telehealth provider – and how to do it in a way that makes you and your clients feel good – check out this article all about marketing for telehealth providers.
There are two main ways to invest in your business.
Time and Money.
It takes both to give your business the best chance for success.
With time you can write more content, interact with potential customers clients, take classes on running your business, and much more.
Even reading this article is time well spent on your business.
On the other hand, you can take the money to run paid ads, upgrade your website, and so on.
Odds are you’re going to have to choose between spending time on something or spending money on it.
If you’re just starting out, you can invest more time into things to save money. And, as you grow and get a client base, you can start spending more money and less time.
Find a Community
Going from in-person to online is a journey.
If you were the first to walk that journey, you might not make it.
Luckily, so many have made this walk before you and they teach it to others so more can successfully make the journey.
Seek out other new, first-time, or even veteran remote telehealth providers and connect with them.
You can find a lot of resources on Facebook, Instagram, and of course, by using Google.
As your business grows, this community will become a part of your network, letting you develop a new, unique community that will be invaluable to others and help set you apart from the crowd.
Lastly, you have to take care of yourself.
As a mental health provider, you’re constantly taking on the problems and conflicts of others. And while you can put most of it down after a session, things still pile up.
If you want to offer the best service and care possible, you’re going to have to learn that self-care is a necessary responsibility of yours as a business owner.
Here are a few ways other therapists utilize self-care not just to keep themselves healthy but their business, too.
Going from in-person care to remote therapy is a jump for a lot of therapists but often a necessary one.
With these 7 tips, you’ll be able to make the switch with confidence and clarity, turning that jump into little more than just another step on the path to success.
