The Online Counselling Podcast

So good to be back after quite a hiatus. As our field is rapidly changing due to the Covid 19 Pandemic and therapists all over the world are being forced to work from home, I thought it would be a great idea to put out a few new episodes. And I couldn't think of a better guest that Raymond Barrett. He is the founder of Telehealth Certification Institute and has been training therapist on TeleMental health for years. He is incredibly knowledgeable about how the regulations are changing in the last few days and I'm thrilled he could join us and keep us up to date. And he has put together a huge Online Therapy Summit – a weekend of classes that will provide continuing education training. The link to his site and to the summit is below: https://telementalhealthtraining.com/ https://telementalhealthtraining.com/course-offerings/product/summit-2020-full-access

An interview with Jeff Guenther, founder of Therapy Den. Jeff Guenther is a licensed professional counselor and the founder of Therapy Den – a unique directory of psychotherapists that aims to be inclusive of all needs and works to promote diversity. Who better to talk about directories, than the founder of one?! Jeff has a wealth of knowledge and his site is full of information – including a great list of questions to explore on your initial consult call. Site: www.therapyden.com Consult questions: https://www.therapyden.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-therapy-part-2- what-to-ask-in-the-consult   Please subscribe and enjoy!

This is a teaser for my new Podcast, Finding Therapy! Fans of The Online Counselling Podcast will find the same great content with Finding Therapy. Thank you to the tens of thousands who have enjoyed The Online Counselling Podcast, I am glad to be back! Please subscribe and enjoy!

Today we get to talk with Dr. Carly McCord about how she helped develop the TeleHealth Counseling Clinic at Texas A & M. Seeing that there was a need in rural Texas for mental health care, but realizing that clients had huge obstacles in receiving it (digital divide, transportation, etc) and having many qualified doctoral students at the University – she worked to combine the need with her students and added in technology – developing a clinic that has provided online therapy to over 800 clients (that's 8000 sessions!). We talk about tele-supervision and training tomorrow's online therapists. www.telehealthcounseling.org

Forrest Pulley – Co-Founder Nicholas Fuller – Chief Technical Officer I am so fortunate to get to talk to Forrest Pulley (co-founder) and Nicholas Fuller (Chief Technical Officer) of iTherapy. iTherapy is an incredibly robust service that serves the field of online therapy. They offier HIPAA compliant video, EHR services, payment gateway, scheduling, notes and other services that are typical in the field. But they set themselves apart with their customer services and some of their higher offerings like business coaching, marketing guidance, virtual assistance and tips on how to jump start your practice as an online therapist. They've done a great job of listening to online therapists about their needs and then creating programs and services to meet those needs. They have a passion for serving the field and I'm so happy to get to interview them. www.itherapy.com

Today's interview is with Martin Perry who is the founder of Nous Talk. Nous Talk is a new HIPAA compliant Audio / Video platform built specifically for online therapists. I've tried it out for the last month and am incredibly impressed. They are super HIPAA compliant – just not offering a BAA, but also addressing levels of HIPAA that other platforms do not – and they comply with malpractice insurers! They offer Group sessions, accepting online payments, arranging online scheduling – it's a very robust platform and incredibly easy to use.

Synergy ETherapy Building an online private practice can be hard enough – but what about building a 100% Online GROUP practice? Well Lisa Herman of Synergy ETherapy has done just that and she has grown this practice to Minnesota and New York and now has 5 therapists in the group. She truly is a Therapy Entrepreneur and we are so lucky to have her tell us how she did it. In the podcast interview today, we talk about hiring theraists, managing them, learning and training on the technology part of everything and MARKETING! She has some great tips on marketing! And even if you aren't thinking of creating a group practice, you're going to get lots of tips from today's guest. www.synergyetherapy.com

Dr. Christopher Quarto is a licensed psychologist and professor in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and is the founder of the Distance Counseling Community Facebook Group. He is incredibly active on social media and always has very valuable information for therapists who have questions about online counseling. He's very generous about his time and his comments are always spot on. He has also developed a framework for educators to use when training new and previously licensed therapist about online counseling. Today we get to talk about this framework, social media and some of the bias he has seen with therapists who are reluctant to add technology to their practices. I'm so happy Chris has had time to join us! www.chrisquarto.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/150248505543091/

Marc Lehman has come up with a brilliant approach to reaching college students and making therapy available to them. Dorm Room Counseling uses online counseling to help young adults through the very stressful process of adjusting to college. Transitioning from high school to a college is incredibly difficult and more so today – when teens are struggling with social norms, societal stress and academic pressures. Marc meets these college students where they are…online. Using text, email and audio/visual platforms, he allows them to access counseling in ways that are familiar to them. Sometimes college campus counseling centers are not the right fit – so he has developed this incredibly innovative approach of therapy and coaching to fill a need. So pleased that he has spent time with us today. www.dormroomcounseling.com

Today we get to know a therapist who was based in Austin, Texas – but wanted to travel the world with her family. Having a successful private practice, she worked to transition her face to face clients to begin working online with her. She then began to build up more online clients. She now lives in Costa Rica with her family and continues to work with her clients from Austin and is beginning to reach out to the population of “digital nomads” – people who work from their laptops anywhere in the world. Step by step she figured out what was needed to make this huge leap, and today we get to learn how she did it.

It's been a few weeks since we've had a new episode, but I think this will be worth the wait! Today we speak with Beata Klarowska, who is the co-founder of TheraPlatform.com. She is a speech and language pathologist who saw a need for a tele-therapy platform that provided interactive forms and HIPAA compliant connection for therapists and clients. This platform has tons of great options and is very affordable. And they are designed for all sorts of disciplines, but it is perfect for psychotherapists who want a secure, affordable tele-therapy options. And most exciting: They Offer Group Therapy!!! Their Business Associates Agreement does not cost extra, and they are incredibly secure! I'm so excited for you to learn about TheraPlatform. www.theraplatform.com

To celebrate episode 50, we answer one of the top questions psychotherapists have when it comes to starting an online counseling practice: What needs to be in my informed consent? We all know that there are certain paperwork needs for private practice, but how do those needs change when we bring technology into the picture? Today we speak with Katie Lemieux, and Kate Campbell – co-founders of The Private Practice Startup. They spent a decade developing their paperwork and have had it reviewed by three different attorneys. And today they share what they have learned. And be sure to listen to the end for their huge giveaway! www.theprivatepracticestartup.com Free give-away: www.ht.gr8.com And Rob and Roy's new podcast: www.therapytechrobroy.com

Philippa Weitz and Adrian Rhodes Face to Face Counseling vs. Online Counseling Today we have our first panel discussion! And what a distinguished panel it is: Philippa Weitz is a returning guest, she is the author of Psychotherapy 2.0 and Managing Director of PW Training, which is a training program for online therapists. Adrian Rhodes is a past president of European Association for Psychotherapy and has over 40 years experience in the helping field. Adrian is a recent graduate of Philippa's training program and has written an article about looking to Online Therapy as a distinctly different approach to psychotherapy. We have a lively and friendly discussion about the differences of online counseling and face to face counseling and also explore how things are progressing in the UK for Online Therapy in general. Resources: PW Training: www.pwtraining.com Adrian Rhodes: http://adrianrhodes.net Blog article: http://pwtacademy.online/blog/

Today we travel to Switzerland to speak with Claudia Pluss, CEO of Perceptiko and developer of Catch Eye – a plug in technology that adjusts the appearance of our eyes online to improve eye contact. One of the few problems of doing online counseling is maintaining good eye contact with our clients. If we are looking at their image on the screen, we aren't looking directly into the camera – which can make it appear that we aren't making eye contact. It's a nuanced thing – but as we all know as therapists, good eye contact is really important to the therapeutic relationship. This plug in solves the problem – and does so much more! It improves lighting and can even adjust our background. I think it's a game changer and I'm so pleased to have the actual developer of this technology join us to talk about it. And it's FREE! www.catch-eye.com www.perceptiko.com

Diann is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has taken the leap into Life Coaching. She has a fascinating story of how she used coaches to grow her Private Practice and found that the process really resonated with her. As a result, she has gotten extensive training in Life Coaching and is now embarking on a new phase of her career – focusing on Women in Mid-Life who also have ADHD. She has extensive experience with connecting with her clients online and I was captivated by her story. www.diannwingertcoaching.com

Once we leave grad school and start out as professional counselors, it is of the utmost importance to keep learning! My wife once said she wanted to be known as a “Life Long Learner” and that should be all of us. It's important to know the latest developments in our field and to keep abreast of different approaches. But it's difficult to do this. Wouldn't it be nice to have a library of video chats that provides continuing education for helping professionals? Well John Wilson and his sister Sandra have done just that. At Online Events, they have over 500 hours of seminars and interviews with some of the leading professionals in our field – exploring amazing topics that will help us to continue to ‘sharpen our tools' and keep us fresh and up to date on developments across our field. As an online therapist himself, John is using the power of video connection to bring education to a wide audience from students all the way up to the seasoned professional. This is a great resource for all of us! Online Events http://octia.org.uk/ Association for Counselling and Therapy Online http://acto-org.uk/ Annual Online Counselling Conference http://octia.org.uk/

Catherine is a LCSW and certified coach, working online using Energy Psychology / Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)and other modalities to help her clients heal from past wounds – particularly doing trauma work. She has been a life long advocate for women and minorities. Her journey to the online world is fascinating – she even created Tele-Summits to highlight the expertise of 21 different health professionals – and this was back in 2008. She is an inspiration for all of us to embrace the technology of our time and think outside of the box, while listening to our inner wisdom. www.sacredheartalchemy.com

Two heads are better than one, goes the old saying. And when starting a business, especially a private practice, maybe it's better not to go it alone – especially when you and your partner complement each other's skill sets. This is the story of Jennifer Labanowski and Shelly Smith – two Marriage and Family Therapists who have come together to launch a team private practice – serving clients online in four different states! As they and their family prepare to move, they are adjusting their already successful practice to go online – increasing their reach and impact and they are inspiring professionals. They have surrounded themselves with a team of web designers, social media experts and marketing folks who are helping them make their dream of a successful practice come true. Why go it alone when you can have a partner share the burden and inspire you to keep going in when the struggle can seem too much? www.unitedcounselingwellness.com

Today we continue our series of exploration into HIPAA compliant platforms that are available to psychotherapists when connecting with our clients. One of the biggest questions we get about online therapy is: If I can't use skype or FaceTime, what services should I use? So we are trying to answer that question by interviewing the leading platforms that are encrypted and HIPAA compliant. Zoom is a leading provider of audio / visual connection and they are particularly popular outside the US, but have a strong following here as well. In only a few short years, they have over 600,000 businesses that use their program and they are growing every day. Their application, which must be downloaded onto your computer, is designed to make the connection seamless and clear. Their basic program is free, but if you want the BAA you must upgrade to a higher level which allows up to 10 sign-in accounts and a fee of $200 a month. Derek is incredibly informed on all of the offerings of this growing company and I am very grateful that he was able to spend some time with us! Zoom.US Derek's email: Derek.pando@zoom.us

I love when we get to interview successful online therapists so we can learn from them. Today, we talk with Viktoria Ivanova, who began her online therapy practice 1 year ago after deciding to move from Canada to The Philippines. Having a love of the ex-pat lifestyle, she needed a way to make her therapy practice mobile, and she has done just that. She talks about her journey in finding the right platform for her and how she is learning social media and networking to grow her practice. Lots of great information for all of us! www.globaltherapy.online Resources: www.fliffr.com www.buffer.com www.ring.md www.internationaltherapistdirectory.com

Every day I find talented and entrepreneurial therapists who are using technology to reach their clients in powerful and unique ways. Recently I was introduced to Megan Peterson who is the founder of 2 nd Chance Counseling Service. They are an Addictions Counseling Service that uses tele-medicine to help clients in their recovery process. They work both with initial contact clients and with clients who are stepping down from inpatient facilities – offering membership in a program that will take them through the steps of recovery with support and counseling from certified therapists from around the country. 2 nd Chance is all about simplicity and flexibility – truly meeting the client where they are! Today we get to talk with Megan about her services and how she created an online membership program with over 42 therapists! www.2ndchancecounselingservice.com

When therapists find out they shouldn't be using Skype or Face Time for their therapy sessions, their first question is: Then what can I use? Well, today marks the beginning of a series of podcasts where we go and talk to the leading platforms and explore all their bells and whistles – benefits and challenges. And I'm thrilled to have Andrew Livingston, co- founder of Doxy Me. Doxy Me is a conferencing platform that is designed specifically for tele-health. It is encrypted and compliant with HIPAA (providing a free Business Associates Agreement) and it's simple to use with no download required. It's incredibly versatile for all of your online counseling needs – and it's FREE! www.doxy.me Special deal: To get the EXTRA 2 months free (thats a total of 3 Months free) of the Professional Level of Doxy Me, just send an email to: Andrew@doxy.me with the word Extend in the subject line. 

www.drmonag.com Dr. Mona Ghosheh has created a 100% online therapy practice based in Texas. In just over a year, she has transitioned from her job as counselor in a college counseling center to her own private practice that is completely online. Due to family needs, she has to travel between Austin and Houston and Dallas and is able to take her practice with her! Today she talks about how she built this business – the ups an downs, benefits and challenges. We talk about it all – from setting up your office and getting the lighting right to the choice of platforms and marketing your practice. She is incredibly helpful and there is a ton of great information here for all of us – newbies or seasoned therapists- we all can learn a lot from Dr. Ghosheh.

Many of you are familiar with many of the ‘online clinics' that are available out there. Talk Space, BetterHelp, and Breakthrough are just a few of the leaders in the field. They can be an easy entry point for a therapist who is considering doing online counseling, as they do all of the marketing for you and they offer the technology (Text, IM, Email or video) that you would use to connect. They also sometimes act as an ‘intake coordinator' and match clients with the best therapist for their needs. Ken Fields who operates from Hawaii and is the founder of Open Mind Counseling has been using these clinics to build his practice since almost the beginning of their creation – back in 2006. He has incredible experience from the inside on how they have developed and how they have grown and improved over the years. They can be a wonderful source for a client who wishes a certain level of anonymity. I've heard many of you express concerns about their business models – so here is a chance to hear from someone who has used them extensively.   www.openmindcounseling.com

Today is maybe our best episode ever. We get to talk with Nicole Hind, founder of Unveiled Stories – a 100% online counseling practice that focuses on women, singles and those with disabilities. She lives in Australia and is currently in Amsterdam on an extended vacation – but still working with her clients remotely. One of the benefits of having an online counseling practice is travel! And she is taking advantage of that. We get to talk about how she started her practice how she grew it. We explore her marketing approach, how her clients find her, what platforms she likes, her insurance – all the nitty gritty that is involved with having an online therapy practice. We also get to talk about Australia and the mental health mindset there – as well as the lack of regulations for online therapy. And that big announcement I've been talking about…well, don't skip the intro! We have big news!   www.unveiledstories.com

One of the top questions I get from therapists who are interested in Online Therapy is: What does my Informed Consent form need to include? And along those lines – is it a separate form or can I just add specific language to my face to face informed consent? It's a great question, because all along I've been an advocate for an ethical approach to tele-mental health and the informed consent form / process is an important consideration. So as always, when faced with a question – we go to the experts. Maelisa Hall is the founder of QA Prep – which is an incredibly valuable site that educates therapists about documentation requirements and the latest developments. She has tons of free information on her blog and she has a paperwork packet for sale that has templates and guidelines – that is totally worth the price. She has a passion for helping therapists do their paperwork and fully understands that we don't really like doing it! She even has group support to help us catch up when we get behind. She is wonderful guest and I'm so thrilled to have her on the show to talk about how we can have great informed consents forms for our online therapy practices.   www.qaprep.com

Jeffrey Frank, LCSW Today is the beginning of a new series for the podcast. I will be interviewing current members of the Online Counselling Directory – to highlight their journey to and experience with online therapy and how they are using technology in their practices and how they are growing their practices. My goal is to highlight our members so that we can continue to get to know one another, learn from one another, and continue to grow what is becoming a very supportive community. I'm very honored that our first guest is Jeffrey Frank in Sarasota Florida. Jeffrey is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who recently moved to Florida from Washington DC, and via Online Therapy, he was able to take his DC practice with him to Florida. His approach on moving his practice was brilliant, as he gradually worked with his face to face clients to transition them to online counseling. Jeffrey also specializes in Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and offers classes and teaching to other therapists who want to learn this incredibly focused approach. He was a great first guest in this series and I look forward to supporting him in any way I can. Sarasotapsychotherapy.com Jeffrey's Facebook page  

A few weeks ago, had the opportunity to interview Donijka Monk, who is the co-founder of Irelands leading online counseling practice – “The Irish Online Counselling and Psychotherapy Service”. She was a wonderful guest and suggested that I connect with her partner and co-founder Mary McHugh. Of course, I jumped at it and today we get to hear Mary's beautiful journey of service that brought her to explore the world of online counseling – and then once she learned of the great need that was there, how she started her private practice and then the two of them grew it to a group online practice with 7 therapists in total. We talk about the current lack of regulation regarding online counseling in most of the world and the importance of boundaries in our work. She is an inspiring entrepreneur and role model therapist. I'm so thankful she was able to spend some time with us to tell her story.   www.counsellingonline.ie

The leading online counseling practice in Ireland is The Irish Online Counselling & Psychotherapy Service, founded by Donijka Monk and Mary McHugh almost 5 years ago. AND they are the newest members of the The Online Counselling Directory and we couldn't be more pleased to have them join the family. Today I get to talk with Donijka about her journey to the world of therapy and how she and Mary were drawn into the world of private practice after seeing the massive need for convenient and boundaried online counseling. They now have an 100% online GROUP practice with a total of 7 therapists. They are a truly global practice that uses online therapy (Chat /Phone / and Skype) to bring their professional and high quality service to those in need all over the world. Today we talk about the evolution of counseling and the need to meet the clients where they are – using tele-mental health to reach expats, those in rural areas, and so many others. It was a thrill to get to know Donijka Monk.   www.counsellingonline.ie

Stefan Charidge is a BACP accredited psychotherapist from the UK who saw many of his clients struggling with anxiety and decided to build an app that could teach them the skills necessary to reduce and manage their symptoms. I think it is fascinating how a counselor decides to learn something new (app development and promotion) and take his practice in a completely different direction. So while today's interview is not entirely about ‘online counseling' – we do get to talk about how technology is changing the field through the development of apps. His app: Break Fee Anxiety, is an amazing tool and well worth a look. And it's FREE!   Stefan's practice: www.onesong.org.uk    

  If you only listen to one episode of this podcast – this is the one! A complicating factor for doing online counseling in the United States is the fact that each state has different regulations that govern who can practice tele-mental health with their citizens. Also, each professional organization (APA, NASW, AMA, AAMFT, ACA, etc) have their own guidelines. So to look at the guidelines for 5 different professions in 50 different states – you quickly would be looking at 250 different issues. Wouldn't it be nice if someone did that research for you? Well someone did. Amy Lerman, senior counsel at Epstein Becker and Green is the co-author of “50 State Survey of Telemental / Telebehavioral Health (2016)”. It is a 600 + page, comprehensive report that breaks down each state's regulations to the 6 different professions who are licensed to do online counseling. It is gold. Any question that you could possible have – they have the answer. It is a must read and I am thrilled to welcome Amy on the podcast to talk about it. Want to see the report your self? Hint: we should all have this in our files!! Head over to the Therapist Toolbox at The Online Counselling Directory ( www.onlinecounselling.com/therapisttoolbox ) or go to Epstein Becker and Green at the link below.   http://www.epsteinbeckergreen.net/Telemental/EPSTEIN-BECKER-GREEN-50-STATE-TELEMENTAL-HEALTH-SURVEY.pdf   “This survey was created by Epstein Becker Green. For additional information about Epstein Becker Green, you can visit their Telehealth & Telemedicine webpage."

Thinking of starting an online counseling practice and have questions? Maybe you don't know where to start? Well I work with therapists every day to answer their questions on how to get started and always felt – I should record these conversations! Today – I get to! Sue Bates, a therapist in Seattle with over 40 years experience is starting a new adventure. She wants to travel and begin doing online counseling and has lots of great questions! She agreed to record our conversation so that you can learn along with her. What platforms should you use? How do you get set up with your web cam? What are the state laws? Who is appropriate for online counseling? Who isn't? What about liability insurance? We cover it all. It's a one stop shop for how to get started. Enjoy! Suebates.com How to look up license reciprocity? Here is the link Sue mentioned: http://www.counselor-license.com/articles/counselor- license.html State by state guide from Epstein Becker and Green for online therapy regulations: http://psychology.ohio.gov/Portals/0/MISC%20PDFs/EPSTEIN-BECKER- GREEN- 50-STATE- TELEMENTAL-HEALTH- SURVEY.pdf

Kat Love has a passion for helping psychotherapists. She also has an incredible skill of creating beautiful websites. She has combined these into Kat Love Designs where they work with therapists all over the world to create gorgeous custom designed websites that speak to clients in need and help therapists take their practices to the next level. They do incredible work and they split their time between the US and Greece. Today I got to speak with Kat about their work, about being a digital nomad and about how online therapy changed her life. Such a wonderful guest – I know you are going to love getting to know Kat Love of Kat Love Designs.   http://www.katlove.com/

Ever wonder about mental health care in Africa? Today we get to talk to Funmilade Taiwo who is passionate about ending Mental Healthcare stigma in Nigeria and improving access to care. In his upcoming project – he will be assisting mental health care providers to create an online presence and helping clients find counselors that can meet their needs. He has created PsyndUp which is going to become the Psychology Today of Africa. He's working to elevate the field and bring transparency and ease to finding the counseling help that his fellow countrymen need. A fascinating man – he is impacting his world in a massive way! Psyndup.com @psyndup

Today I have the honor of interviewing the one and only Joe Sanok. He has been my business coach for the last year and I can't tell you how much value he has brought into my life. He is an expert consultant for therapists who are hoping to start or grow their practice. Along with being the owner of a successful multi-therapist practice in Traverse City, Michigan – he is the founder of Practice of the Practice – where he consults with counselors all over the world to take their businesses to the next level. He is the co-founder of the “Most Awesome Conference” and his website and blog and podcast is just a treasure trove of great information for any counselor out there hoping to build their practice. He's always up to something new – so be sure to follow him!   http://www.practiceofthepractice.com/

Georgia is – quirky. I love Georgia, but there are some things you should know if you are going to do online counseling in the Peach State. It's not enough to be licensed in Georgia – you also have to have special training in online counseling – and to keep up that training every 2 years. Today we get to talk to Stephanie Cook, who is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a thriving practice in Atlanta, Georgia. She works with some individuals, but her passion is with couples. She uses the Gottman method and does both pre-commitment and premarital counseling as well as discernment counseling for couples considering divorce. But her big draw for me is that she does trainings for therapists in Georgia for their online counseling certification. She is a wealth of knowledge on this subject and I'm thrilled to have her on the podcast. One warning – unfortunately we had some sound issues on this podcast – there are a few glitches, so please be patient with us.  http://counselingatl.com/

Today we get to hear about Online Counseling in Colorado from one of the state's leading therapists. Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby is the founder and clinical director of Growing Self Counseling and Coaching in Denver, Colorado. Since 2010, Dr. Bobby has been meeting with her clients through online video, in addition to meeting in person. Dr. Bobby is the host of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast and the author of Exaholics: Breaking Your Addiction to an Ex Love. She's an incredibly passionate and knowledgeable clinician who has supported her love of travel by taking her practice online. A Coach AND a counselor, Dr. Bobby has lot's to teach us. http://www.growingself.com/ http://jomuirhead.com/sanfran2016/

While most guests of the show are experts or practitioners of online counseling, sometimes I am able to interview someone in the field that may not exactly be an expert in online counseling – but who is a “must know” person in the field of counseling. Melvin Varghese is one of those people. He has a passion for helping therapists grow and improve in what we do. He is a learner – who started out with questions about private practice and decided to go talk to experts in the field – and then record what he was learning. So we get to learn with him! And Selling the Couch was born! It is hugely successful and now there is a facebook community with almost 2000 members – all working to help one another. He is a leading voice in our field and has really helped thousands of counselors be better people and practitioners.   http://www.sellingthecouch.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/1529269850672775/

Prepare to have your mind blown with the interview of Tamara Powell – maybe the most unique private practice I've ever come across. She has an approach rooted in faith based counseling – which include Christian Counseling – but really working with several faiths. She works with those damaged by spiritual abuse. She also specializes in the LGBT community, Polyamorous community and kink community. She offers sex therapy and she works with those with gender identity issues. She is a faculty adjunct instructor in psychology at the University of West Florida and the founder of Arya Therapy Services in Pensacola, Florida – seeing clients face to face and online. She is one of the most interesting, kind and funny guests I've ever brought on the podcast and I can see why she has a thriving practice. She even offers Walk and Talk therapy – so we were bound to be fast friends!   https://www.aryatherapy.com/

Want to learn about email therapy? Think it's not REAL therapy? Today's podcast is for you. Carole Francis Smith is a counseling psychologist in Bristol, England. She is a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a member of the Association for Counseling and Therapy Online. She is also working with our friend Geoff Simons to develop The Online Therapy Hub. She is actually doing the reviews for the Hub – on all the different platforms that we can use to connect online – very valuable! She knows the ins and outs of online therapy – particularly therapy via email. She gives training to other therapists on email therapy and completed her dissertation on this topic. So you have questions? She has answers!   http://www.carolefrancissmith.co.uk/

Life Works Counseling is a massive (4 locations and 30+ therapists) in Texas that offers face to face and online therapy. Founded by Melanie Wells, they are incredibly collaborative and innovative in their approach – impacting their community by providing excellent mental health care, but also impacting the profession by providing training in excellence - from interns to master professionals. They give back to the world by being an example of good and keeping their standards extremely high. Fascinating most of all, for me, is their concept of franchising. They have honed the skill of running a private practice and now are allowing others to learn from them. You can have a private practice in a box – leaning on them to get it right! Today we get to talk to Deanne Moore and learn first hand how online counseling enhances Life Works' services. She's a fascinating person that really lets us get to know her.   http://www.wefixbrains.com

So for several episodes we've been talking to the experts in the field of online counseling and therapy – covering issues of HIPAA compliance, security, legal issues to consider, etc. We've also gotten to talk to people about SEO and website design –but the podcast started out as a way of interviewing other therapists who are working online so that we can all learn together from their experience. Today we return to our roots with an interview with Janeen Herskovitz. Janeen is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor based in Florida who works online with family members of children with Autism. As we know, the entire family is affected when someone is diagnosed with Autism. Janeen has been the mother of someone with Autism for 18 years and brings a ton of personal experience to her work. She is also an EMDR Trauma Therapist and we get to talk about how she applies this training to her work. She is a fascinating therapist that brings incredible value to her clients. I hope you enjoy the interview. http://www.puzzlepeacecounseling.com/

Perry Rosenbloom, is the founder and CEO of Brighter Vision. What is Brighter Vision? – it's all there in their tag line: We build beautiful websites for therapists. And they do. Today we get to hear from Perry who has been working with counselors throughout the world to improve their online presence – and of course that means websites. Your website is your hub – it's where it all starts. Brighter Vision has worked with over a 1000 websites for counselors and Perry certainly has his pulse on where the field is going in terms of innovation and we do get to touch on his thoughts about online counseling. But if you are going to be a therapist who works online, you are going to need a website that is going to convey your expertise and professionalism – something custom and cutting edge – and Brighter Vision can be the team that brings that to you. I'm so glad that Perry was able to spend some time with us – he's a great guy and someone you should know.

Geoff Simons announces his new project: The Online Therapy Hub, on today's podcast. This site has incredibly valuable information on the particulars of doing online therapy in the UK – where he is based. They have blogs written by some of the experts in the field and he is collaborating with such leaders as Philippa Weitz, Kate Dunn and Carole Francis-Smith. If you are looking for information on starting or running an online therapy practice in the UK – this is your first stop. Geoff got his start being the top – if not the only – site for helping UK therapists grow their practices. His site: The Private Practice Hub has tremendous value to counselors looking to start or grow their businesses. His tag line is: The Business of Therapy. His newsletter is invaluable and has a huge reach. He also is the founder of The Coaching Hub – which provides business information to Life Coaches. So as you can see, Geoff Simons is a man who knows what he is talking about when it comes to private practices in the UK. It is an honor to have someone of his caliber on the show and I hope you enjoy the interview. www.privatepracticehub.co.uk www.onlinetherapyhub.co.uk

If you spend much time on any of the online forums that support therapists and help us think in a more business like way – you will see the name Daniel Fava pop up over and over. He seems to always be there adding bits of value and advice on marketing and web site design and I just had to meet him. So today – we get to talk with Daniel about his web design business: createmytherapistwebsite.com. From his home in Atlanta, Daniel talks to us about his journey (via his amazing wife) into the counseling world and about his process when getting to know a therapist and helping them find their voice – and then translating that message into amazing websites. He has invaluable information for free on his blog and you can learn all sorts of great things about online marketing, SEO, and his recommended tools for making a success of your site on search engines. I'm so happy to welcome the kind and giving therapist website guru: Daniel Fava.   http://www.createmytherapistwebsite.com/

I am thrilled to have the one and only Philippa Weitz on the podcast today. She is arguable THE leading voice for ethical online counselling in the UK – if not the world. She is an online counselling supervisor and founder of pwtraining.com – where they offer training for mental health professionals who are working therapeutically online. She is also the Standards and Ethics Officer for the Association for Counselling and Therapy Online. And most recently she is the author of Psychotherapy 2.0 – Where Psychotherapy and Technology Meet. If you haven't had a chance yet to get her book – it is a MUST read – exploring all aspects of online counselling. I haven't been able to put it down. It's a major work for our field. I am honored to have such a distinguished guest talk with us today. www.pwtraining.com www.acto-uk.org

Rob Reinhardt of Tame Your Practice, is a leading voice in the area where counseling meets technology. He brings his knowledge of tech, ethics, business and marketing to the world of counseling – and as a counselor himself with a successful group practice – he knows what he is talking about. You will find Rob to be a great advocate of online counseling – when done correctly and ethically – and today we talk about just how to do that. His motto is very similar to mine: it's not about being afraid – it's about being informed. Rob consults with therapist in a very tailored way to grow their practices to where they want to be – looking at areas of practice management, marketing, business models – and so much more. He has tons of free information on his site and will work hourly with you (or in 20 minute chunks) to get you on the right path. And his in depth reviews of cloud based practice management software – is gold. Please check out his sites: https://tameyourpractice.com/ https://tameyourpractice.com/blog/cloud-practice-management-system-reviews http://www.describecards.com/

We are just back from the 2016 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in DC and it was a blast. We talked with hundreds of therapists who are interested in doing online counseling – but they have A LOT of concerns and questions. And they should! There is much to consider. So I thought we should bring in a legal expert to answer some of the questions that I got over and over again at the Symposium. So why not get an attorney who is ALSO a counselor?! I found him: his name is Eric Strom and he is a former Navy man who is in active private practice now and also an attorney – providing “Legal Services to Mental Health Professionals”. Today – we answer all the questions that are holding us back – online counseling across state lines and in another state where the therapist is not licensed. Counseling internationally. How do you check what each state says? HIPAA and how it applies to skype, facetime, etc – and what changes may actually be coming to those platforms. Ethics. Law. Clinical concerns – we talked about it all. This may be one of the most valuable podcasts we have ever done and goes and in hand with our great interview with Roy Huggins. And – you get to learn about his new project – Counsel Chat. Hope you enjoy! www.strom-consulting.com www.counselchat.com

I've always wanted to make sure we have a global approach to this podcast, and today for Episode 13, we are talking with Hani Abughazaleh who is the CEO of Fadfid.com. Fadfid is an online platform bringing mental health counseling to the middle east. Their current particular focus is on Saudi Arabia and the UAE. But they really are trying to reach the entire Arab speaking world. They were the first platform in the Middle East where clients can find a therapist through their directory, Book the session, have the session through their secure technology and pay for the session – all in one place. It was a fascinating interview – looking into this growing field through the eyes of someone in a challenging part of the world. Be sure to connect with us on facebook: www.facebook.com/onlinecounsellingpodcast and Follow us on Twitter: @oncounselling And please rate the podcast and subscribe so you won't miss a single episode. We want to hear from you – so please leave comments and questions

Roy Huggins, LPC, NCC - Person Centered Tech Episode 12 is all about answering those questions that are holding us back and addressing the tech, security and ethic issues around online counseling. So many times I hear therapist talk about how they are thinking about having online therapy be a part of their practices – but are concerned about HIPPA issues, ethics, license, etc. So today, we go to one of the experts in the field: Roy Huggins of Person Centered Tech. He is one of the leading voices when it comes to advising psychotherapists on issues around online counseling. We talk about skype, HIPAA, ethics, license issues of doing counseling across state lines – we cover it all. This topic is so vast, we couldn't possible go into depth on every issue – but I think we answer most of the pressing questions. We also talk about the very nature of counseling online and how the field may be changing in the future. You never know – 5 or 10 years down the line, there Virtual Reality Office could be part of the discussion. It was a fascinating interview and I learned so much more. I'm sure this only going to bring up even more questions. Don't worry - Roy consults at a VERY reasonable rate on an ongoing basis to make sure you are in line with HIPAA and following your ethics. Be sure to listen until the very end, because Roy goes into how he consults and advises and discusses his different offerings. Be sure to look him up: www.personcenteredtech.com  And Roy has very generously offered a coupon for his services.  Just use code: OCPOD and you can receive 20% discount off any purchase, no matter what, and it never expires!

Buck Black, LCSW - TruckerTherapy.com - Today's podcast is an interview with Buck Black of TruckerTherapy.com. I've been a fan of his approach for years but this is the first time I actually had the privilege of speaking with him. He's been quite an inspiration to me as I started my practice and it was great to finally speak with him. Trucker Therapy, as you can imagine, is a counseling practice with the niche of working with those in the trucking industry. Buck has been able to see a need and meet it – and along the way has learned a great deal about his clients and their industry. Dealing with issues of isolation, anger, stress and relationships – he speaks their vocabulary and understands where they are coming from – saving a lot of time and energy in the therapists office. Today we talk about the challenges and benefits of online counseling and phone therapy and we go into some of the issues of platforms and HIPPA. It was a great talk and I'm so thankful for Buck sharing some time with us. www.truckertherapy.com www.paper.li/truckertherapy www.regrouptherapy.com www.facebook.com/onlinecounsellingpodcast/