How Telehealth Video Therapy Improves Access

Growing up in the African American community in Chicago, it was a lot more common for the people I knew to try to pray away stress, depression, and anxiety than to seek help from a therapist.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I felt it was OK to go to therapy.

After achieving this insight, it became vital for me to share it with others and to figure out how to make therapy more acceptable and accessible to them.

Offering convenient telehealth video therapy sessions was an essential part of creating a solution that worked.

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The beginning of my career as a therapist

I earned my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, ultimately getting my clinical license in social work.

The big question I wanted to address was — how could I take the concept of therapy and make it more accepted by Black Americans and communities of color?

I made it my goal to make finding and accessing therapy as easy as possible for those in need of help.

My journey took me on the path to creating a 100% telehealth video therapy practice and toward lessening the stigma of therapy in the Black community.

In the beginning I worked for both a hospital and government system. During this time, I felt restricted and boxed in by all the bureaucracy and red tape. It wasn’t always the most comfortable for me nor in the best interest of the clients we were serving.

I asked myself, “How can I make therapy more attractive to the clientele I most enjoy working with?”

Why I started my private practice

After thinking it through, I made the decision to start my own private practice with the goal of increasing access to care because, historically, it was difficult to get the people who would most benefit to actually utilize therapy.

When I was in school and training to be a social worker, my fellow students and I were told not to disclose too much about ourselves and to restrict our vulnerability.

Aspects of this are understandable, however, I believe the tide is now changing.

How my personal story informed my practice

We have come to a time now where we have to tell our stories, so people can understand that they’re not alone and that professionals aren’t perfect. That vulnerability creates trust and trust is integral to the healing process.

It wasn’t until sometime last year that I started to be more open about my own story within my community, during workshops, and at speaking engagements.

I am more open now about the fact that my mom was addicted to drugs during the first eighteen years of my life, my dad was murdered when I was seven, I was adopted as a child, and I witnessed my mom be a victim of domestic violence.

My mom successfully completed rehab the summer before I went away to college. As I entered adulthood, she was essentially learning to live a healthy and sober life.

Experiencing these life circumstances at such a young age affected me in a way I wouldn’t understand for many years. I didn’t realize of recognize these distressing feelings and emotions I was feeling.

At the time, I was told to just pray about it, which is traditionally common in communities of color.

“Just pray about it, and it’ll be all OK.”

Yes, but where does that leave you emotionally and spiritually when everything really isn’t OK?

I didn’t learn what depression, anxiety, and trauma were until I was in college studying social work. That’s when I started to identify that the feelings and emotions I had been experiencing were not “just pray about it” moments. In reality, those feelings were real effects of trauma that have an array of therapeutic treatment interventions and approaches. 

In my work today, to be clear, I do value integrating a client’s religion, faith, and spirituality into our therapeutic treatment plan, if they wish. Religion, faith, and spirituality are essential sources of strength for many Americans, including those in Black communities, and that is important for therapists to keep in mind.

Understanding stigma in black communities around mental health 

Stigma around therapy and mental health is a part of our culture in Black communities, and it’s deeply ingrained.

Due to historical factors, there is a distrust in outsiders, and there is typically familial unit dependency relied upon to solve problems.

Reducing stigma and providing mental health support to teens and adults during challenging transition periods are key objectives of my practice.

It’s evident that these two components were huge parts of my personal story that are rooted in my purpose to serve.

I currently believe we are doing a better job on a national level of being more open and honest and talking about mental health. The progress is slow, but we are moving forward.

Teletherapy can be just as effective as in-person therapy sessions.

Building trust and understanding to reduce the existing stigma is half of the equation.

Addressing the traditional location where therapy is conducted (for example, a clinical office or setting) is how telehealth contributes to increasing therapy’s accessibility in communities of color.

Video therapy is as effective as in-person therapy

When I became aware of the ways in which video technology was merging with therapy, I started researching it quite extensively.

review of 24 studies found sufficient evidence that teleconference and video therapy is as effective in treating certain conditions like anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and adjustment disorder as in-person therapy sessions.
Another 2021 meta-analysis of 27 studies revealed that — among veterans — phone and video therapy had success similar to in-person therapy sessions in treating PTSD, depression, and anxiety.

I quickly became comfortable with this delivery modality.

Offering teletherapy makes therapy more accessible

I decided to open a 100% online video therapy practice to make mental health more accessible to young adults and people of color.

In order to ensure I was competent in the treatment delivery modality, the first certification I pursued and received was the Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). (In August 2018, the DCC was phased out and replaced with the Board Certified Telehealth Provider (BC-TMH) credential.)

Once I launched my practice and it gained recognition as the only private practice in the area providing telehealth and video therapy, people were drawn to me as a local expert.

I’m very clear with people that teletherapy is just the delivery method — you still have to have all the therapeutic training and skills to go along with it. I use evidence-based treatment methods, including CBT, TF-CBT, and Brief Solution-Focused Therapy.  

With teletherapy, practitioners are able to help bridge a gap and fill a need by bringing therapy to clients in their natural environment. Whether it’s from the comfort of their homes, their dorm rooms, their offices, their cars, or wherever they feel is convenient, safe, and confidential.

Video appointments makes counseling more accessible for certain groups of Americans.

For those who are disabled or homebound, those without reliable transportation, and people who live in remote areas — online video therapy opens up care options for mental health support and counseling.

For many others, teletherapy saves on travel time and reduces transportation stress.

I can attest this treatment method makes treatment easier to access and more flexible as well. If I’m a busy parent with limited time, childcare, or issues with transportation, I don’t have to worry about any of those things when I can still get the support that I need from wherever I am in that moment.

I provide a lot of community-based workshops centered on mental health education as well. It helps to normalize the conversation once participants if they may be experiencing depression and anxiety symptoms, there’s help out there in their place of comfort.

When people realize this, their response is usually, “OK, how do I sign up?”

It’s been exciting to see an expansion of the “life transitions” people seek us out to support them through. Those now range from new parents and newlyweds, to empty nesters and retirees who are appreciative of the ability to integrate counseling seamlessly into their schedule and environments.

Advice on running a private practice

As clinicians, we carry a lot of responsibility, worry, and stress.

Running a business is not easy, and compassion fatigue and burnout are real.

In conversation with other mental health practitioners, I hear a lot of anxiety and perfectionism.

The Impostor Syndrome can surface at the most inconvenient times. We may all find ourselves wondering things like: “Why me? Do I deserve to be in this space? Am I doing everything well enough?” 

When we see others make positive strides professionally, we may assume it’s because they’re fearless.

The overly-simplistic messaging of “just be fearless” or “just go for it” is entirely unrealistic, and it can keep us in that constant cycle of anxiety and fear.

My advice is not to believe the hype. It’s not about being fearless. I absolutely think it’s about having the fear and learning how to work with the fear to still reach your goals.

Embrace fear, learn how to make it work for you, and be kind to yourself every step of the way.

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