– Written by Gary, Lead Psychotherapist

The next update to our blog with regards to Remote Sessions is the consideration of Technology.

Technology:

As discussed last time firstly you need to agree on a safe and appropriate location. Once this has been established you can move onto which technology you will use to conduct the session.

Nowadays, most young people will have access to a smart phone and/or a laptop or tablet. Whilst professionals are more likely to have dedicated hardware for the purpose of conducting the session, the young people themselves will probably be using their own personal device, or if not the device of a family member.

So whatever the hardware and software choice is, you want to make sure that during the course of the session the young person is not likely to be interrupted by messages, emails or phone calls on their device. This applies both to the software you choose to conduct the session on, and other software that is currently on the device being used.

This is of course also a consideration for the therapist themselves.

Another consideration is access to power. You want to avoid the possibility of the session ending abruptly at a critical point because either yours, or the device being used by the young person has run out of battery.

On top of that is the strength of signal, whether that is WiFi for Video calling, or regular phone signal for Telephone sessions. Again the session being disrupted through breaks in signal are disruptive and unhelpful. So is there an optimum location where this is the case? This may not be their location of choice, so can a second location be agreed, or can the router be moved or any hardware adjusted to improve the signal?

Some clients also choose to use external hardware such as headphones and microphone, so ensuring that these are all in working order is critical.

One more addition to our way of practicing is to send a message to the young person just before the session starts to ensure they are ready before we start the remote session. Remember, we will be entering their private and personal space via the technology and so doing it this ways allows the young person to invite us in to this space when they are ready to do so.

At wïsh we have found it important to discuss these considerations in our introduction session with young people to help ensure a smoother and more contained experience for all once the session begins.

Next up: Safeguarding

The post Remote Therapy Considerations Part 2 appeared first on The wïsh centre.

At wïsh we moved quickly to transfer our therapeutic services over to a digital service in order to ensure there was minimal disruption for the young people we support.


For those reading with less experience of working remotely there are some important considerations to think through that don’t always come into play when working face to face with someone in a secure setting such as a school or like we do at The wïsh Centre itself.


Over the next few days we will update this blog with some of these considerations for you to take a look at.


Location:

This is the first obvious change with some key considerations. Where will the young person you are supporting be located? During the Pandemic, young people are most likely to be at home, which can for many make things a bit simpler, but unfortunately for others home may not always be a safe place. We will look at safeguarding remotely in a later update.


Assuming that home is a safe place for the young person the considerations do not stop there as there are still many differences when compared to working face to face in a secure setting.

For example:

Are you or they likely to be overheard? Might someone come into the room they are using for the session unexpectedly?

Then there is the content of the room itself which can bring up additional considerations. What can be seen in the room behind the young person? Were they aware of this? Is it a distraction? Can I lead to them disclosing information they did not intend to?

Then of course the location of the Therapist is also very important. What can the client see behind you? What will you do if they ask about things they can see behind you? How can you ensure your own working environment is appropriate and safe, free from disturbances and distractions?


For some young people it is very natural for them to use technology to communicate with friends while in their private room, but a therapy session is different because it is both a personal and a professional conversation. So where, for example, a young person may converse with a friend while in bed, is that appropriate for when they are talking to their therapist?

It was important to think these things through before commencing sessions in order to ensure the sessions remain as secure and boundaried for our young people

This is not a full list and there will be additional considerations dependant on your situation and service but hopefully it is a useful starting point to get you thinking in this way.

Next up: Technology

The post Remote Therapy Considerations Part 1 appeared first on The wïsh centre.