Why We (Still) Love Virtual Anxiety Therapy
You or your child may be feeling a little burned out on the virtual sphere, but we still LOVE providing virtual therapy for our anxious kids, teens, and college students. Here’s why:
#1. Anxiety therapy can be easier to schedule when it’s virtual!
Our therapists have a set schedule, and there are only so many appointments we have available! Rather than worry about transportation time, virtual therapy provides you with the ability to meet from home - or from school. Our therapist see kids and teens during the day as well as after school, so if we only have time to meet during a class, lunch break, or homeroom period, meeting virtually makes it MUCH more doable, and helps your child or teen miss less class time.
#2. Virtual anxiety therapy lets us tailor a plan for what’s really going at home.
Some of the interventions our therapists use for kids and teens involves finding safe, calm spaces at home, integrating relaxation skills, and exploring how to best problem solve. If you’re already meeting from home, we can find that SPECIFIC home place to calm down, or practice doing meditation in their own room so THEY KNOW they can do it outside of our therapy offices.
#3. You get to stay comfy in your own place.
Rather than driving to our offices and putting on hard pants ( a constant struggle TBH ) meeting virtually means you can stay comfy. Many of my clients would meet with me from their couch or even sitting down or laying in their bed - and when it was time to do our relaxation strategies for the end of session, they were already in a calm space. We can bring up some uncomfortable stuff in the therapy sphere. Being in a home environment can be really nice and regulating.
#4. We avoid illness exposure.
This may seem like less of a worry now in 2022 than in 2020 at the start of Covid, but meeting form home means we’re not a risk factor for you getting exposed to any germs. We’re removing ourselves as a potential vector! Some of our families, and our kiddos, have compromised immune systems - meaning that meeting virtually is the safest way for us to do our important work together.
#5. We promise, we can still have fun!
Many parents are worried that their child’s attention span can’t handle virtual therapy sessions - but in fact, with years under our belt now, all of our anxiety therapists know how to keep sessions interesting, and fun, even with younger kiddos. We’ve got tons of online resources, like online UNO, art apps, I spy, etc. that keeps rapport building up even when we’re not in the same space. We also know young kids, and even teens, love showing us around their homes! And if you’ve got a pet (like some of my favorite anxious college/grad students!) who normally wouldn’t be able to come to the office, you can keep them curled around your feet during our whole session time.
Want to learn more about virtual OR in office therapy options? Reach out!
We’re more than happy to address concerns, answer questions, and explore best options for you. Our anxiety therapists are dedicated to providing the best possible therapy services that we can - so if virtual isn’t a good fit, we’ll let you know - you don’t have to keep coming. We can figure out another plan, like switching over to an in person spot, getting you on our in person waitlist, or even referring you to other great therapists in the St. Louis area.
But if you’re on the fence, we’d recommend you try it out! You might be pleasantly surprised by all of the benefits.
Kelsey Torgerson Dunn, MSW, LCSW is the owner of Compassionate Counseling St. Louis and the author of “When Anxiety Makes You Angry.” Compassionate Counseling St. Louis provides anxiety therapy for anxious and angry kids, teens, and college students, from age 4 on up. We provide anxiety counseling for families throughout St. Louis and surrounding areas.
