Online Counseling during CoVid-19
Partnering with you during this extradinary time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends of Sheltering Oaks,
For the health and safety of our clients and employees, we are shifting almost completely to tele-mental health sessions for counseling and assessment appointments. Tele-health allows us to continue to care for clients’ mental and relational needs, while also being wise in not exposing you or your counselor to unnecessary risk. Here is some basic information you may need.
How does it work?
Our electronic health records software, TheraNest, provides a HIPPA-compliant, secure platform for video and audio-conferencing.
1) On the day of your session, you will receive an email with a unique link to your appointment.
2) At the time of your appointment, click the link to join your therapist in a private video session.
3) Enter your name and click to join the session.
We suggest using earbuds to avoid distractions as you meet with your counselor.
What if I Need to Pause My Sessions for Now?
Most of our clients attend sessions on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We understand that, depending on your family’s circumstances, you may decide to pause your counseling for now. At the same time, our therapists need to continue to schedule sessions as they provide care to clients and support their families. Our practice will be to hold (reserve) ongoing weekly or biweekly appointments for our existing clients. Clients who see their counselor less frequently will be scheduled as openings are available.
What if I Have More Questions?
Contact your counselor or our office manager at 813-982-4230, or email schedule@localhost
Please reach out if you have questions or concerns. We are here to support you in this challenging time.
“I feel like I’ve taken a step or two backwards. Would that be normal with what’s going on?”
We’ve heard many variations of this question lately, and the answer is, YES! Regardless of what brought you to counseling, the stress and upheaval caused by the coronavirus and our world’s efforts to stop it may aggravate symptoms of anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD, grief, and more.
Relationships are harder under pressure. Children regress to earlier developmental stages. Our brains and bodies don’t have templates for how to deal with a pandemic. All of those things combine to make these very challenging times in terms of our mental, emotional, and relational health. No matter what that looks like for you, here are four simple (not easy) things to do that may help.
1) Ask the question, “What does my body need right now?” and then pay attention to the answer. Drink water. Eat as healthily as you can. Sleep. Move your body in exercise. Go outside. Your emotions live in your body — listen to what it’s telling you.
2) Breathe. Download an app such as Tactical Breather and use it every day right after you brush your teeth. There’s just no getting around the evidence that learning to manage your breathing can help you relax and decrease anxiety.
3) Disconnect from media. For at least one hour each day turn off all your notifications, put down your phone, turn off the tv, unplug Alexa or Google. Even better, do that same thing one full day, sunset to sunset, each week, if possible. (If it seems impossible, give it a second thought. Is it really?)
4) Re-engage in spiritual practices: silence, Scripture reading, prayer, fasting, gathering (virtually) with your faith community. There are many unanswerable questions in the face of COVID-19. Connecting to ultimate things will not answer them, but it may answer even bigger questions, and help settle your mind and heart.
Please contact us if we can help with other resources during this time. Take good care, be kind to yourself, and be gentle with others.
All our best,
Sheltering Oaks Counseling
Ready to Schedule an Appointment for testing or therapy?
We know how difficult it can be to take the first step to ask for help. You also may have questions! Our team of mental health professionals are available to help you through this process. Call today and we will get you scheduled with one of our therapists or testing psychologists. If you have questions before you begin, we're here to answer questions about therapy, testing, our counselors, or anything else. Please fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch with you soon!
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Other Mental Health Services at Sheltering Oaks Counseling
Your family may need help in more than one way. At Sheltering Oaks Counseling, we want to meet the mental health needs of every member of your family. Therefore, we offer a number of mental health services at our Wesley Chapel, FL based therapy clinic. For example, our therapists offer Christian counseling, counseling for young adults, therapy for cancer survivors and trauma therapy. We also have marriage counseling, family therapy, play therapy, and counseling for ministers. Not only can we help you in our Tampa area counseling offices, but we can also work with you anywhere in the state with online therapy in Florida.
Additionally, we offer several types of testing services, including neuropsychological testing, ADHD testing, psychoeducational evaluation, Gifted testing, and more. Finally, our specialty services for veterans and parents as IEP advocates can help you too! We would love to connect when you are ready to reach out.