Ask a therapist > Other > Can I do a session every other week/ twice a month instead of every week?

Can I do a session every other week/ twice a month instead of every week?

I’m being treated with pristiq + Abilify for depression and would like to add counseling to my treatment. I have done biweekly counseling + meds in the past so this is a routine that I am comfortable with.
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Asked by Boss
Other
Answered
02/08/2021

Greetings Boss, Yes! You can participate in a session every other week or twice monthly, instead of every week. Please be advised that scheduling is also based on the availability of the counselor. Note that participating in a session every other week may not reduce the cost of your overall plan. 

The communication between you and your counselor is conducted in two ways:

  • Messaging: You and your counselor will exchange asynchronous messages through the platform, in a similar way to e-mail. There is no need to schedule as each one of you will send and read messages on your own time. Most of the use on BetterHelp is done this way.
  • Live sessions: You and your counselor can schedule a live real-time session in which you will communicate by chat, phone, or video.

A live session (by either chat, phone, or video) can be scheduled in two ways:

  • Scheduled by your counselor: While in a respective client's Sessions Page, the counselor can book a session in the Schedule section. The counselor should discuss and coordinate the date and time with you beforehand, versus scheduling a time without consulting with you first. For your convenience, if you are in a different time zone the counselor will see the times in both time zones.
  • Scheduled by you: You can schedule a live session with your counselor by selecting an available time slot. The counselor can set the time slots in which they are available for a live session using the "Scheduling" tab of the counselor’s dashboard. We do inform clients that if they don't see a day/time that works, to send the counselor a message!

Either way, when a live session is scheduled, confirmation and reminder emails will be sent to both you and your counselor. Both you and your counselor can cancel a session that was scheduled if needed.

In addition, there is a feature under the Help tab called “Video session test.” Try this feature out! It will run a test of your device to make sure it’s ready to go for a live video session.

Having issues? Reach out to BetterHelp directly at contact@betterhelp.com for any questions or issues you might have regarding the billing process, your account, payments, or anything else.

 

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(LMHC, MCAP)