All of our counselors continued to see clients in-person in our by definition, socially-distant and low-foot-traffic environments, and we are also continuing to offer online sessions.  All Change, Inc. personnel have been vaccinated and boostered.  

As a matter of existing protocol even before COVID-19, Change, Inc. offers both a sliding scale and reduced fee and/or pro bono sessions.   However, in response to COVID-19, we want to be even more pro-active about getting folks the help they need at a cost they can afford.  If you have already signed up for counseling with us, and have suffered a financial impact due to COVID-19 and would like us to consider reducing your counseling fees, please fill out our COVID-19 Financial Impact Questionnaire (COVID-FIQ)!  We will endeavor to get back with you about it within 3-5 business days.  (If you’re not yet a client, we’ll ask you to please go through our normal sign-up process by calling/emailing/using the website contact form, at which time you can mention your interest in COVID-19-related financial considerations.)

Well, of course, you’re the one who has to decide that!  If you are feeling ill or have recently been sick, or are just too uncomfortable to come in, don’t give up on your journey, and feel free to consider staying home and use our easy 1-Step Process to see your therapist online.  Just head to the Virtual Waiting Room on the day and time of your appointment, and click your therapist’s picture.  No problem!  If you are symptom-free (and especially if you’ve been vaccinated too), we will be happy to see you in-person!

At Change, Inc., Online Counseling literally involves only one step! 

• At the time of your appointment, just go to our Virtual Waiting Room and click your counselor’s picture!  If for some reason there are connectivity issues, your counselor will call/email you and switch to a different video chat method.  And by all means, call or email or Client Liaison Team if you need help during their office hours!

No, it is not.  While academicians and researchers may want to carve away at the joints of the science of psychotherapy, trying to understand which techniques and interventions are most successful for particular “disorders,” we believe that the most important factor in determining success in therapy is what is known as the therapeutic alliance (Lynch, 2012), defined by Teyber &
 Teyber (2011) as a partnership where both counselor and client agree on shared goals, work together on tasks designed to bring a positive outcome, and establish a relationship built on trust, acceptance, and empathy.  (Ironically, research actually indicates that this is the most critical thing in therapy too!)  So, in other words, we believe there really is something to sitting in a room with a person you can trust, and feeling what it is like to be with them in that space.

But wait!!!  A Better Question?!

Whether or not in-person and online therapy are the same isn’t really the best way to frame this discussion.  Instead, we suggest that you ask instead this related follow-up:  Is Online Counseling Effective?

The answer is yes, overwhelmingly, the research indicates that it is effective!  Over and over again.  We can keep going.  Really!

If you want to read more about Online Counseling in-general, click here!

It is our current clinical judgment that there is a degree of reasonable flexibility being afforded mental health (and all healthcare) providers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the enforcement of all applicable laws surrounding telehealth, consistent with trends that existed prior which were decreasing restrictions and increasing availability and options.  Change, Inc. plans to utilize this increase in flexibility to maximize our ability to see any clients requesting mental health services during/related to COVID-19.  We believe any forensic review of our current telehealth practices is likely to be met with a flexible, contextualized response.