Online Therapy

Reasons for Choosing Online Therapy over traditional face-to-face therapy

Reasons for preferring online therapy might include the following:

1. Living in a region where quality psychotherapy – or possibly any therapy at all – is unavailable
2. Living in a region where the highly effective and empirically proven cognitive therapy modalities such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Rational Emotive Therapy, Schema Therapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectic Behaviour Therapy are unavailable
3. Working or living in an area where therapy isn’t conducted in the person’s home language
4. Online therapy also tends to be more affordable than face-to-face therapy. In many countries even inexperienced therapists can charge in excess of $200 per session. Obviously prices vary depending on particular region within a country, the experience of the psychologist as well as session length. However, one tends to get what you pay for and to find a psychologist who is registered with their countries mental health board (which implies a minimum of a masters or doctorate in Clinical or Counselling Psychology) and who has a decent amount of experience (I would recommend a minimum of a decade), can be extremely unaffordable.
5. Of course now COVID-19 has also impacted on the therapy of millions of people worldwide as many have been unable to have their normal face-to-face sessions, and due to the necessity of online therapy in many cases this in turn has impacted on how many view online therapy altogether. It is a safe, adaptive and comfortable way for many to resolve their psychological problems and move forward with their lives in a healthy and happy manner.

Cognitive Therapy (e.g. CBT) adapts especially well to the digital format

It should also be noted that certain psychotherapy modalities such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Rational Emotive Therapy, Schema Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (basically the Cognitive Therapy modalities) lend themselves better towards online therapy. They have the advantage of containing a higher degree of psycho-educational skills learning, as well as structure, and their homework tasks tend to create continuity of therapeutic growth throughout the week.

I am now offering psychotherapy to English speaking clients around the world who are looking for high quality and affordable therapy within the cognitive therapy realm. Therapy consists of weekly, fifty-five minute, one-on-one live video sessions.

A WARNING before signing up for online therapy through any of the many advertised websites

If you do decide on online therapy then please always read the fine print:

1. Many sites contain unqualified therapists or use terms like therapy when they actually mean counselling. Always ask to see the qualifications of – as well as board registration certificate or number – of any prospective psychologist.
2. Always check how long a particular therapist has been practising for.
3. Make sure of the fine print of what the service actually offers. Many claim to offer psychotherapy are in fact corresponding though through one or more emails, audio recordings or video recordings and do not offer any actual live video therapy sessions at all. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these methods, but just make sure of what you will be getting before you sign up!

A Synthesis about Me

I am a Cognitive Therapist who has now been practising as a psychologist for almost two decades, of which the last 14 years have been in Private Practice.  I am of course registered as a clinical psychologist with the Board of Healthcare Funders in South Africa, as well as the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and have completed many additional courses and modules in cognitive therapies over the years.

As a Cognitive Therapist I am extremely well trained in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), and over the years have upskilled in and added on other Cognitive Therapy modalities such as Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), Schema Therapy (ST), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (AACT) as well as Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (DBT) in order to be able to effectively treat even the most challenging of cases.

Please peruse the rest of this website for additional information on myself and my therapy practice.

Prices

South African Residents

I am now offering online psychotherapy to any South African residing in South Africa at my standard therapy rate for fifty-minute sessions.

INDIVIDUAL
R1620 per session
R1460 per session if the session is paid for within the same calendar month that it occurs

COUPLES
R1750 per session
R1600 per session if the session is paid for within the same calendar month that it occurs

The online therapy process

I chiefly utilize Zoom for the sessions, and for those who aren’t familiar with Zoom, it has the ability to book recurring sessions as well as the good video quality and easy ability to share files on the screen. With the odd client though I am using a different platform such as Google Hangouts, Skype or WhatsApp video and prospective clients are welcome to use a platform other than Zoom if they have a strong preference.

Complete this form to begin the process