Online Therapy in Missouri
It’s really hard to make it to your counseling sessions right now.
You’re busy. You can’t seem to carve out extra time in your day to get the mental health care you need.
However, you want to feel like the best version of yourself. And, you want to feel in touch with your own feelings, connected to others, and hopeful about the future.
You’ve been having a hard time and you just don’t feel like yourself. You have been looking for a therapist who understands what you’re going through and can help you feel better. But, you are really busy and life is hectic. So, you need to see someone who can provide convenient and flexible counseling.
Online Therapy is the Answer You’ve Been Looking For
It is important to take care of your mental health. But, it’s not always easy. Especially when you are busy. But, in today’s digital world it is easier than ever to access quality mental health counseling from the comfort of your own home. Online therapy allows you to meet with a therapist on a secure video platform.
Online Therapy is Convenient
At Aspire Counseling, we know that you want to feel like the best version of yourself. You want to feel in touch with your own feelings, connected to others, and hopeful about the future. In order to do that, you need to find convenient, effective counseling services. The problem is, it’s really hard to make it to counseling appointments right now. Perhaps you’re homebound due to illness or physical limitations. Maybe you’re worried about privacy. Or there just isn’t any room in your busy schedule to go across town to a counseling appointment.
We believe you deserve to be able to find healing through counseling. And we offer online counseling so we help you begin hat healing journey from the comfort of your own home or office. Our therapists understand mental health and all of our therapists are well trained in specific, proven counseling strategies. Most importantly, we have therapists who truly care about helping you.
Online Therapy During Covid-19
We know that the Coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic has many people practicing social distancing at the moment. And, during this uncertain and frightening time, our therapists are committed to making sure you can still receive support. We know that an essential part of overcoming this challenging time is staying connected with others, including your counselor. Therefore, our therapists will provide their mental health services online to support you.
We Respect and Value Your Privacy
At Aspire Counseling we understand that many people worry about being seen going to counseling or running into someone at their therapist’s office. And, although we wish that weren’t the case (and want to end the stigma against therapy) we understand. If you’re worried about these issues, then online therapy may be the answer you’re looking for. As a general rule of thumb, our therapists use a secure video platform to meet with you on your phone, tablet, or computer. We use HIPPA compliant software and adhere to all their guidelines. In other words, our therapists take your privacy seriously whether we’re meeting online or in person.
*Note: During Covid 19 the requirement for HIPPA complaint sessions has been waived. Our therapists have on rare occasions used unsecured methods such as Zoom due to technical issues. If you and your therapist are thinking about using a non-secure platform, you will discuss the pros/cons ahead of time.
Online Therapy in Missouri
Did you know that you have to see a therapist who is licensed to provide online services in the state you are physically located in? So, if you are traveling outside Missouri, then your therapist won’t be able to meet with you until you get back. However, we can see you anywhere in the state of Missouri, even if you’re outside of the Mid-Missouri area. For example, we can see professionals traveling to Kansas City or St. Louis for work. Or, a youth whose parents live in different parts of the state and share custody. While most of our clients are in the Mid Missouri area, through our online therapy services we’re now able to see individuals who are physically located everywhere from Joplin to Sedalia to Kirksville or St. Charles. Wherever you are in Missouri, we’d love to help.
Who Benefits From Seeing an Online Therapist?
So many people have seen great results from working with an online therapist. Especially people who had a hard time leaving their house due to health issues or severe social anxiety. It is also very effective in helping stay-at-home parents access counseling. Many people prefer the convenience of online therapy to in-person therapy. A study published by the American Journal of Managed Care found that 86.7% of online psychiatry patients said they’d recommend online to their loved ones. Then, another study from the Journal of Anxiety Disorders proved that online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is just as effective in treating anxiety and depression as in-person counseling.
Online Counseling Services Provided by Aspire Counseling
Aspire Counseling is proud to offer a wide variety of therapy options to their clients online. Our therapists believe in providing only the highest quality counseling services and we know research has shown online therapy can be as effective as an in-person treatment for many mental health diagnoses. These include anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma, grief, postpartum mood disorders & more. Therefore, we are confident we can help you begin to find healing as you meet with a therapist from the comfort of your own home or office.
We want everyone to have the opportunity to access quality and personalized counseling regardless of their ability to come into our Mid-Missouri counseling center.
The therapy team at Aspire offers the following counseling services online:
Therapy for hospice patients and seniors
Help for mothers and parents
Counseling for childhood abuse and neglect
*Please note that not every situation is appropriate for online counseling. Therefore, your therapist will be assessing your fit for online therapy services during your first few sessions. In many cases, your therapist may ask that you come to the office for the initial assessment.
Online Therapy for Spanish Speakers
We want all our clients to benefit from counseling and the opportunities it provides for them to achieve emotional wellness. Therefore, counselor Diana Hughes provides counseling in Spanish. As a Spanish speaker herself, she understands the benefits of being able to communicate with her clients in their native language. Please let our client care coordinator know if you would like to work directly with Diana.
Online Anxiety Treatment
Honestly, online therapy often works really well for anxiety treatment. In fact, we wrote a whole blog post about the effectiveness of online therapy as anxiety treatment. Counseling for anxiety is one of the things Aspire Counseling is best known for and all of our therapists are trained in effective interventions for helping people reduce & manage anxiety. Therefore, we’ve been thrilled over the past couple of years as we’ve gained more and more experience and knowledge about offering anxiety treatment online. We’re able to work with people all over the state who have, often pretty severe anxiety including panic disorder, phobias and even OCD.
Essentially, online therapy is a great option for doing exposure work with our counseling clients. We’re able to have our clients take their computer or device into the specific situations where they experience anxiety and we can provide support right there in real time.
Online EMDR Therapy
EMDR is an incredible therapeutic intervention that is very popular right now. In fact, about half of our therapists are fully trained in EMDR and all of us who use it have been incredibly impressed by how much it has helped our clients! The good news is that throughout this pandemic we’ve perfected the art of using EMDR during virtual sessions. To be totally honest, there are still some advantages to doing EMDR sessions in person at our Columbia, MO counseling office at times, because we have great tools (like a lightbar and “buzzies”) we can use in the office. But many, many of our clients have had incredible success with EMDR even being 100% virtual throughout their entire time in treatment.
Online Therapy for Teens
At Aspire Counseling, we primarily see children over the age of 10, teens, young adults, adults & seniors. That said, there are some unique benefits to online therapy for teenagers. Missouri teenagers who aren’t driving yet appreciate the independence of not having to rely on Mom or Dad for a ride to the office. Online counseling fits in between extracurriculars and the general business or teen life. In fact, we’ve had some high school students make arrangements to meet with their therapist online in a private space at their school.
A Note About Location
Online therapy throughout Missouri….but only in Missouri
We sometimes get requests for online therapy from people outside the state of Missouri. Unfortunately, our licensing rules don’t allow our clinicians to work with anyone who is physically located outside the state of Missouri. We know this may be frustrating. But our current clinicians are all licensed in Missouri. And because therapy is considered to be actually occurring where the client is located (after all, you’re the one getting better through our work), this means that you must be physically located somewhere in the state in order for us to work with you. So, while we’re happy to see clients all the at the border in Kansas City, St. Louis, down near Branson or even North of Kirksville we unfortunately are not able to see clients for virtual counseling appointments even if you’re just right over that state line.
Begin Online Therapy in Missouri
Whether you are physically located in St. Joseph, Kirksville, Joplin, Sedalia, Branson, St. Charles or anywhere else in the State of Missouri, our therapist scan help. Our clinicians love that online counseling has given us the ability to bring our specialized mental health services to anyone throughout the state. As long as you have access to a phone, tablet, or computer and can use the internet you can have a counseling session from the comfort of your own home.Here’s how to get started:
1.
Get matched with the right therapist.
First, you’ll speak to a member of our Client Care team who will ask you a few questions about who you are looking for and take the time to match you with a therapist we think will be a great fit.
2.
Begin online therapy.
Because we know how important it is to find someone you feel comfortable with, all of our therapists offer a free, virtual 30-minute consultation where you can ask as many questions as you’d like.
3.
Find your path forward.
You & your therapist will come up with a plan forward based on your needs, you’re therapist’s experience and the counseling method’s they’re been trained in. Together, you’ll walk this journey so you can start feeling better.
Not Ready to Begin Online Counseling or Not in Missouri?
We know many people who visit our website may not be ready to start online counseling right away. Or honestly, we get website visitors who aren’t even physically located in Missouri and therefore our licensing rules won’t let us treat. However, we still want to offer you something useful! So, check our our blog for all sorts of tips about coping with anxiety, stress, grief, PTSD triggers & more. Or, below are some things we’ve specifically written related to online counseling:
You can find healing. Our therapists can help.
Although Online Therapy Is Appropriate For Mental Health Concerns, It Is Not Appropriate For Clients Experiencing A Severe Crisis. If You Are Currently Having Suicidal Thoughts, Please Seek Help Immediately By Calling The National Suicide Lifeline At 1-800-273-8255 Or The Local Hotline At 1-800-395-2132. If You Are Having An Acute Mental Health Crisis, Please Go To Your Local ER. In The Mid Missouri Area, We Recommend Going To The University Of Missouri ER.
Other Mental Health Services
We know life is complicated and you may be struggling with more than one issue. Or perhaps more than one member of your family needs some support right now. Because each therapists at Aspire Counseling specializes in something slightly different, we’re able to offer a wide range of mental health services at our office in Columbia or online anywhere in Missouri. Some of our specialties include depression counseling, trauma therapy/PTSD treatment, anxiety treatment, teen counseling, support during chronic illness and more! We’re here to help.