Telehealth Sessions
How To Prepare For A Telehealth Session
Before your session: Complete The Telehealth Informed Consent Form
You will be emailed a link to complete a telehealth consent form prior to your appointment. Please contact your psychologist if you have not received it yet.
Before your session: Download Zoom
Unless your psychologist has sent you an email with other instructions, telehealth sessions will be conducted either on the phone or for a video chat session using a program called Zoom.
Your psychologist will provide a link for your session, and you can click that link to attend via a website browser (e.g., Chrome, Safari) or you can download the Zoom App.
Zoom can be downloaded as a free app for your mobile, as a free program that runs on your computer, or through your internet browser. Read also the notes at the bottom of this page regarding your privacy and telehealth psychology sessions.
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To install Zoom on your phone or tablet, go to https://zoom.us/download from your mobile and click the appropriate "Download" button under the fourth option "Zoom mobile apps"
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To install Zoom on your computer, go to https://zoom.us/download and click "Download" under the first option "Zoom client for meetings"
Before your session: Prepare Your Space
We aim to make the rooms as Melbourne Psychology & Counselling warm and inviting so that clients feel comfortable to settle into their experience. Consider creating a similar environment for your telehealth sessions:
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Quiet room free from disturbance or interruptions (if possible!)
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Comfortable chair
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Turn other devices off or on silent to avoid disruption
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A glass of water, access to tissues
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Make sure that you are not operating any machinery. If you are driving, you will be asked to pull over before we can resume the session.
At the end of your session: Billing
Your stored credit card will be charged at the end of the session. If eligible, your medicare rebate will also be processed at this time. If you are claiming through Private Health, please inform your psychologist so that an invoice can be emailed to you.
Your Privacy & Telehealth Sessions
Your privacy when using telehealth is very important to us. We have rapidly transitioned to using telehealth to ensure your continuity of care as suggested by the Department of Health. We are using Zoom for our telehealth sessions as one of the platforms noted as available for use for telehealth by the Department of Health.
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However, no platform is 100% secure from disruption and interference from 3rd parties. There are risks unique and specific to Telehealth, including but not limited to, the possibility that therapy sessions could be disrupted or distorted by technical failures, or could be accessed by unauthorised persons. MPC will continue to consult with the Department of Health to ensure we are using platforms noted as available for use with telehealth.
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We have taken the following steps to protect your privacy when using Zoom (no identifying information contained in the emailed invitation to a session; unique password to access each session, use of waiting room function by which the psychologist can limit access to the session to the client)
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The capture (including screenshots or photos of the therapy session), saving, or dissemination of any personally identifiable images or information from the Telehealth interaction to any other entities shall not occur without your prior explicit written consent
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If you are not comfortable using this platform, please chat with your psychologist about other options (e.g., use of the telephone for sessions, continuing with face-to-face sessions, and use of alternative telehealth platforms).