Online Counselling - Safe, secure, convenient...

Speak with a Professional for FREE - Phone or Video Call

To ensure you & your family can get the support you need, we offer most of our counselling services online. We are happy to be flexible and offer you the kind of service that best suits your needs

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Online counselling is particularly useful during times of required self-isolation. It can also be valuable when we are:

experiencing illness
a parent of young children
living in remote location or a rural community
your schedule is very tight
you want help, but feel highly uncomfortable in new environments
you live overseas or are traveling
you are a time compromised teenager

What is Online Counselling?

Online Counselling at The Grove is provided either by phone or via a secure online video platform. Essentially Online Counselling is talk therapy using an online medium. It is very safe, secure and convenient.

Initially we recommend meeting over the phone or via online video consult for a FREE 20min Consult with one of our therapists. This is a time that we learn about your most significant struggles and together determine whether Online Counselling is appropriate for you. If together we decide to proceed, you and your therapist schedule time to meet via the online video platform.

Just as if you were meeting face-to-face, your first session will be an intake session and will run for 90 minutes, and your subsequent appointments will be standard sessions and will run for 60 minutes.

At The Grove, we take your wellbeing very seriously. As we would in a face-to-face counselling, we will ask that you provide details of:

your GP or any medical practitioners / specialists that you are consulting
a person you could reach out to, if you needed to be with someone

Generally we do not recommend Online Counselling for those that are:

quite unstable or psychologically unwell or at risk to themselves or others

Does Online Counselling really work?

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Whilst Online Counselling does not afford us the same opportunity to perhaps engage in Play Therapy, it is an incredibly effective medium for talk therapy. For those clients that have experienced trauma in their lives, Online Counselling, can help them feel very safe and empowered in the work, as they have complete control over their environment. In the case of Wholebody Focusing Oriented Therapy, clients and therapists alike, comment on how powerfully they experience the therapy, when the the attention is so actively brought to one another through the screen medium. Couples often are really grateful for the experience to work online.

What do I need to do Online Counselling?

Counselling is very personal work. Before each session we recommend that you take time to prepare yourself and your space accordingly. Shut the doors, turn off the phone, get yourself a glass of water, and maybe even light a candle, that you then blow out once the session is complete. To make the most of the session, be ready to commence 5 minutes before your appointed time.

Whilst the online medium is very convenient and easy to access, it is important that you ensure you are in a space that is:

private
distraction or disturbance free
comfortable - don’t forget the water & tissues

You will need:

a computer with a camera
earbuds or headset with a microphone (not essential, but recommended)
strong internet access

At the time of your session:

locate your session link in your appointment confirmation email
click on the link & the session will commence

How do I pay for Online Counselling?

At the end of each session, we ask that you provide your credit card details and payment is made using our secure payment terminal. Just as for face-to-face clients, a receipt and follow-up session details are then emailed to you.

I live in a different time zone, what do I do?

All Online Counselling sessions are conducted from our practice in Melbourne Australia (Australian Eastern Standard Time). If you are located in a different time zone, please note that our online diary accommodates that. If in doubt please consult http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html to determine your relevant time zone. Unless otherwise requested all appointment and reminder information will refer to the Melbourne, Australian time time and date of your appointment.

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Counselling in the Comfort of your Home

Through our online counselling service, we can provide invaluable support to those who need it, in the comfort of their own home. The ability to access expert counselling via video is particularly beneficial to those suffering from illness, those who have busy schedules or responsibilities that tie them to the home, or to those who find the prospect of 1-to-1 in-person counselling daunting.

Most of our counselling services can be facilitated through video counselling. This includes anxiety therapy, child counselling, depression therapy, couples counselling, family therapy, grief counselling, counselling for adolescents, holistic therapy, play therapy and trauma counselling.

You will be afforded the same, highly personal 1-to-1 experience via our online counselling sessions as you would attending an in-person session at our practice in St. Kilda. A team of experience counsellors, including The Grove Founders Sarah Sacks and Megan Rees, are available to book for online sessions.

Leading our expert team of online counsellors are Megan and Sarah. Megan specialises in therapy for children, adolescents and families, dedicating herself to the foundational philosophy of child-centred play therapy. Sarah is a qualified and experienced counsellor, meditation teacher and group facilitator, focused on delivering therapy for adults, young adults and couples.

Supporting Megan and Sarah are Associates Lindy Chaleyer, Lynda Thompson, Sharon Bloom, and Lana Mitchell. Lindy specialises in family counselling, individual counselling, couples counselling, group therapy facilitation, supervision and online counselling. Lynda Thompson has extensive experience working with adults, young adults and adolescents. Sharon is our resident Associate with deep experience and expertise in relationship counselling and couples counselling. Lana is our Online Specialist, and is dedicated to providing therapies for grief, trauma, anxiety and depression, life transitions and general counselling.

Our entire team is ready and waiting to help and support you and/or your partner or child if you are seeking online video counselling.

The Benefits of Online Video Counselling

You might be new to the concept of video counselling and wondering “what is online counselling?” Perhaps have never even attended a therapy session with a counsellor before. Whatever your motivations for seeking information about counselling support, know that there are lots of benefits to online video counselling to consider.

As one of the leading specialists in online counselling Australia wide, our video therapy sessions can offer the following benefits:

Flexibility

Our therapists can offer online video sessions before or after work, or during lunchtime, providing slots that fit your busy schedule. You can eliminate the time needed to travel and ensure you can fit in the 1-to-1 time you need with your therapists through our flexible online booking schedule. Our flexible schedule can even accommodate clients from different time zones.

Your busy day-to-day no longer has to get in the way of you accessing the counselling support you or your family needs. We are bringing our expert counselling services to you through our online therapy service.

Accessibility

For those suffering from illness or poor mobility, physically travelling to our practice for a therapy session simply is not feasible, nor beneficial for their health. Our online video sessions ensure such individuals, couples or families can still participate in therapy sessions, without having to leave their home.

For those who live in rural areas or within a considerable distance from our practice, our online video sessions also ensure our various forms of therapies and our expert team of counsellors are also accessible to you, no matter where you live.

Social stigma

We realise that for many people, there can still be a social stigma attached to receiving counselling. That perceived social stigma can be so significant that it prevents people who need it from seeking help, especially those who have never attended therapy before.

Online counselling can help to overcome that issue by removing the need to attend our practice in-person. Clients are assured that they will not be seen walking in or out of the practice and can keep their counselling a private matter.

Anonymity

By removing, in-person, face-to-face contact, our private online counselling sessions can offer a greater feeling of anonymity for some clients. Many online clients report that they feel a little more secure in opening up with the computer screen making them feel a certain level of invisibility.

This can help some clients be more honest when communicating and make greater breakthroughs in therapy as a result. Therapists may even allow clients to communicate with their camera switched off if that makes them feel more comfortable in sharing their thoughts, experiences and feelings.

Book Your First Online Consultation for Free

At The Grove, as leading specialists in video counselling Australia wide, we firmly believe in enabling our clients to trial whatever form of therapy they are seeking before they commit to ongoing sessions. Feeling comfortable with your therapy and your counsellor is key to achieving results.

That’s why we offer all new clients a free 30-minute online video or phone consultation. You and/or your partner or child can spend 30 minutes speaking with one of our therapists to get a sense of what our therapy sessions are like and whether The Grove is a match for you. You can test out online counselling for yourself, see how truly effective it really is and how it can work for you.

Your free initial online session can be booked online via our website, with the ability to choose which therapist from our team you would prefer and the available day and time slot that best suits your schedule. If the time you are seeking is not available, please call 03-9532-4567 or email info@thegrovecounselling.com and we will do our best to accommodate you.

We look forward to welcoming you to your first online video session with The Grove counselling team!
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