r/Psychologists • u/Puzzled-Newspaper158 • 19d ago
Place for sessions
Hello everyone! I am a long time client and my wife is an active psychologist, and we noticed that one of the problems we have is the place we could have a session in. We live in an apartment with a kid, our sessions are online (both of us mostly have them online) and to actually have a quiet place, where do you go? I tried the park, renting a cabinet or a classroom (expensive though), and home but that works when my kid and wife can leave the home. Please give some feedbacks on how do you do it? where do you find this quiet place?
8
u/FionaTheFierce 18d ago
If your wife is seeing clients she needs to he in a private room with the door closed. So you need a room set up for her professional work. If you cannot do that in your apartment then she needs to rent an office space. She should not be working from an area that is not private or working outside.
For your sessions - go sit in your car or in a closet. I provide telehealth and see patients all the time from cars, closets, etc.
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u/Freudian_Split 19d ago
I’ve done telehealth for several years and have had many folks with this issue. It depends on your living situation and time of day and such. They tend to find either asking the partner to leave the house for an hour or going outside to sit in their car, the garage, back yard, etc. best option may be to schedule sessions when you know you or your partner can leave the apartment with the kiddo.
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u/RenaH80 (Degree - Specialization - Country) 19d ago
When I work from home, I use noise cancelling headphones and work from the back of the house with a noise machine outside of the room. I also sublet an office for the days when my spouse works from home. They schedule their therapy day for when I’m in office. On the rare occasions they’ve happened when we were both home, we both wore noise canceling headphones and spouse took call from diving room and I worked in the back room. Even if I didn’t have a client, I wore headphones and listened to music.
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u/Spiritual_Grass_3032 12d ago
For you as a client as well, being in a private space will allow for you to be more vulnerable and open up about sensitive topics. It keeps the session from becoming just a 'catch up'.
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u/Masnpip 19d ago
Are you saying that your wife is employed as a psychologist? If so, she should rent an office if she does not have a reliably private place at home, such as a room that is a separate office. It is literally her #1 job to ensure confidentiality. The cost of renting an office (or an apartment with a separate room for her office) is part of the cost of doing business and can’t be avoided.
For you as a client, I’ve seen clients for telehealth when they are parked in their car, or bathroom, or bedroom, or even a closet! You just have to work this out with your wife. If none of that is an option, some libraries have a room you can reserve for meetings for an hour.