Frequently Asked Questions
Note that many of your questions may already be answered on the vs. Therapy page so please review that first.Why are the phone and chat sessions 50 minutes instead of 60?
I often have one client session scheduled right after another. It's very important that I am present and focused on the person I am speaking with in session. The ten minutes between sessions allow me to take notes, check messages and attend to personal matters so that I won't be distracted during the next appointment.
Can anything really be private/confidential on the Internet?
There is no rock-solid 100% guarantee for privacy for any communications on the Internet. Part of the problem is that there are multiple points of access that a communication crosses in its travels. In a typical Internet communication the basic steps are:
- User enters information on their computer
- User clicks "Send"
- Information moves from users' computer to their Internet provider's servers
- Information is then routed across, sometimes multiple, routers on the way to its destination
- Information arrives at the destination server/computer
- Information is accessed by its intended recipient
- Information is potentially stored on the recipients computer
In order to guarantee 100% confidentiality, all of these access points would have to be secure and there is no one product or service that can do that. Even if steps 2 through 7 are completely secure, if someone guesses your password, for example, the whole thing can come tumbling down. Fortunately, with the billions of transactions happening on the Internet every minute, the chances that someone is specifically spying on you are likely small.
That said, there are some definite steps that can be taken to reduce the potential for an unwanted person to see your information. Get Safe Online has great tips for users to protect their computers and information. As for eTherapy, you can also consider utilizing encrypted communications.