Family sessions via Telehealth??
Answered
Hi SP community,
Is anyone using the Telehealth option to conduct family therapy sessions? I have found Telehealth really easy to use with individual clients but am wondering about families.
Appreciate any suggestions, insight, or tips!
Hilary
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We're happy to support you, Christine. If you'd like to subscribe to updates and vote for this feature, please visit this Ideas board post: https://simplepractice.uservoice.com/forums/918553/suggestions/36553852
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Hi Chris, you can visit this link to vote for this feature and subscribe to status updates: https://simplepractice.uservoice.com/forums/918553/suggestions/36553852
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I was surprised by this answer from support staff as it actually is possible to invite multiple parties from multiple devices. Simply copy the link and email it to the different parties. As they sign in they will enter the virtual "room" almost like a zoom call, but with a slightly less organized functionality.
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Sorry Colleen - I don't check this much. Yes, it works very similarly to Zoom. The key is that when you go to the appointment in the calendar, select the Share Link button, then Copy Link. Then, create an email to any party you wish to have join and paste the link for them to follow.
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Hi all, thanks for chiming in. Here's a helpful guide from our Help Center that walks through how to use Telehealth by SimplePractice to hold multi-client sessions: https://support.simplepractice.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001196372#multi-user
While we are thoughtfully exploring formal support for larger group sessions, if you do need to hold a group Telehealth appointment for more than 2 clients in the meantime, we have an alternative workflow you can try. This workflow is what Kevin is using:
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Create a new client in the system. Name the client something that will help you identify which particular group this is, such as “Group X” (the “X” can be an identifying word). We do not recommend identifying this group using a single person’s PHI.
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Create a Telehealth appointment with “Group X” selected as the client.
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Share the unique link from this group Telehealth appointment to each client in the group manually.
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Explain to the clients in the group that they must be careful not to share the link with others.
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If you also see a member of the group individually as a client, be sure to explain to that client that they’ll need to use the link attached to their individual appointments for their one-on-one sessions.
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For every future appointment you have with this particular group, you’ll have to manually share the unique link to each individual before the appointment.
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You’ll need to repeat these steps each time you create a new group.
Please also note that SimplePractice does not officially endorse this alternative workflow, and our team is unable to help troubleshoot issues for any group Telehealth appointments at this time. Additionally, we assume no liability or responsibility for managing these group links should you choose to create them.
While I don’t yet have an ETA for you on when we’ll be releasing official support for group Telehealth appointments, we are actively working on it and we know it’s important. We’ll definitely keep you and the rest of our SimplePractice community updated on the status of this new feature as we continue to make progress.
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I agree with many that this needs to be supported STAT. I see adult families with no minors, again participating from different locations. Couples can, additionally, be "thruples", so having "enhanced family" or group options is becoming even more important.
I'm currently paying for another service that does support more than one person and it's not a sustainable extra expense for me.
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Hi Katherine, we're in development for this feature, which will accommodate Group Client Profiles, Group Sessions, Group Notes and all the functionality you'll need for 3+ participants in a session. Please keep your eye out for status updates on this feature request and feel free to add your comments, we'd love your feedback during this development phase: https://simplepractice.uservoice.com/forums/918553-simplepractice-feedback/suggestions/36553852-group-sessions-via-telehealth . Thank you!
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Hi Katherine,
To solve the problem, all I do is send the link to the main client (the responsible party) and have h/er copy the link and send them to the rest of the family! I have 8 family members in different households and it has been working great! If you don't want to ask the responsible party to do so, I suppose you can keep track of everyone's emails and copy the link and send it yourself. It is just easier for us the other way! I hope that this helps.
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