It's the same problem seen over and over again. You spend years learning to be a therapist, only to end up working for someone else, which always means a cut in pay and possibly working long hours that aren't paid because you're on salary.
Sure, those years working for someone else can be of great value in mastering your craft, but there always comes a time when it feels like you need to break away and do things your way.
The Problem
Starting your own practice takes a lot of know-how, time, effort, money, and business expertise. Being you work for someone else probably means you don't have a lot of money for such a large endeavor. The fact you have bills to pay, like everyone else, means you don't have a lot of time to be without income. And, because you spent your college years studying to be a therapist, you most likely don't know a whole lot about promoting a new business.
Those are just some of the unfortunate realities that can play a huge role in keeping you down and working for someone else the rest of your career.
The Solution
There might be several, but let's focus on one of the quickest and easiest; online therapy at the Virtual Therapist Network.
Online Therapy, is really nothing more than providing therapy to your clients by way of real-time video and audio and the Virtual Therapist Network makes it possible for professional therapists, counselors, & life coaches to provide online therapy and counseling services to individuals, couples, and families through HIPPA secure video and audio over the Internet.
Let's talk about online therapy and go over the benefits to see how they nullify some, if not all, of the problems we mentioned above.
Slash Your Overhead Costs
In most cases, becoming an online therapist means you're working from your home office, which means there's no requirement to rent an office, buy furniture, computers, pay for utilities, or hire staff.
In fact, online therapists at the Virtual Therapist Network only need a computer, webcam, speakers, Internet connection, and private place to conduct their sessions.
That translates to a lot of savings.
Quick Turn-Around
Starting a business will take months. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Then it can, and in most cases will take months before your practice begins to earn a profit.
At the Virtual Therapists Network, we've already spent months doing what it takes, so you don't have to.
In fact, for most online therapists, it only takes about 15 minutes before you're ready to begin accepting new clients.
Because you're not having to spend months setting-up your new business and finding clients, you can quickly begin doing what you do best and that's providing online therapy to your clients. This quick turn-around means you can start earning income more quickly, which makes it possible to sustain yourself.
No Advertising Headache or Costs
Advertising is an enormous, costly, difficult, and time-consuming task. At the Virtual Therapist Network, we already know this and therefore have hired an independent Internet SEO and marketing company to handle our therapist marketing, which means you don't have to.
Join the Virtual Therapist Network and for a fraction of what you would spend in advertising alone, you can have a full-featured account that will earn you money providing online therapy to clients.
Reaching New Clients
Finding new clients is a difficult task, to say the least. It might even be the most difficult. For therapists with a brick and mortar practice, this is a result of location and distance. That is to say, your location vs. the distance to a prospective client.
At the Virtual Therapist Network, we not only make your location and distance from a client irrelevant because of our integrated HIPPA secure video/audio system, but we open opportunities for you to find new clients on a nationwide level. That's because when you join us, your online profile, specialty, and service are advertised to the entire United States and Canada.
Imagine the possibilities of being advertised as an online therapist to your entire state or country and conducting therapy sessions from your own home office!
Different Clientele
It's safe to say there are a lot of people who would like to receive mental health therapy but are unable to do so because of a pre-existing condition (i.e. anxiety) or maybe even a physical condition that makes it too hard to travel to a therapy appointment.
Wouldn't it be great if you could reach those individuals, who in some cases, might need your help more than anyone?
With online therapy, those individuals can find you online and begin receiving treatment immediately.
Payments
When working as an online therapist, you want to make sure you have a system in place to receive payment. One of the great things about working online is there are several online payment systems you can use to receive payment quickly; PayPal is one of the most popular.
As an online therapist at the Virtual Therapists Network, you determine your payment system and how much you want to charge for an online therapy session. In fact, all payment issues are completely left up to you, which gives you better control and flexibility.
With more flexibility, you can offer discounts for referrals, volume, or maybe even weekend clinics. Regardless of the discount type, it's completely up to you.
Security and Compliance
You might be thinking why not just use Skype or some other form of a chat room? The simple answer is Skype and other chat rooms aren't secure and are typically monitored to some degree, which makes them not HIPPA compliant and very risky for you and your client.
At the Virtual Therapist Network, our real-time video system was not only designed by us and for us, but it's 100% encrypted, secure, and HIPPA compliant, which saves you a lot of money designing, building, and deploying your own system.
Furthermore, the entire website is secured by its own SSL certificate, which makes every event more secure for you and your clients.
Some Differences
Some online therapy sites only offer you the ability to conduct your sessions with your clients. The problem with those is you're still stuck with the costly and daunting task of building a personal website, maintaining it, and advertising.
At the Virtual Therapist Network, our goal is to bring the entire business presence together in one package.
That means our membership offers a full-featured profile with photo, introduction, specialization, treatment orientation, insurance section, fee, and online discounting information.
Coupled with our built-in booking calendar, rating and messaging systems, and blog, we strive to make your membership an all-inclusive business platform for you to earn a good living in your professional field.
Conclusion
You're a professional therapist looking to branch out and become your own boss. It's a difficult and costly task, to say the least.
The good news is there's a great alternative to the traditional, but costly business start-up, which is to become an online therapist and work from home.
Although different online therapist options may exist, it's important to align yourself with the one that, not only gives you the most for your money, but also presents you in the most professional manner, and is poised to find you the most clients.
Security is a key component and can't be overlooked. Your solution must be secure (encrypted) and HIPPA compliant or you run the risk of losing your license.
The Virtual Therapist Network is such an alternative that is working hard to help therapists, counselors, and life coaches achieve their personal goals and be successful business owners.