Teletherapy preparation checklist for parents
Whether you’ve moved your practice totally virtual or you’re offering only a few telehealth sessions, chances are you’ve spent some time thinking about your therapist Zoom background and the impact it may have on your sessions.
As telehealth care becomes the norm, private practitioners will have to find new and creative ways to bring the same energy and intention they would have brought to their physical office spaces. A carefully chosen therapy office background is a great way to do just that.
Why use a therapist Zoom background?
If you’re offering telehealth sessions from your home, even if you have a dedicated office space, you may not want clients to see what’s happening behind you. A good therapist Zoom background helps protect your privacy, and also helps make sure your clients won’t be distracted by anything that may be going on in your surroundings.
Choose a virtual therapy background that emulates the energy and style that you would want to have in a physical office space. Finding the ideal telehealth background helps you set the tone of your sessions and the work you’re doing with clients.
Here is some insight to keep in mind when deciding on a therapy office background for your telehealth practice.
What colors work best for a therapy office background?
When setting up your space, you might wonder what colors work best for a therapy office background during virtual therapy.
Soft blues, muted greens, and warm neutrals are ideal color choices for your therapist Zoom background. These colors are soothing and help keep clients grounded without drawing focus away from the conversation.
Bright or neon colors can be overwhelming, while stark white or black can feel cold or isolating. Avoid using them in your background if possible.
Does a soothing pattern help clients?
A simple, calming pattern in a therapist's Zoom background takes focus away from whatever is happening around you and brings it back to the work you’re doing with your clients.
By using unobtrusive patterns in soothing colors, you’ll also be able to set a calm and grounded mood for your sessions and encourage your clients to fully relax and be present in your work together.
Download our free virtual therapy backgrounds bundle to see some additional different color and pattern options you can use for your practice.
Why choose an open therapist Zoom background?
An open background is bright, with lots of natural light—something that makes sense in a physical office space as well as a virtual one. The bright, open feeling and the greenery behind you in a therapist Zoom background sets a welcoming mood that encourages clients to feel at ease and open up to you.
At the same time, there’s not too much to take in with an open therapy office background, so your clients are less likely to be distracted or thrown off by the therapist Zoom background that you’ve chosen.
Can a modern backdrop mimic your office?
If you generally work from a traditional-looking home office and have to move for some reason for one session, it might make the transition less bumpy for your clients to choose a home office Zoom background that closely mimics your actual office.
The camera angle of a modern therapist Zoom background positions you in such a way that it looks like you could really be in this space, and that this might be what’s behind you.
How do you choose a virtual background?
When it comes to actually choosing your therapist Zoom background, you have unique considerations as a mental health provider.
First, consider HIPAA and client privacy. Even with a virtual therapy office background, ensure no physical client files or sensitive data are left behind you. If the green screen effect suddenly drops, those documents could be exposed. Additionally, ensure you are in a private room where family members won't accidentally walk into the frame of your home office Zoom background.
Proper lighting for your therapy office background is also essential. Use front-facing lighting—like a ring light or a window directly in front of you—to prevent heavy shadowing and stop the edges of your silhouette from glitching against your telehealth background.
Think through your client base, and if any of them might be thrown off if you use a different therapist Zoom background each time. Some clinicians may opt to always use the same therapist Zoom background for each session to make sure they set the mood with the same intention each time.
Plus, the background you choose can help set your telehealth sessions apart from other video calls your clients may have had that day.
How do virtual backgrounds work with your EHR?
There are a lot of telehealth platform options for therapists to provide virtual care. Most EHRs that include telehealth should also include the option to blur your background or choose a specific therapist Zoom background.
SimplePractice’s telehealth feature has virtual backgrounds built right into the product, so you can choose the therapist Zoom background that feels like the best fit for you, your practice, and your clients.
How SimplePractice streamlines running your practice
SimplePractice is HIPAA-compliant practice management software with everything you need to run your practice built into the platform—from booking and scheduling to insurance and client billing.
If you’ve been considering switching to an EHR system, SimplePractice empowers you to streamline appointment bookings, reminders, and rescheduling and simplify the billing and coding process—so you get more time for the things that matter most to you.
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