COVID-19 update

At Sheppard Psychology, we are dedicated to supporting the individuals and families in our community. At this time, we are able to offer both face-to-face and telehealth (online) appointments.

For clients seeking face-to-face consultations, we have put in place a number of measures to ensure the safety of our clients and our team.

In line with the SA Health Guidelines, if you are feeling unwell (even with minor symptoms) or meet the government’s criteria for quarantine or isolation please stay home and call our office to request a telehealth appointment.

Please sanitize or wash your hands upon arrival and departure from our offices. Hand sanitizer is available at our front desk and in our consulting rooms.

In order to maintain social distancing, we can only accommodate 2 people in total at an appointment. If your child is our client here, we request that only one parent/caregiver attend and that you do not bring additional siblings (babies are an exception). Alternatively, you can request a telehealth appointment.

In addition, please arrive on time, ie neither too early or late in order reduce people’s time in the waiting room. If you would prefer to wait in the car, let us know and we can call you once your clinician is available.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sheppard Psychology Team

Dr Sarah Sheppard resuming face-to-face consults Monday May 11

Dr Sarah Sheppard will be returning to the consulting rooms on Monday May 11 to allow for face-to-face sessions. Sarah is very happy to continue offering telehealth sessions - please let Emma know (admin@sheppardpsychology.com) if this is your preference and we will email you a link before your appointment. Please call/email if you have any questions or concerns.

Sheppard Psychology Telehealth Consultations Information

Therapy via a screen is a new concept for our psychologists and clients but we are feeling grateful that technology is allowing to continue offering services at this time. Research suggests that telehealth sessions are just as effective in supporting mental health as face to face sessions. There are other benefits to telehealth sessions in that they occur with the comfort of the home environment as well as it saving travel time.

How does it work?

At some point just before your session, your clinician will send you a link to a webpage via email or if you don’t have email – via SMS on your phone. There is no need to sign up with Coviu, your clinician has signed up and will send you an email with a link to the session. The email will have a big red button that says click here to 'join the call'. Please sign in early, and “test” your sound and microphone.

Once you click on the "join the call" at your appointment time you will be asked to take a selfie for identification as well as fill in your first and last name. This is so your clinician can identify you for security purposes. You will also be prompted by the browser to "enable camera and microphone" please click YES to enable.

What do I need for a telehealth session?

Telehealth works much better if you have a larger screen with a keyboard rather than a small tablet or smart phone. This might be a laptop, large tablet with keyboard or a computer - if you are using a desktop computer it needs to have a microphone, speakers and webcam. Most laptops that are from 2010 and later will have an inbuilt camera, speaker and microphone. If your laptop is from before 2010 you will need to investigate your hardware. It is most helpful if the computer or iPad is placed on a flat surface, such as a tabletop, rather than being held.

Browser - Coviu was built to run on a google chrome browser. Please download Google Chrome here to get started. If you already have Google Chrome please update your browser by clicking here.

iOS devices. iPhone or iPad - If you are planning on using an iOS device for your online session, please make sure it is updated and is running Safari 12+. (For very old iOS devices you can use the old Coviu app here - do not use if you have an up-to-date device.)

Internet Connectivity - Coviu needs the internet to work. All you need is a minimum of 350Kbps for both upload and download. You can run a speed test or test your device via this link: https://pr.coviu.com/coviu-support-for-patients.

You will also need your mobile phone with you at all times during the session if we have any tech issues. Also for children/adolescent clients, can parents have their mobile phone with them at the time of the consult if we need to talk with you and you are not in the room.

Confidentiality:

We are using a telehealth service Coviu which encrypts sessions to ensure confidentiality of the service. Coviu deletes all session content from Coviu and also from your – and our – computers/devices.  There is a Record Meeting option at our end, however we never record any sessions without your written consent.

Please ensure your session occurs in a private and quiet space. It is important that other people in the home cannot hear what is being said in the session. You may consider having a radio/music playing outside the room to block out any noise. You might like to put a “Stop Sign” or “Meeting in progress!” note on the door to encourage siblings and others to stay out the room

Questions:

Please call Emma between 9.30-12.30 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with any questions. You can also email us at admin@sheppardpsychology.com. Please be patient with us – we are on a steep learning curve given that this change to our practice is occurring quite rapidly!

With thanks,

The Sheppard Psychology Team.