We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephanie Gilbert. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephanie below.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for joining us today. Over the course of your career, have you seen or experienced your field completely flip-flop or change course on something?
The mental health care field has changed a lot in the past few years. When I got my masters degree, there were very few therapists providing what we now know as tele-health services. Throughout my masters work and most all of my training focused on in person counseling services. I worked in community mental health, various treatment centers, and a private practice setting as an associate. Then, the pandemic seemed to change everything overnight.
I was practicing in Santa Monica California at the time the pandemic started, and most every business was required to shut down for a time due to safety concerns. We all had to stay home. Conversations started very early about how therapists could continue to provided mental health services. How could we have clients come into an office if that would jeopardize their physical health? The answer was, we couldn’t. We also knew that the pandemic was causing mental health symptoms to increase for a lot of people, so no one was thinking that we could just shut down and not see clients. So that’s were tele-health services came in.
Prior to the pandemic I rarely provided tele-health services, and then things changed completely within the span of a few days as the pandemic started. Everything was now going to be done virtually – either video or phone. Providers had to figure out how to provide services securely and complying with the ethical codes and laws, which made it feel like we were being trained without a training manual at times. Governing boards caught up as quickly as possible and because of need there was acknowledgment for an increase in flexibility, and explaining how to fill out paperwork virtually and connect to sessions because the norm.
I was practicing completely online and that was also around the same time I opened my own private practice, Stephanie Gilbert and Associates, LLC. I had never thought I would have a virtual practice, but that was the only option. During those initial months though, I found that I enjoyed tele-health and so did clients. I read studies that showed telehealth therapy outcomes were similar to in person therapy outcomes, so the fear that it would not be as effective proved untrue. What I also witnessed tele-health do was to increase access to therapy services for many. Long drives and dealing with traffic (and the stress) were no long needed to see your therapist. People could access specialists that weren’t in their area for the first time. It was easier to be flexibly with my schedule because I was working from home.
I believe in tele-health so strongly that I made the decision to keep my practice 100% online. There are fantastic electronic medical records systems to send paperwork securely to clients (no need to print anything) and online software that keeps sessions secure. Laws are starting to catch up with tele-health too. Now I’m not limited to practice in one location, and clients can have their sessions in the comfort of their own home without having to spend time and stress about traffic and fitting the commute into their busy schedule.
Tele-health for mental health is here to stay. It’s increased access and I also think it’s helped normalize mental health. I hope one day mental health topics are de-stigmatized and it’s treated much like physical health topics.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Let me start with saying, I love what I do and I believe strongly in therapy and mental health services. I became a therapist because of the impact therapy had on me, it really changed the course of my life. I struggled with an eating disorder and OCD when I was younger, and therapy gave me the hope that I could live a life that wasn’t defined by what I was going through. I believe everyone should have access to therapy if they want/need to go, and although we’re a long way from there, the industry has made great progress.
As far as my education and training, I got my masters in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles and while I was an associate I worked in community mental health, various treatment centers, and private practice. Shortly after I was licensed I opened my own private practice, Stephanie Gilbert and Associates, LLC, and I now have associates I supervise as well as seeing clients.
I’m trained in EMDR and I’m also a Beck Certified CBT Clinician. I work with anxiety disorders, OCD, depression, eating disorders, and life challenges.
If there was one thing that I would like others to know, it’s that I’m passionate about normalizing topics around mental health and increasing access to services. It’s one reason why I started using social media and it’s also why I share how my own mental health struggles influenced my decision to became a therapist. No one should feel shame about their mental health. You aren’t a diagnosis, you’re a person. I deeply respect the bravery and vulnerability it takes to heal, and I believe healing is possible.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I don’t think this is unique to my field, but the ability to keep working towards a goal when you’re not seeing the results yet was something I found and still find valuable. Remember that goals take time, and not giving up before you see results. Find people to surround yourself with who believe it you and want you to succeed. They can be the encouragement you need when you’re feeling discouraged.
If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?
Absolutely! Owning a private practice was my goal when I started in my masters program.
Contact Info:
- Website: stephaniegilbertmft.com
- Instagram: @stephaniegilbertmft
- Facebook: @stephaniegilbertmft
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-gilbert-lmft-bicbt-cc-7887638b/
- Twitter: @StephGilbertMFT
Image Credits
All my photos were taken by Kate Haus, https://www.katehaus.com