CLOSED to new questions Live AMA Thread With 7 Cups Director of Clinical Services - Anna-Kate!
Learn more about this event here!
Ever wanted to know more about online therapy at 7 Cups? Anna-Kate Miller will be joining us for an AMA! She is our Director of Clinical Services and has been a therapist here for 2 years. Shell be posting about How does online therapy help?
Anna-Kate will also be joined by 7 Cups Therapist @LisaDeRegtMBPsS!! :)
Shes excited to share some time with you discussing why she likes online therapy, her background and the future of online therapy. Please keep to general questions about therapy. Therapists license legally prevents them from providing any personal care in public forums and without consent.
Post your questions for Anna-Kate & Lisa!! :)
Will we ever be allowed a group room where listeners and therapists can communicate? 
@bear228 hmmm good question. l I know there would be advantages and of course some issues. Something for the team and I to discuss.
@bear228
Is this something you'd like to see more of in the future?
@Laura
Yes Laura. I think it could be helpful!
@Laura Chiming into to say yes :3 Also - with SCL Room, this may have already been clarified but can Therapist Liasions access that/the bubble? I feel like if they were to be a part of the team, they should be able to be a part of team discussions - which for most of the sub-communities I'm apart of happen in the SCL Bubble!
What extra support can the therapists offer that listeners cant (apart from the fact you are trained) ?
@KeepFighting4Yourself I'm so glad you asked- bc I know its one that comes up. I don't think therapit give any more support than listeners. Listeners can give support, actively listen, validate feelings and at times understand bc you've experienced similar things. I see listeners as the heart. Therapist can also support, listen and validate but we also focus on other thing too. Therapy is more about understanding and changing. Its our goal to see people learn and change as needed. I think of us as the mind. Both of us care. Both of us give. And members can benefit from both!
@AnnaKateMillerLCSW
So its like a long-term chat with someone trained, rather than a long-term chat with someone who isnt?
@KeepFighting4Yourself Yes in simpliest terms. If someone is having a hard time- what can they benefit from? A support group? (sub communities) A one on one support person who listens just to them (listeners) and/or a therapist? What I'd do different as a therapit is figure out the problem, why the problem occured and then how to deal with it (problem solve, learning coping skils, etc).
And 7 Cups therapist are trained- just on being a listener. 
Therapist do longer and different training.
Do you have a specialism?
@brilliantTurtle89 I've actually done many different things over the years. I have done a lot of crisis work- at psych hospitals and mobile crisis. And that's a lot of "here and now". What do you need now. What can we solve now. I also really love working with care takers/parents.
@AnnaKateMillerLCSW
Awesome. Feel free to drop by the Parenting and Pregnancy Community anytime you like.❤️
Pressubmitted Question from the Community; is it possible for someone to start a therapy online and then continue offline later with the same therapist? for overcome some anxiety issues related to face-to-face intervention?
The live video sessions will add this piece for people who want to see their therapist. But yes, if your 7 Cups therapist has a in person practice nearby you may ask to do in person sessions.
Are you planning to have packages specific to currencies and have local experts from that country?
@Gordon10000 I think as we grow we'll be able to do more country or culture specific. We do have therapist from over 10 countries now (@LisaDeRegtMBPsS is in South Africa!). But yes- expanding would be great.
@AnnaKateMillerLCSW Hey! I don't have any questions particularly about Therapy, but I wanted to stop by to say Hello and Thank you for the amazing things you do for the community! Are we allowed fun questions here? 
If so, I have a few questions hehe!
Do you have any pets?
What's your favourite part of the site?
What's your favourite sub-community?
What is your funniest memory?
Do you have any great jokes to share?
hehe - I hope you are having a great day!
@emsworld Yay! a fun one
pets- a cockapoo named Autumn who turns 1 in a week.
I like the wiki- bc I can learn so much about 7 Cups there
Favorite SC- Seriously I'm not touching that one!
Funniest moment- that's hard off the top of my head. My kids make me laugh everyday.
Joke- since I'm an the east coast this feels relevant. What did the ocean say to the beach?- Nothing it just waved. Hehehe - that's my favorite since I was a kids.
If you changed therapists on here, would they pass on notes about you or would you have to start again from scratch?
@brilliantTurtle89 Just like going to a new in person therapist- things start over. The system can't move the chat messages. But you can copy and paste if you want- that way its your decision what your new therapist sees.
@AnnaKateMillerLCSW
Never been in therapy so wasn't sure how it worked face to face either. Good to know. Thank you for your answer.
@AnnaKateMillerLCSW hnmm, but my therapists always had notes in my record or reports after some time working with. not everything we talked about, but something.
@brilliantTurtle89
And the great thing about what Anna-Kate said about starting over is that you get to work on things again that perhaps you felt you wanted to explore more indepth and of course your new therapist may have a different approach/perspective so it's amazing to be able to look at it through a different lens so to speak.
@LisaDeRegtMBPsS
That sounds a good point. Thanks for the reply.
@brilliantTurtle89
Thank you for your question! :)
@brilliantTurtle89
Just thought I'd add - if you were to do this outside of 7 Cups, sometimes you have the option for your therapist to write a referral. That way they can give the next therapist a bit of a rundown about who you are so you don't have to start completely from scratch.
That's totally up to you though
How do you know if treatment is working through online therapy, and what do you do when it doesn
@Jenna
How do you know if treatment is working through online therapy, and what do you do when it doesnt work?
I love this question! Thanks Jenna. As a therapist, I check in daily with clients Monday - Friday so I can understand how they are feeling, how things are progressing or perhaps even if they are feeling a little stuck. Usually, if we've established there is resistance then we work together to understand why this is happening and how it can tell us more about this person, the past and perhaps any experiences they are having now. Online therapy means we can usually work on building a stronger rapport together. It's important that clients let us know how therapy is going as it can always be tailored to meet individual needs.
How many sessions are covered in this 30 day period at the $150? How long do people generally stay in therapy? Is there a point where you believe that therapy will no longer be needed?
@magneticForever58 The monthly subscription allows you to message whenever you like. Therapist respond M-F. So if you message often they will too. Its not really "sessions" in that sense. We will be adding live sessions which will be more like a typical face to face and you can choose if your live sessions is audio, video or live chat. Stay tuned for more details about price, etc
I have another question.
Does your work in therapy tend to be more focused on the past or the present?
@Jenna
Another brilliant question. That all depends on the approach of the therapist as we all have different styles of therapy. I tend to work on the past and how this leads up to the now as I believe lots can be learnt from a persons background especially their experiences with family and how this has shaped them into the person they are today. Then we work on the more recent/present events and take it from there too. It is very much tailored to the needs of the individual too.
@Jenna I agree with Lisa- we all have different approachs. My style is to start in the here and now and then work my way back. But each client is different, each therapit is different. And there isn't a "right or wrong" way. I also like to check in with folks often to make sure we're on the right track.