Online Therapy in Tacoma, WA and across Washington State
Doctoral-level psychologists. Real, secure video sessions. The same depth of care you'd get in our downtown Tacoma office - from your couch.
Therapy that fits your life - without compromising on quality
Online therapy isn't a watered-down version of "real" therapy. For most of the people we work with, it is real therapy, just delivered through a screen instead of across a coffee table. Research over the past decade is consistent: for anxiety, depression, life transitions, ADHD, relationship work, and most other common concerns, telehealth is as effective as meeting in person.
What it does change is logistics. No commute. No parking. No scrambling to find childcare or block off three hours for a 50-minute session. For a lot of clients, that flexibility is what finally makes therapy possible to actually keep up with. Research shows consistent attendance is one of the strongest predictors of whether therapy works, so being able to keep it going is key.
At Olympic Psychology Services, online and in-person are equal options. You can choose either, switch between them, or do most sessions online and come in occasionally - whatever fits you and your clinician's recommendation. Therapy only works if it works for you, and that's our goal.
Who is a good fit for online therapy?
Telehealth is a strong fit for most of the work we do. Some examples of clients who tend to do especially well with online sessions:
Working professionals
Fitting a session into a lunch break or a quiet hour at the end of the workday is far easier than driving downtown.
Parents and caregivers
Therapy after the kids are in bed, or during a nap, or when they are in school, without arranging childcare.
Clients in remote parts of Washington
If you live on the Olympic Peninsula, in Eastern Washington, or anywhere a doctoral-level psychologist isn't easy to find locally, online therapy gives you access to specialists in your state.
Couples in two different locations
One partner traveling for work? Different schedules? Both of you can join from wherever you are, as long as you're both in Washington at session time.
People with chronic illness or limited mobility
Showing up at an office shouldn't be the hard part of getting care.
Anyone with social anxiety
For some people, the first few sessions are easier from a familiar space. We can always shift to in-person later if it makes sense.
When in-person makes more sense
When in-person makes more sense
We won't oversell telehealth - there are situations where being in the same room matters.
Your clinician will talk this through with you during your initial conversation. In-person tends to be the better choice when:
You're being evaluated through a comprehensive psychological assessment (most testing requires in-person components)
You're working through severe trauma and grounding in a shared physical space helps regulate the nervous system
Your home environment isn't private or stable enough for the kind of vulnerable conversations therapy involves
You're a child or adolescent in early sessions where rapport-building benefits from in-person interaction
You'd simply prefer it — some people find the screen barrier blunts the work
Many clients end up using a mix: video for routine sessions, in-person for the occasional deeper conversation. Whatever serves the work.
Built for telehealth: secure, private, HIPAA-compliant
We've offered telehealth for a long time now, but we have offered therapy for even longer. That means we take it seriously as part of our service, not as a "Data‑harvesting platform" or "hyperscaled industrialized service delivery." It's a tool for us as healthcare providers to help us meet you where you are at. Like all serious healthcare tools, we care about how it does or may impact you. We currently use SimplePractice, a healthcare-grade video platform that's:
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Fully end-to-end encrypted
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HIPAA-compliant by design (with a signed business associate agreement)
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Built specifically for healthcare — not a repurposed consumer video app
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Easier to use than Zoom — you click one link from your email and you're in
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Sessions are not datamined or used for marketing
Your clinical records, scheduling, billing, and intake forms all live in the same secure portal. The privacy standards are identical to what you'd expect for any visit to a doctor's office.
Some therapists still use consumer platforms like FaceTime, or social media video tools. Those aren't HIPAA-compliant by default. If you're shopping for a telehealth therapist, it's a fair question to ask. And if you are looking at maybe going with a larger venture backed company, it's worth a little research.
Insurance covers telehealth for individual therapy
Washington State has telehealth parity laws - most insurance plans cover online therapy at the same rate as in-person therapy. Plan details do vary, so we always recommend confirming your specific telehealth benefits with your insurer before your first session. See our full insurance and fees page for current details.
What a telehealth session actually looks like
1. Schedule
Use our online intake form or give us a call. We'll match you with a clinician whose specialties fit what you're working on.
2. Get your link
You'll receive a secure email with your appointment time and a one-click link. No app downloads, no account setup.
3. Find a private space
A bedroom office, a parked car, a home office, even an empty kitchen - anywhere you can talk without being overheard, and chave a comfy seat. Headphones are recommended.
4. Click and join
Five minutes before the session, click the link. Your clinician will join at the appointed time and you'll meet face-to-face on video.
5. The session itself
About 50 minutes, just like in-person. You talk. We listen, ask questions, and work together on what's bringing you in.
6. Notes, billing, follow-up
Everything happens in the same secure portal — scheduling your next session, paying your copay, messaging your clinician between visits.
Common questions about online
Is online therapy actually as effective as in-person? For most concerns (such as anxiety, depression, life transitions, relationship issues, ADHD, grief) the answer is yes. Decades of research show comparable outcomes between video and in-person sessions. For psychological assessments and certain trauma work, in-person is often a better fit. Your clinician will be honest with you about what's likely to work best for what you're bringing in.
Do I need a special app or account? No! You'll get a secure link by email a few minutes before your session. Click it, allow camera/microphone access in your browser, and you're in. Works on laptops, tablets, and phones.
How private is it really? We require any telehealth platform we use to be HIPAA compliant and have end to end encryption. Your records are held to the same strict standards that they would be if you were seen in person, and we follow all the privacy rules no matter how we help. The biggest variable we do not control is on your end. Just make sure you are in a private space where you can speak freely.
What if my internet cuts out mid-session? It happens. We'll either reconnect (usually within a minute), shift to a phone call, or reschedule the rest of the session if needed. Your clinician will work with you to handle interruptions without losing the thread of the work.
Can I do telehealth if I'm traveling out of state? The Short answer is: Ask your clinician. As a general rule, licenses are state by state and a Washington license usually requires that the client be physically located in Washington. However, there are some exceptions to this so it is best to discuss it with your clinician before travel.
Will my insurance pay for online therapy? Almost certainly yes, if your insurance covers in-person therapy with us. Washington has telehealth parity laws. However when dealing with health insurance, it's always a good idea to double check first. We can verify benefits prior to your first session.
Can my child or teen do online therapy? Sometimes, depending on the situation, the age, and the clinician. Some kids do great on video; others need the in-person connection, especially early in treatment or if they are young. Telehealth is a hard task for the average 5 year old for example. We'll talk through the right approach during the initial consultation.
What about couples therapy online? OPS has done a lot of online couples therapy, and it can work very well. Sometimes both partners are in the same room and it's pretty much what you would expect. Sometimes the partners are in different places (say one is at work and the other is home) and it still can work very well. It can be hard to navigate schedualing therapy as an individual, and even harder to get both partners at the same time, online therapy makes it a lot easier to schedule.