Telehealth
Secure, confidential therapy for any California resident. The same team and the same care, from wherever you are in the state.
Here's something worth saying plainly: the room was never the therapy. What actually does the work is the relationship and the honest conversation inside it, and that travels just fine down a secure video connection. A screen isn't a lesser version of the office. It's another doorway into the same room.
For a lot of people, telehealth is the difference between starting and not starting. No traffic on the 5, no waiting room, no hour carved out of a workday for the drive. And some people are just more honest from their own couch, in a place where they already feel safe. Would it be easier to talk if you never had to leave home to do it?
How it works
No new app to wrestle with, no complicated setup. If you can open a link, you can meet with us.
It begins the same way everything here does: a free 15 to 20 minute Get to Know Us call, so we can hear what's going on and match you with the right therapist for it.
Before your session you get a link to our secure video platform. No account to create, no software to install. You click it when it's time, from your phone, tablet, or computer.
Find a private spot, put in headphones if you'd like, and we do the same real, full-length work we'd do in the office. Same depth, same confidentiality, just without the commute.
One important limit, stated up front: because of how state licensing works, we can only see clients who are physically located in California. You can be anywhere in the state, from a home office in Sacramento to a kitchen table in San Diego, but if you've moved out of California, we're not able to continue care across the state line. It isn't a preference, it's the law we practice under, and we take it seriously.
If you're wondering whether online therapy is a real, lasting option or just a leftover from the pandemic, it's worth knowing that California has made telehealth a permanent, first-class part of how care is delivered here, not a temporary workaround. That's part of why we treat it as the same care rather than a lesser substitute. And research has consistently found video therapy about as effective as meeting in person for most people. What matters most, the relationship and the work, comes through the screen intact.
If you would rather meet your therapist face to face before going online, you can. A new client can come in once, at our Laguna Beach office or our Irvine office, and then carry on by video from there. The first hour is often the one where you are deciding whether this person gets it, and some people find that easier to judge across a room. After that, the screen feels like a continuation rather than a stranger.
It is an option, not a requirement. You are just as welcome to start online and stay online, to meet in person throughout, or to mix the two: the office when the week allows, a video session when it does not, and sometimes an hour on the coast for Beach Therapy. Would it help to have all of those open to you rather than picking one up front? Plenty of people change how they meet as the season changes, and nobody is locked into a single way of meeting.
Whoever you meet with online is part of the same team Kay trains and supervises. If you'd like to see who you might be working with, meet the team.
Good to know
Laguna Beach Counseling provides confidential telehealth services using secure technology designed to protect client information.
Our therapists follow applicable California confidentiality laws and professional ethical standards. We take appropriate precautions to safeguard personal information and maintain the privacy of online counseling sessions.
Telehealth isn't a stripped-down tier or a different set of therapists. It's the same team Kay personally trains and supervises, doing the same work, on a screen instead of a couch.
Plenty of clients do some sessions online and some in person, at either office or out on the coast for Beach Therapy. Nobody is locked into one way of meeting.
Questions people ask
Wondering what to even say? You don't need to arrive with a tidy summary of your life. That's our job to help sort out together. Less like an interview and more like a conversation, we spend the first session getting a real picture of what's going on and what you're hoping will feel different, at whatever pace feels comfortable for you. Sessions run 50, 75, or 90 minutes depending on what you book, in person in Laguna Beach or by secure video.
Not sure who on the team would be the right fit? You don't have to figure that out alone. That's exactly what the free Get to Know Us call is for. Tell us what's going on, and we'll help match you with the right therapist, whether that's Kay directly or one of the associates she personally trains and supervises. Most clients find the fit becomes obvious pretty quickly once they're actually talking to someone.
Yes to both. Several therapists offer evening and weekend availability, and we provide secure online therapy to anyone located anywhere in California. Exact openings vary by therapist.
Learn how telehealth across California works.
For most people and most concerns, yes. Research and our own experience both show online therapy can be just as effective as in-person work. What matters most is the relationship with your therapist, and that comes through the screen more than people expect.
If you are in crisis, you do not have to wait. These lines are here for the moments that cannot wait, any hour of the day.
Laguna Beach Counseling is not a crisis or emergency service. If you are in immediate danger or a medical emergency, call 911. When the moment is not an emergency, we would be glad to hear from you for a free call.
If getting to an office has been the thing standing between you and starting, this removes it. A free 15 to 20 minute call is a low-pressure way to see whether we're the right fit for you.
Free and confidential. Be seen within 24 hours.
Navigating Life's Waves Together
