The Gaia Center offers in-person & online therapy
Whether you go to therapy in-person or online, the most important variable in whether your experience will be effective is the connection between you and your therapist.
At The Gaia Center, we offer in-person therapy at our office in West Nashville, as well as online therapy for clients locally and throughout Tennessee. We also offer coaching for clients outside Tennessee who are appropriate for that service (more on that below). All of these are potentially great options, and ultimately it’s a personal decision that boils down to your unique needs and preferences.
Let’s look at therapy first.
Some of our clients prefer in-person therapy and tell us how much love being in our space in West Nashville. Other clients don’t have a strong preference and may opt for online therapy because of convenience; and some live elsewhere in Tennessee and choose online (AKA virtual or telehealth) therapy because they prefer working with one of our therapists instead of whoever is closer to them geographically.
Advantages of Online Therapy:
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Online therapy can be especially beneficial for folks who can’t drive, don’t have access to a car, or have a schedule so full that it’s difficult to add in the extra drive time. As long as you’re not in a moving vehicle and are physically located in Tennessee, we don’t care where you sign in for our virtual therapy sessions!
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In some areas, it can be challenging to find a therapist who specializes in your particular concerns or who offers a particular modality that you’re interested in engaging in. We see this especially with eating disorders, trauma, and sex therapy. Given the time and financial investments you’re putting into therapy, it’s important to seek care that is specialized to your needs and goals.
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Some of our therapists offer additional time slots that are only available virtually – so if you’re open to online sessions, you may have more opportunities to work with a particular clinician than if you were only open to in-person therapy. In addition, some of our virtual clients choose to do their sessions on their lunch break due to not having another time to fit therapy into their schedule, which would be challenging to do when adding drive time.
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While our office has super cozy vibes and privacy is of utmost importance to us, some folks feel more comfortable in therapy when doing it from the comfort of their own home. Additionally, high profile clients may need to limit their exposure in public, so choosing to do therapy remotely provides the opportunity to know you won’t be seen in our office.
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While we have protocols and policies that prevent our clinicians and clients from being present in the office while experiencing contagious illness, we know that some folks have health conditions that lead to a more compromised immune system. In cases like this, online therapy can make therapy accessible to limit potential for exposure, especially during cold & flu seasons.
For more on the pros & cons of online vs in-person therapy, and research about the effectiveness of online therapy, visit our deep-dive blog post on the topic here.
Live outside Tennessee or the US? You might be a candidate for coaching.
We know it can be difficult to find the right fit for support with someone who specializes in the goals you’re wanting to work on, and— let’s be real— also passes the vibe check. 😙
At The Gaia Center, our team also provides coaching services to clients who are seeking support for “subclinical” issues. This means that they’re not in a place where they need true psychotherapy from a licensed counselor, but rather are seeking to work through challenges that are not diagnosable mental health conditions and/or working toward goals to enhance their lives personally or professionally.
Clients who express an interest in coaching are screened to ensure they are an appropriate fit for coaching as opposed to therapy, and also sign informed consent that they understand we may need to refer them to a therapist in their area if their situation changes and they start experiencing mental health symptoms at a clinical level. If a client is screened and it’s determined that therapy is a better fit, we will help you find a therapist in your area.
While anyone with a pulse and an Instagram profile can call themselves a Life Coach 🫠, the personal development training and experience our team brings is leagues beyond what any life coach training offers. Nonetheless, our founder Valerie Martin is a bit of a training addict 🤓 and has completed several specialized coaching certification programs (listed in her bio). Valerie offers supervision and consultation to anyone on The Gaia Center team who’s providing coaching, to ensure that the work is effective and honors the boundaries between coaching and clinical psychotherapy.
Are you actually looking for in-person therapy or coaching in Nashville?
We offer that too, in our offices in West Nashville. Reach out to get scheduled and come on over to our cozy space. 🛋️🌿🍵
