How to Set Up an Online Therapy Session with Google Hangouts Meet

Google Hangouts Meet — Online Therapy Made Easy

Google Hangouts Meet is an easy to use video conferencing app. It allows participants to ‘meet’ online. It is a very safe and effective method to for therapists and clients to meet who are unable to meet in person. Google Hangouts Meet allows online meetings to be easily set up via Google Calendar.

What you’ll need to get started:

• Internet connection
• Webcam (phone or camera-enabled laptop)
• A Google G Suite account

To create a new Hangouts Meet video meeting or add a Hangouts Meet link in a Google Calendar event, you must first be signed into a G Suite account. If you do not have one, you can sign-up for one here.

Please note, G Suite accounts are not free, they start from US$6/month. However, they offer a 14-day free trial. G Suite comes with the full range of Google products (Gmail for business, 30GB of cloud storage, 24/4 support by phone, email and online, to name but a few services).

Schedule a video meeting in Calendar

1. Go to Google Calendar and create an event.
2. Click on More options — a new window will open.
3. Enter a title — for organizational purposes, it is a good idea to title the event your client’s name. For example, title the event ‘Joan Smith.’
4. Select the date and time of your session.
5. Click Add conferencing, select Hangouts Meet.
6. On the Guests tab, click Add guests and enter your client’s email address.
7. Click Save.
8. Click Send to send the Google Meet invite to your client.

Your client will receive an email with the event information and a link to the Google Hangouts Meet meeting.

You will now have an event in your Google Calendar with a link to your Hangouts Meet meeting with your client.

For more tips on how to digitize your therapy practice, sign-up for a per-release copy of Digital Practice — A simple step-by-step guide to digitizing and marketing your therapy practice.