Online Therapy in Virginia
With Bradford Wolf, LCSW
I am licensed in Virginia and I see people by video anywhere in the Commonwealth. Arlington, Richmond, Virginia Beach, the Shenandoah, or somewhere with no therapist inside an hour's drive. What I do not have is a Virginia office. My practice is in Rockville, Maryland, so here this is video only.
One thing is worth sorting out before you book, and most pages about online therapy do not raise it: where you will physically be sitting during sessions. That sounds like a technicality. If you commute into DC it is not, and it changes which days work.
I am Bradford Wolf, a licensed clinical social worker, and this is part of my individual therapy practice.
Where you are sitting is what matters
Worth sorting out first.
The rule is that therapy happens where you are physically sitting, not where you live.
What makes Virginia different is that there are three answers rather than two, because I hold licenses in two states.
At home in Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, or anywhere else in Virginia. Fine. Virginia license.
At a desk in Bethesda, Silver Spring, or anywhere in Maryland. Also fine. Maryland license. This surprises people.
At a desk in the District. Not covered. I am not licensed in DC, and that is the one gap.
For most commuters that works out better than expected. A session from the office on a Maryland day is fine, and the only thing to avoid is booking one for a day you will be downtown.
Practically it becomes a scheduling question rather than an obstacle. Morning before you head in, evening after you are home, or any day you are working remotely. Tell me your usual week on the consultation call and we can find a slot that does not depend on you being somewhere specific.
If there is nobody near you
Virginia is a big state and it is not evenly served. In parts of Southwest Virginia, Southside, the Eastern Shore, and up the Shenandoah, the nearest clinician working in a particular area might be an hour away or might not exist at all.
For people in those places video is not the easier option, it is the only one, and describing it as a convenience misses the point. What it actually changes is that your choice is not limited to whoever happens to be within driving distance, which matters most when what you need worked on is specific.
What a session is like, and what people work on
Fifty minutes, secure video, a link you click. Same session as an in-person one, same confidentiality, and the same person every week rather than whoever is available.
One practical note that comes up more here than elsewhere: if you are on or near an installation, or in shared housing, or your place is full of people, finding somewhere private is a real problem rather than a detail. Cars work. A parked office works. It is more common than you would think and I am not going to remark on it.
I have been doing this work for over fifteen years, and a fair amount of it by video. My background has the training detail.
What people bring is the usual range, and each of these has a page with more on it:
If it sounds worth a conversation, book a free 15-minute call.
What it costs
A 50-minute session is $225. I am out of network, so you pay at the session, I give you a superbill, and you submit it for reimbursement if your plan covers out-of-network care. What reimbursement depends on covers the logistics.
If cost is what decides it, there are Virginia-licensed therapists on insurance panels, and the large online services are cheaper and work differently. Both are reasonable.
When this is not the right fit
Four situations where I would say so rather than take the booking.
If you are in crisis, or what you need is more than one hour a week, remote work with a solo practitioner is the wrong structure. If medication is likely to be central, you need a prescriber and I am not one. If you have nowhere private at all, that is worth solving before we start. And if you are usually sitting in DC when you would want to meet, I am not licensed there, so I am not the right person regardless of how close you live.
If seeing someone in person matters to you, that is also worth saying early. There is no Virginia office here, and a Virginia-based therapist would serve you better.
In any of those cases I will tell you on the consultation call and help you find something that fits.
If you are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time. My practice is not an emergency service and I am not reachable between sessions for crises.
Common questions
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Within Virginia or to Maryland, yes, since I am licensed in both. A move to any other state ends the work, because a license does not cross state lines. If you know one is coming, mention it early and we can either scope things to fit or arrange a handover.
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It depends where you are sitting during the session. From home in Virginia, yes. From a Maryland office, also yes, since I am licensed there too. From a desk in the District, no. For most people that means scheduling around the days you are downtown rather than ruling it out.
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No. My office is in Rockville, Maryland, and in Virginia I work by video only. If seeing someone in person is important to you, a Virginia-based therapist is the better fit and I will say so on the call.
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It is different rather than lesser, and for most of what I work on the difference is smaller than people expect. In the Commonwealth it is also the only version I can offer, so the more useful question is whether video works for you specifically. That is a reasonable thing to test over a few sessions.
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Yes, with narrow legal exceptions that I go through in the first session. The platform is secure, sessions are not recorded, and nothing is shared with an employer, a command, or anyone else.
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If you are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. My practice is not set up for urgent response between sessions, which is worth knowing before you start rather than after.
Starting online therapy in Virginia
The practical questions are worth asking before you start rather than six weeks in. Where you will usually be sitting on a weekday, and whether video is a format you can actually work in.
The consultation is fifteen minutes, costs nothing, and is a reasonable place to put all of that on the table. I do not currently have a waitlist.
Book the free 15-minute consultation, or read more about individual therapy with me.
Sources
Virginia Board of Social Work, Regulations Governing the Practice of Social Work. https://www.dhp.virginia.gov/Boards/SocialWork/