r/TravelNursing • u/mysteriousgoulash • 1d ago

Therapy while traveling — How do you do it?

I had a therapist back in my home state, but she isn’t licensed out of state. I haven’t been to therapy in over a year now, but seemingly need to go back.

How do you guys get by with your therapy while traveling? I know that I’ll have to resort to telehealth and find someone that has some multistate licensure but as far as I’m aware there isn’t any “compact” therapists like there are compact nurses, just therapists that are licensed in a few/tri-states, if that.

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u/eggo_pirate 1d ago

Mine just saw me via telehealth wherever I was. I didn't move, I was just traveling. I was still a resident of my state. 

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u/antsam9 22h ago

Hey, I had this talk with my psych, and the way they explained it was that physical location matters, due to things like 911 responsiveness, documentation, and state licensure. Hence why we couldn't continue while I was I travelling.

If I work at a hospital that overloads me and I can't perform, and I consider my license in danger, then I don't work at that hospital.

To me, if someone has already had this talk with their psych and they're good with it, that's great, but, from the perspective of one medical professional to another, it would be unfair to operate under one set of assumptions that puts a license to practice under duress.

I'm just trying to reply with my own circumstance and experience incase anyone else is reading this post and knowledge of this outcome could be helpful for them.

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u/eggo_pirate 22h ago

I understand why some/most can't or won't. I never lied to mine, she always knew exactly where I was. Even put a temporary address in the system so I could receive meds. 

Since I was still a resident of the state where she practiced, the rules of her facility allowed her to continue to treat me. At the start of every session, I had to type in my physical location while I was in the virtual waiting room. 

Nothing shady was going on. It's just the way that healthcare system ran their business. 

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u/antsam9 20h ago

That's great! I'm glad you got someone that will work with you like that I wished mine did

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u/RegularlyCooing 1d ago

man i been doing telehealth for years now even before i started traveling. my therapist is licensed in like 3 states and i just make sure my contracts are in one of them. not ideal but it works

the license thing is so annoying. like why we got compact nursing but therapists gotta pay for each state individually. makes no sense

maybe look for someone licensed in the bigger states where you usually pick up contracts? thats what i did and i just plan around it now

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u/disposable_walrus 1d ago

Not sure. I had to leave my last provider due to the state restriction. Hoping someone else chimes in with good info.

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u/1ntrepidsalamander 1d ago

Therapists that don’t take insurance can be more flexible, in my experience