For many people, one of the hardest parts of starting therapy has nothing to do with therapy itself.
It’s finding the time.
Traditional therapy appointments often fall during the same hours when people are working, attending classes, commuting, taking care of children, sitting in meetings, or simply trying to keep up with everything that needs to happen in a day. Even when you know you could benefit from therapy, finding a private, uninterrupted hour between 9 and 5 can feel nearly impossible.
And for some people, those aren’t the hours when they feel most available or most like themselves anyway.
At Beach Cities Psychotherapy, we believe therapy should fit into your life—not require you to rearrange your entire life to access it. That’s why we offer virtual therapy with early morning and late-night appointments, including sessions with Shannon Meena, LCSW, from 7–9 AM and 10 PM–12 AM.
Are You an Early Bird or a Night Owl?
There really are people who naturally function better early in the morning and others who come alive at night.
Our bodies operate according to circadian rhythms, internal biological processes that help regulate our patterns of sleep, wakefulness, energy, and alertness over roughly a 24-hour period. While work and school schedules often expect everyone to function on approximately the same timetable, our natural rhythms can vary considerably.
Some people wake up at 6 AM feeling clearheaded and ready to take on the day. Others would rather not have a meaningful conversation with anyone until they’ve had several hours—and perhaps several cups of coffee—to become fully human.
At the other end of the day, some people are winding down by 9 PM, while others finally feel as though they can think.
Neither schedule is inherently better.
And when it comes to therapy, the best time for a session may be the time when you actually have the mental and physical space to be present.
College Students and Young Adults: When Your Schedule Runs Late
If you’re in college or in your twenties and find yourself wide awake and productive at 11 PM—but struggling to function at 7 AM—you aren’t alone.
Sleep and circadian rhythms continue to shift through adolescence and young adulthood. Many teens and young adults naturally experience a later sleep-wake pattern, meaning they tend to feel sleepy later at night and prefer to wake later in the morning.
Then life adds another layer.
College schedules can be all over the place. One day you have an 8 AM class; the next, your first class isn’t until noon. You may be studying late, working an evening shift, participating in athletics or activities, socializing with friends, or discovering that nighttime is when you finally have enough quiet to concentrate.
And your twenties don’t necessarily make scheduling easier.
Early adulthood can mean navigating a first demanding job, graduate school, relationships, roommates, financial pressures, living away from family, and trying to figure out what you actually want your adult life to look like.
These years can bring tremendous growth and independence—but also anxiety, loneliness, relationship struggles, academic or career pressure, questions about identity and direction, and the challenge of managing life without the structures that surrounded you when you were younger.
Finding time for therapy shouldn’t become one more thing you’re failing to fit into your schedule.
For some college students and young adults, late-night virtual therapy simply makes more sense. Classes or work are finished. The day has quieted down. You may finally have the privacy and headspace to talk.
For others, an early morning virtual therapy appointment is easier to fit in before classes, work, or the rest of the day’s responsibilities begin.
Having therapy available outside traditional business hours can make getting support much more realistic.
The Problem With Fitting Therapy Into a 9-to-5 Schedule
Young adults aren’t the only people who struggle to find room for therapy.
For a busy professional, a traditional daytime therapy appointment might mean blocking a conspicuous hour on a work calendar, leaving the office in the middle of the day, or trying to squeeze an emotional conversation between two meetings.
For parents, it can be even more complicated.
You may spend your afternoon driving children to practices, helping with homework, making dinner, managing bedtime, or fielding approximately 37 questions that begin with “Mom?”
Even working from home doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. Having the ability to log onto a virtual therapy session isn’t the same thing as having privacy for one.
Therapy works best when you can speak freely. That’s difficult when you’re wondering whether your child is about to walk through the door, your roommate can hear you through the wall, or a coworker is going to interrupt you.
Sometimes the quietest part of the day is the part that falls outside traditional therapy hours.
Early Morning Therapy: Before the Day Gets Started
For early risers, virtual therapy before work or school can create a surprisingly peaceful space.
The house may still be quiet. Your inbox hasn’t taken over yet. Your workday hasn’t started. Children or roommates may still be asleep.
Instead of trying to pull yourself away from the demands of the day, you can have an hour dedicated to yourself before those demands begin.
Shannon offers early morning virtual therapy appointments from 7–9 AM, making therapy more accessible for people who want support without interrupting their workday or school schedule.
Early morning therapy may be particularly appealing for:
- Professionals with demanding or unpredictable schedules
- Parents who have privacy before their children begin the day
- College and graduate students working around classes
- Early risers who naturally feel more focused in the morning
- People who don’t want therapy appointments competing with work, school, or family obligations
When the session ends, you can move into your day having already made space for your mental health.
Late-Night Therapy: When the World Is Finally Quiet
For other people, 10 PM might be the first genuinely quiet moment they’ve had all day.
The kids are asleep. Classes are over. Work is finished. Your roommates have gone to their rooms. The dishes can wait.
And perhaps, for the first time that day, you can hear yourself think.
Shannon offers late-night virtual therapy appointments from 10 PM–12 AM for clients who prefer—or simply need—therapy outside conventional hours.
Late-night therapy may work particularly well for:
- Night owls who naturally feel more alert in the evening
- College students with busy class, work, athletic, or social schedules
- Young professionals who work long hours
- Parents who need to wait until their children are asleep to have privacy
- Graduate students balancing school, work, and other responsibilities
- People who simply find it difficult to step away from life during daytime hours
For someone who has repeatedly thought, I’d go to therapy if I could figure out when to do it, an unconventional appointment time can remove a significant barrier.
Virtual Therapy Can Create More Options
Telehealth has changed what going to therapy can look like.
You don’t necessarily have to factor in a commute, parking, a waiting room, and another commute home. A virtual therapy session can happen from a private room in your home or another confidential space where you feel comfortable.
That flexibility can be especially valuable when therapy is scheduled at the edges of your day.
An early morning session doesn’t require getting dressed and driving to an office before work or class. A late-night session doesn’t mean driving home from a therapist’s office at 11 PM.
You simply log in from a private space.
For college students away from home, virtual therapy can offer another benefit: the ability to access support without needing to find a therapist located near campus, as long as you are physically located in California at the time of your session.
Therapy for People With Full Lives
Sometimes people put off therapy because they believe they don’t have room for one more thing.
That can be especially true for people who spend much of their lives meeting expectations and taking care of responsibilities.
Parents. Caregivers. Healthcare professionals. Business owners. College students. Graduate students. People starting their careers. People balancing work and family. People who are very good at getting everything done—and aren’t particularly good at putting themselves on the list.
Therapy doesn’t have to become another scheduling problem to solve.
Sometimes the answer is simply finding a therapist whose schedule works differently.
Early Morning and Late-Night Virtual Therapy in California
Shannon Meena, LCSW, provides virtual therapy through Beach Cities Psychotherapy and is currently accepting new clients.
Shannon works with teens, college students, young adults, and adults and offers unusually flexible virtual appointment times for clients who have difficulty accessing therapy during conventional business hours.
Early morning virtual therapy: 7–9 AM
Late-night virtual therapy: 10 PM–12 AM
Virtual sessions available to clients located in California
Whether you’re a college student who finally has time to think after 10 PM, a young professional with a packed workday, a parent waiting for the house to become quiet, an early bird who would rather talk before the day begins, or simply someone whose life doesn’t fit neatly into a 9-to-5 schedule, therapy may be more accessible than you thought.
Looking for early morning or late-night therapy in California? Contact Beach Cities Psychotherapy to learn more about virtual therapy with Shannon and find an appointment time that works for you.