Teletherapy and Your COVID-19/Mental Health AfterCare
Has your life changed since COVID-19 occurred? Mine has. I shut my in-person office down and moved it home. Teletherapy was and is still the best choice for me.
It is possible to feel the personal touch of the therapeutic relationship. My practice is full of people trying to handle not just their COVID-19 life/work changes but their everyday mental health under new stresses and duress previously unknown to any of us. I like Teletherapy for its access to clients. In the last couple of years, I have figuratively sat on the side of a client’s bed while offering therapeutic support. I’ve sat in the dining room and at kitchen tables with clients. I’ve met dogs, cats and children, and spouses in the intimacy of their homes. We’ve (figuratively) talked in parked cars and while walking. This intimacy is entrusted to therapists under some severe conditions. It’s a privilege afforded to us to continue to work while under social and health-based duress. So in the intimacy of Teletherapy, clients and I still find compassionate and creative workarounds to meet their mental health and practical emotional needs.
I applaud everyone who has negotiated their personal and new work situations to carve out an hour of a day for their mental health self-care. We all have put aside some of our usual and former lifestyle behaviors and made decisions that may limit our present life. I believe these hard choices are healthy and deserve mention for what feels lost.
I will continue to make room for our time together in my cottage home. I hope that when we meet, you’ll feel safe, comfortable, and heard in whatever location you choose to be served. Arrive a few minutes early to ground yourself in an intentional private session with me.
I’ll see you soon.
Sincerely,
Maureen Nolan, LPC, NCC, MACC