Let’s talk about telehealth services and removing any barriers that hinder the ability to receive support and continuity of care for your mental wellbeing as a client during this time.In bizarre situations such as the one in which we find ourselves, it is normal to abandon our healthy routines and fall (back) into unhealthy patterns… Uncertainty, “weirdness,” and fear tend to do that to all of us. It is in times like this that we need our new, healthy strategies and sources of strength for managing the world the most, and that means continuing to engage our respective roles in therapy, even with things shifting to telehealth. Clients, let your therapist support you in maintaining your gains through this mess! Therapists, when able, providing services to our clients is what fills our cup and gives us normalcy, give yourself that known variable through all of this!So, this shift to telehealth has already occurred, or is in the process of to be in place in the upcoming days. Many of you are likely thinking “my therapist has/I have a private office and we’re not breaking any recommendations regarding large groups, and we sit 6-feet away from each other. This virtual stuff is a no-go for me…”

THE WHY

First, this is TOTALLY your choice. If you don’t want to meet this way, you get to make that call. I will ask you to keep this mind, though... The shifting to telehealth is happening for many reasons:· Therapists have a responsibility to model healthy social responsibility by heeding state and national recommendations for social distancing and self-quarantines.· Meeting virtually helps to reduce the risk for both therapists and clients of being unknowingly exposed to COVID-19 from an asymptomatic carrier… who knows, we could be one!· It becomes a confidentiality issue because if we are exposed or clients come up positive for the virus, therapists may have to release names of other clients who could also have been exposed to the health department to protect against continued spread. Read: We don’t want to do this.

A TEMPORARY SHIFT

So, let’s talk about how you as the client or therapist can adjust to this (hopefully) temporary shift to telehealth at this time:It is EXPECTED that it will be awkward at first. Believe me, that goes for both sides. At first thought, it seems impossible to feel connected over a screen. I agree… at first thought...As a psychologist previously resistant to this telehealth “stuff” myself, I have been pleasantly surprised and even pleased by how quickly the screen seems to fade away (in as soon as 5-10 minutes!). Especially if you have any rapport and connection in the therapeutic relationship, it will naturally fall into place and become about the client’s emotional needs, and the support and skills therapists provide, just like any other session.

GRACE FOR TECHNOLOGY

There will inevitably be technology failures such as lost connections, fuzzy video, or staticky audio. Bored children may run into the room, a pet may be whining at the door, and this goes for both sides (enter facepalm emoji here!). However, this happens during in-person sessions, too… The folks mowing outside flinging rocks against the door or window (or maybe that was just me?), a building’s mechanics causing loud noises, the weather outside being distracting, or mandatory fire drills in buildings.What gets you through those in-person oddities is the trust and safety that you have in the therapeutic alliance. Both clients and therapists alike, allow yourself to trust the relationship that you have created, and soon into your first telehealth appointment you will see how quickly the experience becomes normal. Remember: Just because the way service provision has changed during this time, it doesn’t mean anything about the strength and depth of therapeutic relationship that existed before COVID-10.

Quick Tips for Engaging Telehealth Sessions

· Use a Bluetooth headset or headphones with a microphone to increase privacy and improve audio.· Prop up your device up (i.e., phone, tablet, or computer) so that you don’t have to constantly hold it. Your arm will get tired, and you will be more comfortable and less distracted to do the important work of therapy by your arm going to sleep!· Get creative about how to carve out privacy for your session. Ideas that others have shared include: sitting in the bathroom, in a parked car, in a closet, outside in a lawn chair or patio furniture, on a park bench, and even taking a walk while engaging therapy. I’ve also seen therapists providing services from similar locations, all for the sake of securing privacy and security. Therapist won’t think this is “weird,” all this means, is that you and your therapist are committed to engaging quality services within the current public health context.One of the unique things here is that there’s a little bit more informality. For example, don’t worry about what you’re wearing... I just had all of my sessions while wearing my “office slippers!” There is also room for the relationship with your therapist to further deepen in considering the shared humanity of the current public health crisis.

A TEMPORARY SOLUTION

Rest assured that this change to telehealth doesn’t mean it will have to stay this way. However, I also appreciate the options that this will likely open up on a larger level, an issue for which folks with disabilities have been advocating long before COVID-19.I myself am eager to return to the in-person experience that has been so rewarding for me to provide and for others to receive. However, my openness to and hope in providing services via telehealth is reassuring to me that this can be just as meaningful, if not more so. Perhaps after getting through this in your treatment, the therapeutic alliance can further deepen. Maybe it is actually easier to discuss difficult things in the comfort and safety of your own home, sweatpants, and shoeless-ness.

It May Not Be Your Thing, And That's Ok

If you are one of those for whom telehealth isn’t “your thing,” understand that it’s not always ours either. I encourage you to consider trying it once, and if it lives up to your expectations (i.e., that it really isn’t your thing), then you can be satisfied with your openness in trying it. If it goes better, if not largely better, than what you were expecting, then give yourself a pat on the back because you challenged yourself to be flexible in this trying time, which is essential for brain health, as well as our ability to continue effectively coping with our national and global circumstances. Seems like it is a win-win to me