The Impact on Us of Switching to Telehealth continued from page 17
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How to keep you rself — and your practice — thriving
The Impact on Us of Switching to Telehealth continued from page 17
words ) may be largely answered instinctually by habits related to social norms and expectations of the context . When I ( Doug ) was in graduate school , I was told to be mindful of the socks and shoes I wore , because clients would spend a lot of time looking at them .
If LCMHCs are the keepers of the lease of an office space , we get to make decisions about decor , aesthetics , and whether or not to adorn our space ( s ) with pictures of family members . The space may feel more controlled — even sanitized . Now , counselors working online can wear shorts to the office ( a common refrain within our research team ), given that we are reduced to the amount of upper torso displayed by a computer camera .
In contrast to this lessened physical exposure , if and when LCMHCs work from home , we may have less control over whether the dog barks or the kids shout or the Amazon delivery person rings the doorbell . This psychic exposure can feel rather unwanted and quite pronounced at times . I ( Doug ) was recently surprised during a counseling hour to have a client remark , “ Laundry ’ s done !” when my clothes dryer sounded from another room .
COVID and the profession ’ s migration to telehealth have blurred hitherto clearly drawn lines . This research project began with a focus group of fellow LCMHCs , whom we asked about their lived experiences of the structural changes they faced , such as an elimination of a commute . Our colleagues spoke of how they had , either implicitly or explicitly , previously used their commutes as a time to decompress and transition to home life , whatever that might entail . What happens when such patterns are disrupted ?
For myself , I ( Doug ) had been previously satisfied to live and work on less sleep than I needed , often settling for five-to-six hours of sleep a night , rather than the recommended seven-to-nine . It was only in and through COVID that I found myself sleeping more , because I could take the time that would have been spent commuting to get some added ( and much needed ) sleep .
The Work Now
Change is hard , and transition is the personal experience of change ( à la Bridges Transitions Model ). Given the magnitude of change we ’ ve faced as a nation and as a profession , it would not be surprising if we are left unsure whether things are different or worse or both . Here is a familiar mantra from our field : Often things feel worse before they get better . What is the new “ better ” this state of things can point us to ? For many , our rituals have been disrupted , and we ’ re looking to establish new rituals in the midst of it all .
As a team , our group of researchers has realized that this project has been one way we ’ ve been working to make sense of it all ( pandemic , telehealth , and everything in between ), tending to our disruptions , our own wounds , our own losses , and our own sense of disorientation that may or may not go away in the days ahead . Refrains like “ This is all going to end at some point ” may have helped us get by in the midst of the height of danger and uncertainty . “ Getting back to normal ” may have been a fantasy that could keep us moving forward ( though ironically , we would have been looking in the rear-view mirror to do so ). Now what ?
One participant talked about what happened for her when she realized “ This is it …”: that what had arrived ( via the migration to virtual counseling realities ) was the “ new normal ” and that things were not going to return to where they had been pre-pandemic . Many of us have been so busy caring for others that we haven ’ t necessarily had or taken time or space to tell our own personal stories of what ’ s been lost and what ’ s been gained and what still remains unsettled .
For instance , pre-pandemic , something like a Counseling Compact , may have seemed an unlikely reality . But here we are , with more than half of the states in the country having enacted legislation in that direction . How will this further alter our landscapes , as clients can come from farther and wider than before ? What would help us to bear these burdens of change more readily and full of health ? Where , how , and when can we find a renewed sense of agency
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18 The Advocate Magazine 2024 , Issue # 1 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org