Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic has changed the way we live our lives. The challenges we face are complicated and multi-faceted. It is easy to get overwhelmed. We’re charged with having to build a new way to adapt. Psychotherapy can assist in sorting out and understanding your emotional experience of the pandemic crisis. It can also help with building self-care practices and strategizing to manage practical and interpersonal problems.

If you are experiencing one or more of the following consider contacting me for a consultation to determine if online psychotherapy can help:

  • Fear, helplessness, sense of loss of control

  • Social isolation, missing contact with friends or family

  • Frustration related to social and other restrictions

  • Increased anger and interpersonal and/or family conflict

  • Balancing work demands, parenting demands, and need for alone time and adult socializing time

  • Worry about scarcity or not having access to what you need – reaction to empty store shelves and/or loss of work/income

  • Difficulty establishing routines in ways that impact your well-being (e.g., disruptions in sleep, diet, exercise, spiritual practice)

  • Worry and other strong emotions related to political and cultural environment including management of exposure to virus related information and news media

  • Worry about obtaining the vaccine and/or worry about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine

Getting the most out of online psychotherapy sessions:

  • Find a private comfortable space that you use routinely for your sessions

  • Soundproof as best you can (e.g., white noise machine or gentle music placed outside door, weather stripping around perimeter of door, door sweep or under-door draft stopper)

  • Use ear buds or headphones

  • Talk with family or housemates about respecting your private session time. Perhaps others can take a walk or be in another part of the house or apartment during your session time.

  • If your home environment makes it difficult to create a private space, consider other spaces that might work for you. For instance, consider making your car your session space if weather permits. Use your work office or ask a trusted family member or friend if they have a space you could use.

These are suggestions not requirements for you to participate in online psychotherapy sessions. Your life circumstances might not be conducive to allotting the kind of private space I’m describing here. Let’s talk about it. We can see if there are solutions we can imagine together and ways to accept the limitations and do good work anyway.