Different forms of the same heading say everything: "The worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression."
The US Department of Labor announced in early May that 20.5 million people had suddenly lost their jobs because many companies had shut down their workforce or changed their workflows significantly during the coronavirus pandemic.
For mental health counselors, the COVID-19 crisis has triggered a variety of changes associated with fear of health risks – from a sharp rise in telehealth services to exacerbated symptoms for customers who are experiencing extensive increases for the first time in their lives Working from home
But what about the loss of a job or reduced wages in addition to everything else? Quarantine takes on new meaning when a career is significantly throttled. The current unemployment rate is almost twice that of the Great Recession 2007-2009.
"When you think of 2008 college graduates, they've been with the workforce for a decade and they're going through another major recession," said Clewiston Challenger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut. “This time, this could have a longer impact on the job market. Your job is an important source of identity, so therapists can play an important role in [helping clients find] this temporary identity without work. "
Customers may also need to adjust their psychological treatments by changing insurance coverage due to a lost job, and clinicians could adjust their tariffs to meet financial burdens.
Of course, working customers also felt emotionally impaired.
Ingrid Erickson, a licensed professional consultant and member of the American Counseling Association, works as a career consultant for Heritage Professional Associates in Chicago and as a leadership trainer for BetterUp, a training firm that helps employees and businesses improve their work culture. She has noticed a general trend in which busy customers have felt an additional emotional weight in recent months. For this reason, their therapeutic approach has been transformed into a "mini-treatment plan in the context of a larger one" – a subdivided plan with a sharper focus on how the coronavirus pandemic affects each client and a broader scope that includes the client Goals before COVID.
"A common theme is that people have capacities [over]," says Erickson. “Work gives our life a rhythm, and for some this normalcy has been removed amid the uncertainty of COVID. It has created a situation where a lot of people who work are pretty exhausted. There is a lot of fear and it can be difficult to constantly find out what the new normal looks like. Emotionally, cognitively, it can be really exhausting.
“For many customers, we did a small re-evaluation because COVID uniquely affects each person in different ways, be it job insecurity, high-risk relatives, more intimate relationships… It is important to take a step back and see how the added stress plays a role in maybe bringing to the surface a lot of things that normal life doesn't. I find it helpful to see how stress affects our working life. There is an expectation to make our lives normal. Well, that's not normal at the moment. We need patience and compassion for ourselves. "
One way to hinder normality is to have customers' bank accounts. Gideon Litherland, licensed clinical advisor to Veduta Consulting in Chicago and Ph.D. The Oregon State University candidate examining the effectiveness of supervision says that it may be necessary to discuss financial concerns with customers even if they avoid such issues.
"This is the worst economic recession since the Great Depression," says Litherland. "We can't ignore or talk about what customers may want to ignore. If the client doesn't want to take care of them, what fears does they have when they take care of these feelings? It is appropriate to say," Hey, things run economically. How does that affect you financially? "It is clinically relevant to find out from a customer about financial burdens for his mental well-being. The experience can be:" Where does my next paycheck come from? "Where could I live, if I get kicked out of my apartment? What happens if I file for bankruptcy? "It is in our role and responsibility as a clinician to take care of a client's basic needs, and [financial concerns] is one of them."
Erickson says attitudes differ for each person depending on where their career was prior to the coronavirus pandemic. She adds that the past few months have had a major impact on the assessment of the middle and quarter in the opposite direction, depending on where customers have been in their identity development.
“The market is currently not great and very unpredictable. So a lot of people who went through a job search started by actively looking for the shelf, ”she says. "Then there could be others who almost see these breaks, whether they are on leave or dismissed or work from home, to rethink what their careers should look like. There is the freedom to really reevaluate creative thinking and problem solving. When we make a career on a shot clock, we don't do our best. "
A recent Wall Street Journal report found that the worst shutdown of the corona virus may be over. The increase in air travel, hotel bookings and mortgage applications could mean an economic turnaround in the United States. However, these improvements could be related to temporary factors, with Congress's emergency spending being one of the main reasons for more temporary spending.
Erickson says that looking at brighter days, though necessary, can be a double-edged sword. One thing she coaches her customers with is the premise of separating short-term goals and emotions from long-term goals and emotions.
"Long-term hope and optimism with a vision for the future can be an anchor in stressful times," she says. “Planning for the future has value, but at the same time fear and worry about the future can paralyze us, so we run the risk of worrying and always going back to where we suffer emotionally, based on something that doesn't exist, didn't actually happen .
“I found that shortening the time frame to avoid emotional flooding and just focusing on getting through the next day and week can help. If you're a small business owner, instead of asking, "How can I help my business survive?" Focus on immediate issues that you have immediate influence on, and come back later to focus on the months ahead . "
The gradual reopening of states also means that people who worked from home are brought back to their old routines and structures, albeit with a new perspective.
"There were many positive aspects that resulted from the absence of everyday life," says Challenger. “For many people who see their job as their identity, this crisis may have given them the opportunity to focus on other facets of their lives and look outside of their identity as employees. And now companies are more familiar with remote communication than ever, so some of these industries may turn into more zoom meetings and work from home. "
Even if some people seem to be prepared to return to normal in the short term, others are likely to have lasting effects from the economic crisis. For example, college graduates who were ready to enter their respective professions upon graduation were instead greeted by locked doors and blocked because of the corona virus.
"COVID happened so suddenly," says Challenger, "and now companies are suddenly unable to spend money, so the job that a college graduate wanted was gone."
In the long run, however, Challenger adds: "The class of 2020 will build on resilience."
Erickson sees the silver lining in this concept of reliability and the rebound effect.
"Reliability is not built up in times when it is easy," she says. "We were forced to live our lives without resources in a way we never had before." If anything, these times can hopefully show that we can do it and show what we can do. "
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Related Reading
Today’s August magazine, Counseling Today, provides detailed information on how you can help 2020 graduates manage post-college life in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Scott Gleeson is a licensed professional advisor to DG Consulting in Downers Grove, Illinois and Chicago. Contact him at [email protected].
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It should not be assumed that opinions and statements in articles appearing on CT Online reflect the opinions of the editors or guidelines of the American Counseling Association.
