Proper self-care is often the recipe that professional advisors share with their clients to help treat life stressors and mental health symptoms in everyday life.
This emphasis has taken on new meaning in the past few months as self-care routines have been offset by quarantine measures from the COVID 19 pandemic. Suddenly sleep patterns were thrown off by newly discovered fear. Routine pleasures, such as listening to a podcast or playlist during the morning and evening commute, disappeared when work from home became the new norm. When the gyms were closed, people had to adapt their training routines and training habits. Typical social escape routes – restaurants, cinemas, salons – were also closed. Even parks and hikes were temporarily banned in some states.
Despite the limitations, self-sufficiency has never been more meaningful given the conditions in which people were (and in some cases still are). Stephanie Burns, Professor of Psychology Education and Clinical Mind Coordinator According to a health counseling program at Western Michigan University, unprecedented times have led to unprecedented human responses.
“For clients who came into therapy, two things happened at the same time: They went through their own existing struggles with depression and anxiety. Then there is the trauma of what brought this crisis. Trauma is really about anything that causes discomfort or distress when a person feels overwhelmed. It's not as obvious as being hit by a car. You can consciously think that some of it doesn't bother you. But trauma can exist in the subconscious. Everyone has lost something from COVID. People lost jobs, loved ones and, on the whole, their daily lives. "
It should be noted positively that the conditions of the pandemic have opened up many opportunities for self-sufficiency for many people – with additional time at home for projects such as painting, playing music and experimenting with cooking and baking, more time with pets, additional emotional space for Diary and another bonus on daily walks.
"Our routine contains such a protective element and our emotions are caught in this pattern," said Eric Beeson, president of the American Mental Health Counselors Association. “Since we were at home for several months, we had to readjust ourselves by realizing that the abnormal was normal. Normal had to be redesigned. "
This concept of the normal was also turned upside down for clinicians. The same focus on self-care must extend to therapists in their own lives and, according to experts, can be a unique blind spot. Burns says that she often reminds her counseling students that self-care works in both directions and practices what they are taught so often to preach to clients.
"If the client's aspects suit you as a consultant, we run the risk of coordinating with them and assuming that what works for us works for them," said Burns, a member of the American Counseling Association. “Because of COVID, we all went through the trauma and grief process of our everyday life at the same time. We cannot assume that clinicians on a personal level are not affected at exactly the same time. Then we add the extra layer of proxy trauma from clients with increased needs, where we take their pain. All of this adds up to additional layers that cannot be neglected. "
Gideon Litherland, licensed clinical advisor to Veduta Consulting in Chicago and Ph.D. The candidate at Oregon State University, who is researching the effectiveness of supervision, says that emotional pace is an area that clinicians need to watch out for when working with clients.
"There is a general change in the way we view self-sufficiency as a clinician," Litherland says. “Especially during COVID, we should ask ourselves: 'How can I make a meaningful and effective contribution to clinical work? Can I cushion all side effects of burnout and compassion fatigue personally and professionally? “Maybe we need 15 to 20 minutes between our customers because we put extra pressure on them. The pace is certainly important to us because the speed of life feels fast right now. "
Litherland adds that with the surge in telemedicine sessions during the pandemic, self-sufficiency has become even more integral. "Volume can take its toll," he says. "Especially when we connect using a computer screen or video monitor, it is a different way of participating for us. We are working harder to extract more information from limited data. Sessions may be doable, but wealth and wealth are not as easy to learn as personally. "
Carol Park, CEO and founder of the virtual platform company Thera-LINK, says that telehealth was on the rise even before the coronavirus pandemic. However, ordering accommodation led to an enormous increase and reliability of digital therapy. The benefits for clinicians and clients can be widespread, but Park notes that treating virtual sessions, which are slightly different from face-to-face sessions, can help clinicians self-care.
"People who had problems before COVID now needed more connection," says Park. “Telemedicine has really filled this gap for customers. It is important for therapists to know that you are not fully receiving this element of neuroconnectivity. You somehow lose this sixth sense. As a therapist, I will feel a little more exhausted. You work a little harder. "
As states gradually open facilities and the arrangement of accommodations across the country is lifted, private practices and therapy companies are also opening their doors. When some clients return to work, this gradual adjustment in the therapy room can be corrected.
"I think one of the most important things is to be gentle with ourselves and accept that things are different," says Litherland. "We all went through something. We have to look at what worked for us before and find out how it fits into a new reality."
Beeson, who is also a licensed professional advisor in West Virginia and a professor at Northwestern & # 39; s Family Institute, says the original concept of returning to everyday life as a clinician (reflecting the process that many clients experienced) was interrupted by current events. George Floyd's murder in police officers' custody in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests and, from Beeson's perspective, focused again on the role of clinicians as more than just sitting in the adviser's chair.
"If you look at wellness models, they are now accentuated more," says Beeson. “Persistent racism, violence and healthcare inequality have always been there. But they are highlighted more now. Given the urgency I feel in my role as a professional advisor, leader, and person, my feeling of becoming normal may be cannonball-like. Sometimes this sense can also be part of our self-care. When we return to our daily life, things have changed. There is a need to work together and come together more than ever. "
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Scott Gleeson is a licensed professional advisor to GD Consulting in Downers Grove, Illinois and Chicago. Contact him at [email protected].
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