Love in the time of Corona - How to work therapeutically online

A very useful mini-seminar for therapists who work online in the time of Corona and not only

 Covid -19 has created a situation of global crisis, a collective trauma that impact all of us, all over the world. For the last year we have been living through social isolation, loss of lives, uncertainties about our economical and physical safety, and the rate of depression, anxiety and suicide are going up.

As we are facing this unprecedented crisis, we all have to accept and adjust to new ways of living. This crisis present us, therapists, with new challenges and invites us to face situations and relational dynamics which perhaps we did not need to face in the familiarity and safety of our consulting rooms.

Each one of us arrive at this time carrying his/her set of resources as well as his/hers body- memories of early wounds and habitual ways of handling it.

The current situation trigger in all of us some hidden early traumas as well as powerful reaction to what is happening all around us right now. Feelings of uncertainty, fear of the unknown, sense of loss, grief, loneliness, financial worries, and alarming sense of loss of control- can push through our habitual defences and overwhelm us, exacerbating unfinished business and unresolved issues and challenging our sense of Self.

It is now, more than ever, that psychotherapy and the space it offers is valuable and important. In times of loneliness and loss of contact, in times of collapse of all the familiar structures, in times when we can not access our usual escape routs and have to face ourselves with all what we are habituate to deny, therapy can offer a space to express, explore and process what perhaps can not be contained in any other area of our lives.

Yet- many therapists have told me that some of their clients asked to stop or take a break from sessions, as they are not sure what is the value of having therapy online. Other clients are worried about money, and others feel they would not like to compromise the setting of therapy as they knew it and refuse to adjust to a new way of having contact.

I also hear from some therapists who themselves doubt the benefit of therapy in these times and in a different setting and feel insecure in their ability to provide the support the distressed clients need through the screen. Unfortunately, these doubts are being transmitted energetically to the clients and influence their ability to commit and benefit from therapy precisely in this time, when it is so needed. This is especially challenging for those of us who are working with somatic processes as well as for those who are working in an embodied-relational way.

How can we use our ability to attune and mirror when working remotely? How can we work with the body and invite body process on Skype or Zoom? How can we attempt to hold, regulate and sooth our client’s nerves system when we might feel deeply unregulated ourselves? What do we do with our fears, rage, grief and loneliness? How can we create more resources inside ourselves and expand our own container?

This workshop will aim to address these issues and many more, offering a space for therapists from various modalities to reflect deeply on the current crisis and its impact on clients, therapists and the therapeutic dynamic.

We will look at this complex challenge and at the various parts that make the whole.

The technical/practical part:

• Creating the therapeutic frame when the setting has changed.

• How we start and end a session.

• What is helpful to know when working online

• How to minimise disruptions etc.

The therapist’s part:

• What are we bringing to the interaction

• How do we cope with working from home

• What do we know about our transgenerational traumas and our habitual coping mechanisms

• What triggers us and what do we need to acknowledge and meet in ourselves in order to be able to be present for our clients at these extreme times

The client’s part:

• How do we access all the relational dynamic we already have with the client and our understanding of their character and habitual defences in order to understand what might be unconsciously triggered for them during this time

• How do we understand requests and needs coming up now and how do we address it

The therapeutic relationship:

• How do we think about changes in the transference-countertransferense we might perceive now

• How do we see our role as therapists during these crisis

• What role do we pay in the client’s unconscious when our perceived omnipotence is being questions your apparent vulnerability and mortality