Telehealth is Changing Therapy.

I was reluctant to use telehealth when it initially became an option. It’s hard to remember what I was thinking as a strictly in-person therapist, except that telehealth felt impersonal and business-like. I think I believed that patients wanted, and perhaps even needed, to come to an unfamiliar space in order to develop a different mindset.

I am referencing the way that I felt in February of 2020, which now feels like a distant place and time. As of this writing, I have not been face-to-face with a client since last August, and I don’t know when I will resume in person sessions. I have developed an appreciation for telehealth, which has been a critical lifeline during the pandemic. However, telehealth has changed the dynamic between the therapist and the client, and these changes are not as clinical or distant as I initially imagined them to be. 

It has been strange and oddly thrilling to see clients in their own spaces with their own mementos and personal objects. It feels important to know that one of my clients collects Japanese anime figurines even if it never surfaces in our conversations. Many of my clients are mothers to small children and the kids often interrupt therapy to ask for attention, snacks, or water. I do not have to imagine the demands that are placed on parents because they are illustrated during the session. There have also been absurd moments along the way. It is hard to have privacy when everyone is home and I have several clients who meet with me from their cars or garages. One patient hides in her storage area.  

Animals remain a continual source of humor. One of my clients regularly sits in her backyard with her two dogs. It is hard to remain focused when a dog rolls in mud. I recently participated in a training session on Zoom with 43 therapists and 6 cats. My own dogs seem to know when 50 minutes have passed, and often come looking for attention at the end of a session. 

It will probably take at least 20 years to understand how the pandemic and telehealth will change therapy. In the interim, this article remains my favorite resource.   https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/01/the-new-theatrics-of-remote-therapy