香港六合彩精准资料

I find it hard to believe that a year has passed since that momentous day - 23 March 2020 - when Boris Johnson made his speech to the nation.

Professionally, it sent me scurrying to find a way of continuing my counselling and supervision practice, as I had a full diary of appointments that week. I found it very stressful, as someone who hadn鈥檛 worked online before, and isn鈥檛 particularly technology-savvy, having to learn overnight how Zoom worked, contacting all my clients to explain to them how to use it, and researching suitable online therapy training courses. Supervisees were asking me questions that I was trying to find the answers to for myself, clients didn鈥檛 all have the necessary equipment or the privacy to meet online, I was revising my client contract, and getting to grips with a whole new world of risk assessments, poor connectivity, disinhibition factor, and so on. I know it鈥檚 an overused clich茅 - 鈥榮teep learning curve鈥� - but this one was almost vertical.

Yet here we are, a whole year on, and although my usual counselling room feels very cold and soul-less, I鈥檝e still managed to connect with clients and supervisees alike. This has surprised me, having been quite skeptical in the past about online therapy and how 鈥榬eal鈥� the therapeutic relationship could be.

Initially, the strange technology was rather distracting, but apart from a few teething troubles (鈥淚 can hear you but I can鈥檛 see you鈥�, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e frozen鈥�, 鈥淚 can only see the top of your head鈥�), I鈥檝e almost forgotten that we鈥檙e not actually in the same room as each other. In fact, sometimes I realise at the end of the day that the front door has remained locked, when it really feels as if clients have been coming and going throughout the day. Contrary to my previous assumptions, real emotions have been contacted and expressed, real issues have been confronted, and real work has been done.

I am now convinced of the benefits of online therapy, not least its convenience and accessibility, and I鈥檝e no doubt that it is here to stay. One drawback is that I find it more tiring, interacting with a screen all day, and I鈥檝e discovered that at most five appointments per day is my personal limit.

My work as 香港六合彩精准资料鈥檚 ethics consultant for supervisors has carried on much the same as before. The uptake of the service has grown, as members appreciate the opportunity to talk things through in real time, to be heard and understood, and to consider different options as together we grapple with ethical dilemmas.

Surprisingly, relatively few queries have related specifically to COVID-19, but I think the heightened anxiety and stress that are around generally have brought other issues to the surface, whether for clients or supervisees or supervisors. Maybe the globally shared experience of facing illness, bereavement, unemployment, uncertainty, insecurity, etc has exposed us all to things beyond our control, and somehow made it more acceptable to talk about them.

鈥楽elf-care for the therapist鈥� is perhaps another clich茅, but I have come to take it more seriously than ever. I have tried to seize whatever opportunities there are for breaks, walks in the fresh air, ensuring I switch off the computer, savouring the present moment, being sustained by my faith. I am learning to appreciate everything for what it is, and everyone for who they are.