With everyone social distancing and most people in at least partial isolation, most therapists in Minnesota (and throughout the country) have moved to Telehealth sessions. Telehealth is an effective way of continuing to access support for your own mental health or for your relationship during this time when we need to say home to stay safe. I’m using HIPAA complaint video software to connect with you for your sessions until further notice. It’s super easy, even for people who aren’t particularly tech-savvy.
I know how crazy things were when all this first started to happen. For many, it’s been a giant adjustment. Many are dealing with anxiety about finding toilet paper (why the hoarding, people?!), groceries, loss of daycare, and fear of contracting COVID-19 or transmitting it to vulnerable loved ones.
School aged kids are no longer attending physical school but by next week will be participating in distance learning. At the time of this writing, we have no idea what that will look like with people working from home AND attempting to “homeschool” their children (myself included).
Because of all these changes, I can imagine it’s been hard to thinking about accessing therapy. It’s hard to process trauma while you’re going through it. Once you start to settle into to your new normal, I strongly encourage you to access your counseling services again. Although I specialize in marriage and relationship counseling, including sexual concerns, I am trained as a generalist. This means that I am fully trained and capable – and willing! – to support your anxiety, fear, and help you develop routines which are much needed now as well as coping skills to maintain your mental health.
Stress decreases your ability to fight off illness and while all of us are making our health and the health of our loved ones a priority, remember that you need to put your own oxygen mask on before you can help others. If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of your partner, children, friends, or your community. It’s not selfish to put yourself first.
In the coming days, I will be posting not about date night, but about coping strategies, healthy boundaries for you and your partner/family, and ways to manage anxiety. I’ll also be posting resources in our Stillwater community for staying connected and accessing the resources that are being offered by others. Please check back and follow my business page on Facebook or Instagram to keep up to date. And as always, be in touch if you need me. I want to be helpful and I am accepting new clients during this time.