What are you noticing at this time about your counseling work with clients in consideration of how the pandemic has changed our world?
What I am noting most of late is the impact on children. Just today a friend’s second grader was diagnosed with Covid. That’s a pretty tender age to be hit with a virus that has killed many. Though there is not an approved vaccination for children this age, there is a fairly good track record of their immune systems being able to handle the virus and get through.
–Thomas G. Suk, PhD, LMFT, LCPC 
What encouragement would you offer to clients regarding their practices of self-care during this continued, unique time?
Let your self-care be grounded in self-compassion. Self-compassion is the compassion we give to others, but directed towards ourselves. Kristin Neff has done extensive research on the benefits of self-compassion. She has many resources and defines specifically what self-compassion is and what it is not. You can find those definitions on her website here.
Have you seen anxiety and stress change for clients over the course of this unique time?
Certainly. Stress and anxiety together have proven both a constant and variable force for most people throughout the past year and a half characterized by the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic, alternately impacted by the hope of emergence from Covid and its restrictions and constraints, and then reentry yet again into acute “mitigation mode”.
–Melody Charles-Van Der Werff, MA, LCPC
What are some common problems or stressors you have witnessed with clients lately and in light of the continuation of the pandemic? What type of support would you offer to them?
The continuation of the pandemic has not only brought new stressors to clients’ lives, but has also put clients in touch with symptoms they’ve been struggling to manage from pre-pandemic times. The pandemic for many has been a bit of a pressure-cooker, turning up the heat of life through the ever-changing, long-suffering landscape of our ‘new normal.
–Stacy Birney, Graduate Clinical Intern
Do you have any comments about the relationship between mental health and how Covid/the pandemic has impacted our world?
Yes, I believe that as a result of the pandemic and its continuation, individuals are experiencing the need for increased self-care, symptoms of chronic stress, and either general or situational anxiety and depression. These aspects of our mental health require attention and care.
–Deanna Roberts, MA, LCPC, BC-DMT 