At present, I am working at being able to balance work and life, since I’m still working entirely via virtual services. And while that has meant more time to dedicate to clients, I have had to stop accepting new clients at present to focus on my current caseload, which is quite full, so that I do not feel stretched too thin.
In all of this, I am trying to find a safe way to continue giving services to clients, while understanding the struggles some are having with telehealth. It is NOT the same as in-person, but right now, in-person is less than ideal from a safety standpoint. With local schools likely to return to in-person classes soon, I’m not certain I want to risk the extra exposure of clients being in the classroom, then coming to my office. The one thing I continue to remind myself is, I cannot help my clients if I’m sick or dead. And as selfish as some may see that being, it’s the truth: my being unavailable due to illness or death is worse than getting less-than-ideal services at this time.
I’m currently looking at reevaluating a return date in October, but if October does not look good, then I will not be returning to in-person sessions until January or so. The next week or two are big consult days with colleagues working through their own struggles with telehealth and in-person sessions, and I come away with good insight into how to move forward each time.
Until next time, stay safe.