The pandemic has made life more complex and isolated for many of us, as we are concerned about the safety of ordinary activities and the stability of our jobs, and savings.  As we all adjust to the new realities it is difficult for some of us to keep our changes and worries in perspective.  Counseling can help with coping strategies to lower anxieties, and help bring more happiness to our lives.  

If you still feel uncomfortable coming to the office, secure online sessions or telephone sessions can be arranged.  In person therapy is likely to be much more effective, however, as digital artifacts and miscommunication over video or telephone, and the lack of face to face contact may leave people feeling liking something is missing in the interaction.  Because of this, I have taken the utmost care to help people stay safe with their visits to the office.  Starting with the lobby of the building, the management has informed us that there is an extra person employed to clean door handles and elevator buttons every hour or less.  In addition the building and our office is sanitized with two mists that kill viruses within two minutes, for thirty days on touch points.  Thirdly wearing a mask in the waiting area is required, where I do a contactless temperature check before entering the office.  Lastly, in the office seating is more than six feet apart and in between clients and myself there is a quiet true HEPA filter that cleans the air of viruses smaller than the coronavirus several times per hour.   In am happy to talk with clients with or without a mask to help them feel more comfortable.  Although staying in the house is the safest place from the coronavirus, living life to its fullest hopefully continues as we go on with our lives and goals, and making connections with people is a full part of life that is difficult for many of us now.

Adjusting to the virus does not have to be an end to our way of life, but it does require adjustments to what may be the new normal.  Counseling is the business of change, and learning ways to be bring happiness to our lives in spite of the changes in our lives, requires us to change and adapt and to find new ways to connect with others, or adjust to losses in our lives.