I’ve really struggled this week to think about what I wanted to write about in this blog. As we are still in lockdown in the UK and still working online it just does not feel right to go back to my blog post series of the most frequently asked supervision questions. I’m sure it will start to feel like this is now the new normal and we need to carry on regardless but not quite yet!
I think it’s only reasonable that us as Clinicians remain cautious about working online. A quick Google search on the technology can leave us overwhelmed with the volume of options that are out there and then we have got to learn how to use all those new platforms and a Google search generally about online therapy can again leave us stressed out too! Sometimes it’s simply information overload and too complicated. My brain likes clarity and trying to keep things simple. That’s why I pulled together my 3 page PDF top tips of doing EMDR online http://eepurl.com/gFQN0P
No one trained us in this stuff when we were learning to be therapists and to reflect on our feelings, our listening skills. When we did role plays, we never once practiced them through a computer screen! EMDR training is always face to face, in fact ‘ships that pass in the night’ is the favourite position not looking at each other through a computer screen!
So what do we need to help with the overwhelm and encourage us to just do it, to have that courage to take that leap and do the online work. Some may need to feel pushed and have their client (or their employees) say they need to see them and to do the work online. That was the position I initially found myself working with a client who has not left the house for years. See my vlog for a few more thoughts on this https://drhannahbryan.com/2020/03/can-you-do-emdr-online/
Others may need someone to walk that path with them and support them to take that leap. This is where supervision and support is so important. I talk through some of my ideas in my blog ‘Making online EMDR therapy work’ https://drhannahbryan.com/2020/03/making-online-emdr-therapy-work/
Others may just be getting on with it and encouraging their clients to carry on with the work. The issue here may be actually persuading the client to continue in treatment when maybe Covid-19 is all they can think about and therapy as normal has taken a back seat!
Where ever you are at that is fine. With life as it is at the moment and all the juggling we are doing, I’m super impressed that we are able to keep on showing up for our clients. I should imagine it’s because most of us love the work we do and want to make a difference. Keep on moving, nothing will stay the same forever.
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