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She also works as a program manager interfacing with multiplemental healthand child welfare systems.
Getty / Westend61; Designed by Morgan Johnson
Here are some of the trends shes noticingand how shes dealing herself.
(The below exchange details Browns personal experience and perspective providing mental health services.
She is not speaking on behalf of any of the organizations she works for.
Her responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.)
SELF: Lets start with your emergency room experience.
What does your role typically entail?
In those cases were required as the counselors to do evaluations and assess the medical necessity for inpatient admission.
In a lot of ways, my role has stayed the same.Non-coronavirus emergenciesare still happening.
How has the day-to-day changed?
The first challenge that weve seen a lot is, of course, theshortage of personal protective equipment.
Were required to take it home, sanitize it, and bring it back.
Of course, I can only speak from a counseling perspective.
I dont know if thats the same expectation for the doctors and nurses.
Are you seeing any trends in why people are coming into the emergency room?
Im definitely seeing a spike insuicidal ideation.
Thats how suicidal ideation becomes exacerbated.
How worried are you about coming in contact with people who have COVID-19 in your role?
But sometimes those things just slip through the cracks.
You dont know who has it and who doesnt, so how can you really feel safe?
I think that ties into my therapy practice too.
Its challenging trying to feel like an expert or a professional when youre kind of on an equal level.
Speaking of your therapy practice, what does your new normal look like?
We fully transitioned totele-healthabout four weeks ago.
The transition has been hard for our clients.
What challenges does tele-health pose?
I think the biggest challenge of tele-health is that youre taking people out of a safe space.
We createtherapyoffices to be a safe space for our clients.
It gives them 50 minutes of respite from the real world.
And because they dont have that at this moment, you’re free to see the shift.
Its an unfortunate transition.
Theres a lot thats lost through a computer screen.
Body language can tell you a lot, and you dont see that.
Transition to teletherapy aside, what other challenges are coming up?
I have fewer answers.
Theres usually an end goal we can work toward together.
The coping skills that I usually recommend dont apply.
But now were over a month in, and its not working anymore.
How has this all impacted your own mental health?
Working through a pandemic has been a challenge for my personal mental health.
I am experiencingmany of the same feelingsof anxiety, frustration, and helplessness as my clients.
It almost feels hypocritical when youre advising people how to get through this.
Our own mental health goes onto the back burner.
Im not implementing those same things Im advising my clients to do.
Boundaries are also blurring more.
But when youre working from home, everything seems blurred.
It almost feels like youre welcoming your client into your home and vice versa.
Usually, thats something that would never happen.
Its hard to keep it all separate.
How are you adapting your practice to adjust to these challenges?
I find myself being more transparent with my clients and just saying things like, Im completely with you.
I understand what youre going through.
Like, This is what my husband and I are doing.
This is whats working for us.
Maybe you’ve got the option to try that too.
Im trying to roll with the punches and allow my clients to acknowledge that I am also human.
Im right here with them in the trenches trying to figure this out.
What concerns do you have as a therapist about the mental health consequences of this pandemic?
COVID-19 is already having an impact on local community-based organizations and mental health treatment centers.
This situation is constantly evolving, which unfortunately creates significant challenges in identifying some sense of stability.
How are you staying optimistic through all of this?
The pandemic has afforded us the opportunity to learn more about ourselves and how we manage an ever-changing world.
