psychotherapy in the era of covid19

These are challenging times, and the COVID-19 pandemic has significant implications for all of us who provide individual, couples and family therapy.
Many therapists are switching to phone sessions and video conference sessions using platforms such as Zoom or OnCall. There will be some clients that will still need to meet face-to-face (if medically safe to do so). The following are a few important recommendations I hope will help you as you decide how to ensure a safe setting when meeting face-to-face with clients to provide individual, couples and family therapy and how to communicate with them regarding the pandemic:

• Please regularly disinfect commonly touched surfaces and objects in your workspace such as doorknobs, mugs, pens and armrests.
• Please wash hands for twenty seconds or use alcohol wipes between sessions
• Add additional boxes of tissues and hand sanitizer to your office to minimize the chances of unintentional transmission.
• Help create social distancing in your waiting room/area by creating more space between chairs, removing chairs or using text messages to notify clients you are ready to see them, allowing them to wait outside or in a space that allows for greater social distancing.
• Refrain from booking clients back to back so as to leave more time between sessions, minimizing clients crossing paths in the waiting area.
• Contact your clients to ask them to notify you if they have been out of the country recently, have experienced any symptoms (fever, cough or difficulty breathing), or have knowingly been in contact with anyone with symptoms of COVID-19. Use this opportunity to reassure your clients and provide factual/current information from the sources listed below.
• If you or any of your clients are symptomatic, have tested positive for COVID-19, have been in contact with someone who has been exposed or is self-isolating as a precautionary measure or as mandated by your employer or a government agency, please explore the alternative of using phone sessions or a secure video conference platform (check with your provincial regulatory body to determine their policy on using a video conference platform)
• Consider waiving any cancellation fees you might have during this time

If you are a member of the www.camft.ca we have created a private discussion forum for therapists to talk and share their challenges of practicing couple and family therapy during this difficult time.  
The 24-hour news cycle and the overwhelming number of online sources of information (excellent, good, bad, misinformed and just plain dangerous) may make some of us and/or our clients feel overwhelmed or anxious.
 PLEASE use information from these trusted sources during this challenging time:
o  Public Health Agency of Canada
o  World Health Organization

Take care,
​Andrew