Online – virtual – internet – platforms – linking – broadband – connecting….. all these terms can bring about palpitations and dizziness.
It is all very overwhelming, especially for me who only recently on the 27th March 2020 (day 1 of Lockdown for SA), got connected with some social media platform called Facebook.
It took a crisis for me to get connected!!!
This is the time of social distancing with no contact with the regular people you are used to seeing, talking to and shaking hands or giving hugs to.
Social connections play a vital role in a person’s mental well-being. These connections are important for survival, for us to feel good, to feel accepted, to feel included, to be heard, to be seen or noticed, to be part of the trends, to be part of a system. This then provides unity and allows us not to feel alone.
What is ALONE…..( Merrian-Webster dictionary): ‘without anyone or anything else; not involving or including anyone or anything else; separate from other people or things; feeling unhappy because of being separated from other people.’
This is exactly what CoronaVirus has done for us. Separated us. Enforced unnatural distancing. Created isolation!
We need to adapt to this reality shift and start getting back the connections we were used to.
Be it colleagues, distant family, friends, therapists, gym acquaintances, your gardener, your helper… check-up on them, make contact and see how they are doing, let’s support one another in not being ALONE.
In my line of work, human connections are a necessity for therapy. Having to adapt to doing therapy over video calls has been a real challenge in the way I work.
So let me explain how successful it has been so far doing online consultations.
I have done a few video consultations with children, ranging from 5 to 12 years old and then giving feedback to parents thereafter. It is definitely easier working with older children online as they are more comprehensive and able to express themselves verbally. With younger children, you have to be more entertaining or be prepared to be entertained. But generally, the kids nowadays are so in tune with technology that they are a lot more comfortable interacting with a screen than kids would have been 20 years ago.
Some tips:
- Look at what platform will suit you and your internet capabilities
- Make sure that you are in a quiet part of the house or bedroom where there will be no interruptions
- Make sure no-one else is on the wifi
- “Bring along” something to the session that you would like to share or “show and tell”
The most important thing to remember is that over and above being a therapy session, this online consultation will help to keep us connected, supported, being helped and even entertained.
It’s working for me so far. So give it a try.
Keep in touch, so we won’t feel alone.
