Does anyone feel like they are really crushing it lately? Chances are, in our day-to-day, we know people who act like they are on top of the world. But the world has been a surreal place these days. If you told anyone we’d be dealing with a quarantine due to a complicated virus a couple of months ago, no one would have ever believed it. I bet you never believed you’d click on a blog post about teletherapy either.
Now that it’s been going on for over a month, depending on what state you’re in, you’re feeling feelings. You’ve been feeling them all along. And you’ve been feeling them long before this was even a blip on the radar.
Isolated from our extended families, friends, coworkers, and even the random chit-chat of strangers, you’re finding yourself irritable, angry, tearful, anxious, worried…Basically, I could word-vomit every emotion here because it’s a safe bet that you are all over the place. Things you didn’t think you missed are popping into your mind.
You also might be bogged down by sleep disturbances, bizarre dreams, a lack of motivation, and exhaustion. Which all make sense, given the new hats you’re wearing at home. You’re working all the time now and helping your kids learn some new-fangled math you never saw before. Simultaneously, you’re juggling laundry, dishes, meal prep, food shopping, caring for aging parents. Again, I could go on, but you get the drift.
These things aren’t going to all go away overnight. We’re in this for the long haul, most likely. Even when we resume whatever “normal” looks like, our feelings won’t vanish. This quarantine is shining a light on concerns you’ve had all along. Being faced with the silence brings up things you wanted to ignore. Fears of not being enough. Temptations to connect with old flames on social media. Managing your marriage and an extramarital relationship. Concerns about whether you want to stay in your relationship. A feeling that you’re done feeling “this way”, whatever “this way” means for you.
While therapy isn’t about getting hold of a magic wand and transforming yourself overnight, it can help you feel something different rather quickly. This connection you make with another human being who is not your friend or family member can be comforting in the short term and transformative in the medium-to-long term. The magic doesn’t even always happen during a session, but the wallop of a light-bulb moment can hit you at the most random time.
Now is a great time to start. And yes, the vast majority of us are doing teletherapy now. We are concerned for your safety as well as our own and we’ll get back into the office when it’s the appropriate time. Why stay stuck in your life longer than you need to be? Therapy won’t magically dissolve all of the juggling you’re doing right now, but it could help you feel better doing it. It might even make you better at it.
You might be asking, how does this work, this teletherapy? And why should I try it now?
If you were considering whether we’d be a good fit to work together, we can have a brief consultation and go from there. Typically, I do a 15-minute consultation with you by phone or via Doxy.me, the secure online platform I use for teletherapy. We’d set a regular appointment time and meet regularly via video or telephone if that’s your preference.
Most of us therapists love being in the room with clients. There’s an energy I feel from the instant I welcome a client into my office. It tells me so much about where you’re at emotionally. And the colleagues I talk with regularly are missing that very much. But there are some benefits to meeting you this way, too.
You can do a session with me anywhere, as long as you have reliable internet or phone service. You can be in your jammies, have your dog or kitty on your lap, and enjoy your favorite beverage during our session. Not only are you more comfortable, but it also gives me an interesting view into your real life. You can even call me from your yard or your car if those are places you have the most privacy.
If you have any questions about teletherapy or if you think you’re ready to begin, I’d love to hear from you. Email is best: cmgsnyder@gmail.com.
You might also want to check out more about my practice here:
How I Can Help
Because of state licensure regulations, I am only able to practice in states I am licensed so even if you aren’t local to my physical office in Livingston, NJ, I can work with clients anywhere in the state.