Orly set up a support group for stoma patients on Zoom:
This group is a support group…After Passover Seder, we all tried Zoom, which I know about from my doctoral studies … This gave me the drive to then suggest a short-term group of 4-5 sessions …slowly but surely …. in the second and third sessions …. our sessions started to feel like real support sessions. Sessions had a growing sense of intimacy… The option for me [a group member] to join in and speak, and even if I think that no one understands me, in this group people can better understand me, my loneliness…
And last but not least, Daniella and Orna organized a therapy-based support group for older women over age 80, which was active on Zoom for some time:
Our group was born out of a need. During Covid, Dani and I really wanted to contribute to the community where we live, and we offered to organize a support group for people…over 80. The women in the group range from 80 to 90 years old…We worked on Zoom for a month and a half and then we shifted to face-to-face meetings.
Although the facilitators reported that the women in the group preferred to meet in person, I find it amazing that there was a strong demand for Daniella and Orna’s group for women over 80, and that the group met on Zoom during the first lockdown period of six weeks. I think that the fact that the facilitators managed to work with a group of older women on Zoom suggests that the facilitators’ confidence in working on virtual platforms in general and specifically on Zoom played a significant role in the group’s success.
According to participants, during the pandemic virtual platforms such as Zoom and WhatsApp video are not only used for therapy work — for individuals, families and groups — but also as a means of communication and consultation among therapists who effectively were left without any support of their own, specifically in this period in which therapists were forced to use their resourcefulness and ingenuity to develop unconventional solutions for the practice. Martha recounted:
In this case, Zoom was in our favorite because it allowed therapists to communicate among themselves, process emotions, and then bring it to reality, and we decided to maintain our ties with the children on Zoom. Here is whether the therapists’ creativity came into play – each one adapted herself and her method of work to her specific clients.
Judith also described her own professional support group on Zoom:
I used new things, from new perspectives, and I consulted with colleagues, which I typically don’t do anymore, and we created a kind of training group for ourselves on Zoom. It was great fun. Things that I really haven’t done in years – [all of us are] old wolves.
In sum, technology allowed all participants to practice as therapists, continue ongoing therapy sessions, and to treat issues that arose as a result of the new situation. Technological platforms filled the need for a variety of treatment settings: individual, family, and group therapy. Below I also address the challenges and the unique opportunities that these technologies created.
