Suddenly, thinking about what will happen tomorrow was less important because nothing was in my control. Therefore, one of the things that happened to me during Covid is that I started to work on projects and think about things that would happen one year or two years in the future. I wrote one book, and then another. I mean, all the time my idea was to think on a much longer timescale. Because everyday reality was so unclear, I decided to fantasize…It’s exactly what I always try to do in the therapy room, and certainly during Covid … It’s like ignoring the bumps and gazing into a much distant future. This is also true for the clients I worked with during Covid. We set very, very distant goals, even unrealistic ones.
This period created many new challenges, both for patients and for therapists. To sum up the theme of challenges, it is important to note that no research has yet been conducted on the challenges that Covid-19 has posed for professionals in the field of psychology, and this is a very important topic for future research. In addition to technological challenges and health-related challenges, this study found that therapists not only were involved in therapeutic work that directly addressed the Corona experience (e.g., anxiety), but were also engaged in deep therapeutic work focusing on the psychological issues that of the Corona experience evoked. In a large number of cases, the social and personal dimensions of the Corona experience created an opportunity for significant work on critical personal issues whose significance extended far beyond the circumstances of the pandemic. I elaborate on this point and on the corresponding processes of therapists and clients in the following section on treatment opportunities.
Treatment Opportunities
First of all, several participants in this study noted that they received more new referrals in this period than usual, an outcome they attributed directly to the Corona situation: Orly and Daniella and Orna experienced a surge in the demand for their support groups, and Ilan also reported a strong demand at the short-term trauma center for individuals who experienced trauma as a result of police violence during social protests. Self-referrals were mainly initiated in response to needs created directly by the Corona experience, although several participants mentioned new clients who came to therapy for fundamental work. During the pandemic and especially during and immediately following the lockdown, these individuals had gained a new perspective on their lives and issues, and were more able to devote efforts to significant, deep-rooted problems that did not necessarily stem from the Corona experience. Orit described this:
In addition to the more typical “emergency” referrals, which I get many times, this time [Corona time] I actually received referrals of people who didn’t really know how to respond to this [Corona experience] but from this lack of understanding they started to think about themselves, they started to deliberate. They started to talk, [and this process led them to therapy].
The need and the imperative for alternative communication platforms for therapy created opportunities to overcome the therapists’ and clients’ resistance and convince them to try virtual therapy.
