Said describes how these barriers broke in the population of Arab women:
Arab women have a problem …it’s difficult for them to speak on the phone or on Zoom … First of all, in terms of ….[making sure] that their husband doesn’t catch them…. on the phone, which would be a problem, that she supposedly is speaking with a man, because it’s difficult … for them to understand that she’s in therapy …. In Covid, I was surprised to discover that they were also willing to meet on Zoom…and on the phone. It was really …amazing. And even now [after lockdown is over] I am doing [meeting] by phone and on Zoom. Once, not a single woman was willing [to try that], but today…they’re willing.
Said’s description of Palestinian women offers an indication of the changing norms of virtual therapy work in Israel’s population in general. Dimona also reported a very high attendance rate in the SEL group that she conducted on a virtual platform during the pandemic. She wrote:
In the group counseling sessions of the group-facilitator course, the attendance rate was 95% …. Participants described the weekly meetings as “an island of sanity” during the difficult period of lockdown and restrictions. The student-meeting attendance rate was 85%. Most participants showed up to meetings on time (tardiness was due at times to poor connectivity). Yet, while dropouts are common in face-to-face programs, no students dropped out of the online program.
Gil also addressed this issue:
To my surprise, most of my clients shifted to a video-based setting rather quickly and easily… One of the most interesting phenomena was that quite a few introverted clients, who have intimacy-related issues, expressed greater openness on video. One possible explanation is that the sense of distance created by the video functioned as a kind of “shield” that allowed them to get closer to the materials.
Despite the challenges described in the previous section, most therapists and clients apparently transitioned to virtual platforms with considerable ease. For some clients, virtual meetings afforded greater intimacy and openness, as Gil described. Moreover, in some cases, the use of technology affected relationships and clients’ engagement due to individual differences in technological skills and in personality. Dimona reported that this was the case for the members of her SEL group:
Some participants performed differently while meeting online than when face-to-face. Some commented that the virtual environment enabled them to interact within the group while others argued that the setting was restrictive. The course evaluators believed that these behaviors were influenced by personal characteristics such as openness and intimidation. Moreover, as described earlier, online group meetings enabled individuals to enhance their social skills to better engage in the process.
Judith, for example, referred to the changes in therapist-client relations in her interview summary:
Sometimes, I felt like reversing roles with patients who “controlled” the tool better and helped me. In a way, it felt like losing my ‘parental’ position. On the other hand, it gave a lot of strength and satisfaction to my patients, especially the younger ones.
Role reversal is also evident to some degree at the general societal level. During the pandemic, metaphorical children-father relations changed: We typically look toward our metaphorical father — the state and its institutions — to protect and support us, and guarantee our security. However, during the pandemic, general disappointment with the metaphorical father in Israel evolved into a leaderless social protest (see below in the section on Social Protest).
