On the other hand, in some cases, the personal materials that emerged were symbolic representations of societal phenomena. One example might be participants’ reports of work on personal loss. This was described by Daniella and Orna and by Orly, who wrote:
One participant paid a very high price for being a stoma patient. She never married or had children. Her participation in the group made it possible for her to grieve over this a little … I think that the internal and external become intertwined in this period. People are constantly talking about loss of control, which for us [stoma patients] is an element of [daily] life.
Patients’ decisions to work on the significance of loss in their personal lives also represents a societal phenomenon: After all, the pandemic era is not only characterized by loss of control, but also loss of trust, loss of economic and health security, and loss of the cultural and artistic components of personal and public life..
Treatment opportunities featured prominently in the materials analyzed in this study, and this theme is a fascinating topic for future conceptualization and research. Both Dimona’s paper and the paper by Donitsa, Schmidt, and Ramot (2020) address the opportunities for remote interventions in the field of education in Israel, yet further research on this issue in the general therapeutic context is warranted. One example of such research was conducted by Stefana, Youngstrom, Jun, Hinshaw, Maxwell, Michalak, and Vieta (2020), who consider the Covid crisis an opportunity for clients diagnosed with bi-polar disorders.
The main treatment opportunities that were identified in this study refer primarily to the use of technology for remote interventions, which opens up new, as-yet under-researched options. Research on technology use in therapy encompasses many dimensions, including the professional’s position, qualifications, and experience; the client’s technological literacy; various technical aspects of the features of the technology and methods of use; and others. The findings of this study highlight that individual differences play a powerful role in this context, and will probably attract research attention in the future.
The findings of this study also indicate that the Corona experience may heighten clients’ awareness of pre-existing issues that the individual may now be ready and willing to address. Moreover, the complicated reality offers opportunities to develop new coping skills with respect to key issues such as personal responsibility, flexibility, and coping with anxiety and loss of control, which are prominent components of the Corona experience. It is interesting to note that the participants in this study identified opportunities for change both for their clients and for themselves.
Social Protest
A wave of social protest commenced in Israel in early summer 2020. This protest is different from anything known in all of Israel’s years of existence, including protests in the previous decade. Ilan described the situation in his contribution:
First of all, young people joined the active protests. This was very different from our own protests. Very different. Their protest taught me a lot — I love them. We [the elder generation] come to protests that are organized, and where you need a speaker on a podium, and some retired general to explain how people should conduct themselves. But here, they are bringing something chaotic, something that’s sometimes joyful, with no leadership. And it’s just amazing to see this wonderful activism. How you can both be happy and work for a certain goal. It really gave me a lot of satisfaction to support them and help them.
