The practitioners who participated in this study demonstrated significant creativity and resourcefulness in responding to treatment challenges and encouraging new therapeutic opportunities, which is the fifth theme. It is interesting to note that already Vigh (2008) argued that we need to see crisis as a new kind of ‘context’ -a terrain of action and meaning rather than an aberration. However, the crisis also triggered societal forces and social protest in Israeli society, which is the sixth theme. Treatment opportunities and social protest represent what appears in this study to be the most important theme of this era, which is hope. Treatment opportunities foster hope at the individual and group levels, while the social protest provides hope on both the individual and systemic levels.
Conclusions
The effects of the current Covid-19 crisis differ from what we already know about coping with crises, and the research on its psychological outcomes is in its infancy and focuses mainly on fear and anxiety. The complexity of the Covid-19 crisis is partly due to the fact that it is a multi-dimensional crisis that not only affects the individual, community, and social levels, but also has implications for a broad range of fields including health, politics, and the economy, all of which are reflected in the psychological aspects of the Corona experience. The Corona experience is characterized by basic emotional responses such as fear and anxiety, which are accompanied by stress, helplessness, loss of control, surprise, loneliness, and sense of a fantastical reality.
The Corona experience changes previously existing equilibria in relationships within families, communities, and social groups. The Covid-19 outbreak added extra entanglement to the already complex political situation in Israel, while existing technologies for remote meetings offer an effective platform that resolves imposed loneliness and isolation. Despite difficulties and challenges, all participants in this issue used a variety of technologies, mainly Zoom and WhatsApp video, to continue existing treatments and start new individual and group interventions.
The first three themes identified in this study —the Corona experience, the intense use of technology for remote interventions, and the political situation in Israel, create new challenges for therapists and clients, and expose new individual differences. At the same time, the crisis created opportunities for change and growth for both therapists and patients, especially in areas of flexibility, control, anxiety, and personal responsibility. The chaotic political situation in Israel triggered a wave of intergenerational social protest , through which people take responsibility for their lives in an effort to make an impact on society, find some sense of control, and feel joy and empowerment. These two parallel themes provide hope for a better life: new treatment opportunities offer support and hope at the individual level, while involvement in social protest and activism is designed to make an impact at the societal level.
