Is Face to Face counselling on the opening list and if not why not?

[Cr1cketLegs]

It’s clear mental health for youngsters has plummeted and many don’t like phone conversations.

If we’re having hair dressers, campsites etc opening why not face to face counselling?

I am going back to face-to-face therapy today - I think they count as medical and don’t have to wait but need to be covid secure.

In practice it may be down to individual decisions

I am a counsellor.

My insurance will not cover me at the moment to work face to face with clients. They will cover me to work outside, online or by telephone but not in an enclosed space.

My office is in a business centre which has a very good cleaning policy.

I would like to resume working face to face but I can’t do that without insurance.

Unfortunately the guidance is very unclear and we have all be left to interpret it as best we can.

In some cases, insurance won’t cover for face to face yet.

Many counsellors work in environments where social distancing is not possible (my first room was quite literally a cupboard, it had been emptied out for my use and our knees were nearly touching!). A lot of private counsellors work from their homes, which throws up other considerations, especially if the counsellor or a member of their household is especially vulnerable. The cleaning required may not be possible (I can’t sterilise fabric chairs and it is unclear whether I am required to).

We are being referred between the government, out membership bodies and our insurance companies and all have different (often contradictory) advice. It will be very much up to the individual counsellor.

My counsellor is already back, has been for nearly 3 weeks. He's still doing mostly online but has arranged to see me as I can't do phone or online sessions and I can't imagine I'm his only client in that situation.

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut

My counsellor is already back, has been for nearly 3 weeks. He's still doing mostly online but has arranged to see me as I can't do phone or online sessions and I can't imagine I'm his only client in that situation.

Sorry to hear he even stopped - mine has done online sessions since the start of lockdown

I should say my therapist has a large room, not wfh and it’s been possible to make the building COVID secure.

I’ve not even been offered telephone sessions during this time, I just have to fill in a questionnaire once a month to ‘see’ how I’m coping!

My counsellor has been excellent and offered weekly phone calls, I think it must be on an individual and county basis

It is individual - either because the counsellor is private and they choose for themselves what they think best (distance work isn’t suitable for everyone, and we’ve all had to do extra training), or because their agency or employer has made the decision. I’ve been working via telephone and videocall since the end of March, and I have a lot of practical and legal things to consider before booking f2f again.

Sorry to hear he even stopped - mine has done online sessions since the start of lockdown

He didn't. As I said, its me who can't do online sessions.

Interesting. I was due to start counselling the week lockdown started so it ended up being done over the phone. I hate talking on the phone even on a good day with people I know, so, not surprisingly, this didn't work out well and the issues that led me to counselling ended up worse not better. I would still like to believe that someone could help me work out how to feel better, but it would definitely have to be face-to-face, which I had assumed would not be possible for a long long time. I may be too put off by how this went to take the risk of ever trying again though.