“People travel now much more than ever before” is how I began this blog post in January 2017. As we move into the middle of the 2020s, the observation seems dated. Yet some of us still do travel.
I also wrote, almost seven years ago: “Clients and therapists using a telemedicine platform should be aware of the limitations and constraints. In terms of felt effectiveness a teletherapy session may or may not be perceived as inferior to a face to face session.” The intervening years show these observations to have been over-cautious: although in-person, in-office sessions are being held by some therapists, remote video sessions have now become the standard of care.
The therapy session paradigm shift from in-office to video format can allow an almost seamless transition and near-complete continuity of care for when either client or therapist is away from home. Yet limitations and constraints may arise, in that it may suddenly become much harder to schedule sessions. By definition, we have gone out of town for a reason and have things to prioritize; and there may be a time zone change involved.
Fortunately there are also ways we can turn these constraints to advantage. Since the goal of therapy is no longer to need it, when you or I go out of town, we might decide to experiment with scheduling more time between regular therapy sessions; then again, the dynamic of enforced change in regular routine can be harnessed by the skilled therapist to open up new avenues for client exploration and awareness.
It goes without saying that, if I go out of town, I arrange for a colleague to be on call for my clients in case I cannot be reached.
Please email me with any comments on this blog post—peter@petergeigertherapy.com
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