“It’s not the same”… concerns going into online therapy sessions.

A lot of people’s concerns going into online therapy sessions were that it’s “not the same as coming in person”. True, it’s not the same, in the same way that pepperoni pizza is different from margherita pizza. It’s still pizza. This is still therapy.

It’s an adjustment in the same way that a lot of things are right now. We’re moving into a whole different way of living and in some ways it’s incredibly healthy, and in other ways it’s incredibly difficult. Let’s look at the positives: the environment is being given time to heal without the pressure of mass pollution from aircraft, masses of waste, rush hour traffic, and so on. People have more time that would otherwise be lost commuting or being faced with work miles and miles away from home. There is suddenly the opportunity and space to take a breath and re-evaluate what is important and what deserves more airtime in our lives.

Don’t get me wrong, I also understand the difficulties with having the majority of our lives thrown onto “online classes” and “online meetings” and “online therapy”. Face to face contact is essential to human beings, and many people are really feeling the lack of this at the moment. Many people are struggling with the idea of having to be at home most of the time because for some people, home is not the most pleasant place to be. However, being the person that I am, I’m going to point out something slightly paradoxical…

It is in your discomforts that you’re going to find the most revolutionary change within yourselves. It is in understanding that “I am feeling uncomfortable with this but that is OK” where true change lies. Spotting the silver linings is part one, but using them to transform the whole cloud is part two. Suddenly, people with social anxiety are faced with not having to be in social situations, yet the anxiety is still bubbling away on the back burner. Suddenly people with exam stress find themselves without exams, but still harbouring the stress.

It’s because ultimately our anxieties, our worries, our highs, and our lows, are all anchored within us. Regardless of our environmental situation, we all have the power to change our perception of how we experience the world. The biggest lesson here of all is that this period of distancing and isolation is massively nullifying the “blame game” that many of us play with our mental health. “I am anxious because of this situation.” “I am anxious because of that person.” “That period that I went through affected me and is why I’m like this.” ALL of those things may be true, and valid, but they’re not the be-all and end-all of our mental health.

If we were entirely shaped by our environmental circumstances we would be robots. We’re not robots. We’re free agents. We’re beings that feel. We’re beings that have the capacity to shower love on everything that we do. We’re people that can bridge the gap between different spheres of influence and different worlds of existence.

Don’t fight the change. Embrace it. Embrace the fact that you are feeling uncertain about things. Embrace the fact that the universe has given us a massive opportunity here to adjust what we need to. Embrace the time that you have suddenly found yourselves with to learn more about yourself. I have a sneaky suspicion that we’re all going to come out on the other side of this far better off than we are now and to be honest, I’m quite excited to see what’s in store.

For more observations by Anjali S Mitter please visit: www.anjalismitter.com

To discuss therapy sessions with Anjali email:  anjali@anjalismitter.com

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— Shomit

 

Posted in Blog on Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Tagged with Anjali S Mitter, online therapy

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