Video conferencing, telehealth help maintain critical connections
The University of Rhode Island Psychological Consultation Center and Couple and Family Therapy Clinic continue to serve their clients despite the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a vital, virtual connection to those dealing with mental health challenges.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected most every segment of society, causing people to worry about their health, threatening financial security and separating people, severing support networks critical to mental health. Aiming to continue the important work counselors and clients had already accomplished, and help newer clients trying to deal with all the stressors the pandemic has surfaced, the URI College of Health Sciences graduate training clinics are providing telehealth services and telephone check-ins, continuing to engage with almost all their clients, according to Lindsey Anderson, director of the Psychological Consultation Center.
“There would have been a tremendous number of consequences for lots of clients if we had needed to suspend services,” Anderson said. “For some clients, their clinician is the only person they have who they talk to about anything. We’re finding that most clients are engaging just as frequently as they had before. In fact, we’re seeing some of them more frequently. Clients who are starting treatments via teletherapy are sticking with it; we’re not losing people even though it’s not in-person.”
The services provided by the graduate students clinicians and licensed psychologists who oversee them haven’t changed, except for their virtual nature. Counselors meet with their clients regularly via Webex, allowing for the face-to-face contact critical to the counseling process. In addition, counselors conduct check-ins by phone as needed with clients.
“Almost all of our clients have taken the opportunity to connect with their clinician,” Anderson said. “There’s a tremendous amount of clinical value to being able to see someone, to read their non-verbals, to be able to see the space they’re in. We were worried about people not liking not being in the physical space, losing momentum with Internet cutting out. If someone had hypothetically proposed this scenario to us, we would have come up with all sorts of reasons why it wasn’t going to work. But we are actually not seeing any of that play out.”
In fact, there are some perks to the virtual sessions, according to Gina MacLure, coordinator of the Couple and Family Therapy Clinic. Therapists and clients find it easier to schedule appointments without needing a physical space or commuting, and phone check-ins between sessions can enhance the work being done. Plus, therapists can get a glimpse into a client’s homelife through their computer screens, potentially enhancing the service they provide.
“Clients are really grateful that they have an opportunity to not be disrupted in their work and they have the opportunity to connect with somebody, even if it’s telehealth, on a regular, consistent basis,” MacLure said. “The therapists are kind of anchoring for them and they really are grateful for that; they feel supported. The therapists in our clinic have done an outstanding job in supporting their clients. We are all surprised by how successful it has been.”
The situation has been so successful, MacLure and Anderson noted the clinics are planning to incorporate telehealth even once face-to-face meetings can resume. The Webex meetings can serve as an occasional replacement when schedules conflict, and phone check-ins can serve to supplement services.
“Clients have said this would have been easier to do, even when they were on campus,” Anderson said. “It could have been less stressful to schedule appointments when they have everything else going on. So we were also thinking of ways of implementing teletherapy on an on-going basis even after all this has ended. It just gives another option to people. We wouldn’t exclusively do this, but more as a hybrid.”
The Psychological Consultation Center is a mental health service, research and training facility that serves both the URI and greater community. It offers individual treatment, adult assessment services, and a specialty clinic for children with anxiety. The Couple and Family Therapy Clinic offers specialized expertise in relationship and family issues, providing confidential relationship enhancement and counseling. Graduate students, supervised by licensed clinicians, serve as the counselors in both clinics. The students have put in tremendous effort to help their clients while dealing with a difficult situation themselves, Anderson said.
“The graduate students delivering clinical services are also students, so they too have wrestled with their new roles, in conjunction with the acute stressors associated with COVID,” Anderson said. “They have managed beautifully, really professionally and really gracefully, the tremendous upheaval associated with getting services moved online, managing the stress of losing externship positions, having finances compromised. And all the while they are really prioritizing the needs of their clients. It’s been a tremendous feat.”
Fees for services at both clinics are on a sliding scale according to income, and URI students can access the consultation center’s services for a flat fee of $5 per session. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 401-874-4263 or visit the center’s website. Couples, families and individuals with relationship issues looking for support can contact the Couple and Family Therapy Clinic at 401-874-5956 or visit the clinic’s website. URI students can also access the URI Counseling Center Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by calling 401-874-2288 or visiting the website.