By Maeve Raphelson, LCSW

Counseling can be many things. It can be a place where you let go of all the stressful things impacting you in the world, of your anxieties, or where you talk to another person about how to solve personal or family problems. In reality, there is not space here to list all the possibilities for counseling.
What happens in counseling? All counselors have a different style, but typically it begins with talking about what is going on and concerns and later the client, with their counselor, create goals that they want to accomplish in counseling. In later sessions, they talk more about what is going on, what happened before and coping skills to confront difficulties and be successful.

Is counseling just for crazy people? Of course not! We all have problems—it can be changes in the present, trauma, or losses from the past, or worries about the future.
How is counseling different during the coronavirus? Adaptations that medical offices can make are more difficult for counseling. For example, you cannot see facial expressions with a mask. And although you can often sit six feet apart, typical sessions last an hour and the distance is not sufficient in that time. Therefore, the majority of counselors are using video chat or talk with their clients on the phone. One advantage of this is that it matters less where your counselor’s office is, you can meet in your home, in your car, and wherever to have a connection. There is so much stressful stuff in the world today, why not get some help in confronting it?

If you have questions or want more information, you can contact me at maeve@chicagoiipc.com.