The world has entered unchartered waters that only time and history will make sense of. We may not
even be at the beginning of a chain of events and changes that will define at least the next generation.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is a major health crisis that has affected millions of people worldwide
since its outbreak. The disruption caused by the pandemic, like the enormity of living in isolation,
changes in daily life, job loss, financial hardship and grief over the death of loved ones has the capacity
to affect the mental health and well-being of many. It is undoubtedly the biggest disruptor the world has
experienced in nearly a century. With over 2.5 million deaths worldwide as of February 2021, and the
surge in waves of infections continuing in many parts of the world, health care systems everywhere have
been stretched beyond capacity. Besides the devastating physical health outcomes and high mortality
rates, the pandemic has had severe reverberations for mental health and well-being of people.
Disrupted access to basic needs, social and economic instability, isolation, misinformation, fear of
contagion, rising death toll and stigma have created an environment of prolonged fear and uncertainty
resulting in shared trauma across communities. Therefore, this essay aims at discussing the challenges
posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the practice of counselling, as well as proposing mitigating
strategies to overcome the challenges. Definition of terms will be given. This essay will start by giving an
introduction, later delve into the discussion in the main body and finally a concise conclusion will be
drawn.
Counselling is a principled relationship characterized by the application of one or more psychological
theories and a recognized set of communication skills, modified by experience, intuition and other
interpersonal factors, to clients’ intimate concerns, problems or aspirations. Counseling is also the
skilled and principled use of relationship to facilitate self- knowledge, emotional acceptance and growth
and the optimal development of personal resource.
COVID-19 is an acute respiratory illness in humans caused by a coronavirus, capable of producing severe
symptoms and in some cases death, especially in older people and those with underlying health
conditions. It was originally identified in China in 2019 and became pandemic in 2020.
A challenge is something that by its nature or character serves as a call to make a special effort, a
demand to explain, justify, or difficulty in an undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.
A pandemic is defined as “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing
international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people”.
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, mitigating is the process or result of making something
less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, or damaging.
A plan of action intended to accomplish a specific goal is what is defined as a strategy.
Counselling is a contact-based profession which requires a face to face interchange between the
counsellor and the client. The contact factor is more or less where the profession hinges as it enables
the counsellor to read and understand both body and spoken language. In light of this, the COVID-19
pandemic has brought a requirement of non-contact, distance-based interaction which, to some extent,
may go as far as basing communication or interaction via social media and other online platforms such
as Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp and so on. This drastic measure entails that the counsellor will be
deprived of the privilege or opportunity to read body language which is one of the essential tools for
understanding and mitigating a client-presented problem. Inasmuch as a counsellor can help a client
through an online platform, some clients feel more comfortable and are willing to open up to the fullest
if and when the counsellor is physically present. Therefore, the deprivation of contact by the pandemic
in itself presents a challenge for the profession.
In pre-pandemic times, many therapists, regardless of age and therapeutic orientation, were
apprehensive about offering online therapy, and reluctant to integrate online therapy work into their
regular practices. Most psychotherapists had little training and experience in providing online
psychotherapy pre-pandemic, but nevertheless had multiple concerns about this therapy format.
For example, a major concern regarding online therapy in pre-pandemic times regarded the therapeutic
relationship, as many therapists doubted the feasibility of building a strong therapeutic alliance in a
remote setting (Roesler, 2017; Connolly et al., 2020). This concern has been found to correlate with a
lack of intent to provide therapy online, however, as other studies pointed out, once therapists engaged
in providing therapy online, this worry usually decreased (Sucala et al., 2013). Many psychotherapists
were also worried about the online therapy relationship being impersonal and being less able to
communicate empathy and emotions (Roesler, 2017). Concerns about the impact of technical glitches,
insufficient Internet literacy, and confidentiality issues (e.g., Topooco et al., 2017; Titzler et al., 2018)
and a belief that online treatment would be inferior to in-person therapy were also widespread (e.g.,
Topooco et al., 2017; for a review, see Connolly et al., 2020).
Another therapeutic challenge relates to the adjustment and limitation of using tele-media as a way to
conduct counseling. During service provision, counsellors may encounter several suicidal calls and
repeat callers who have severe mental health issues (e.g., bipolar disorder, clients with psychotic
symptoms, and clients with long-term addiction issues). This may as well result from not understanding
the pandemic well and also could be from the loss of a loved one to the pandemic. For counselors who
are not specifically trained to deal with severe clients in a one session context, and who are also new to
the hotline/online type of service, a lot of them are likely to feel a sense of incompetence, and get
worried that they are not effectively helping their client. Hence, the need for a physical counselling set
up.
Reaching out to grieving individuals is an important part of our work as mental health professionals in
the pandemic. In the context of brief telephonic intervention, our role can involve; Actively reaching out
to bereaved individuals, supporting bereaved individuals with their grief, by bearing witness to their
pain, containing their emotions and helping them resume daily functioning as well as identifying those
bereaved individuals who may need more specialized help and referring them appropriately working
with a bereaved individual can be difficult for us as counsellors. Sometimes, we might connect with
clients within the first 24-48 hours after a loss, when the client may be too overwhelmed to speak to us.
Logistical concerns such as arranging for the funeral and informing relatives of the death may dominate
their mindspace. Even a few weeks after the death, it may still be too soon to start coming to terms with
the loss. Given the nature of brief and remote psychosocial support, it is also important that we do not
overstep our role. The nature of our intervention will be primarily supportive and we may not be able to
provide ‘grief therapy’ or facilitate clients’ movement through the process of mourning in the duration
of one or two phone calls.
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