I recently had a therapy session with my therapist that I had been seeing in person before the stay in home order. I took some time off because I had never tried therapy in different forms and I was skeptical about the virtual format because I prefer face to face discussions, but this week I decided to try it.
I was skeptical at first to see if I could get the same feeling I usually get when I enter my therapists but when starting the therapy session, I found I had a more relaxed feeling by choosing to have the session outdoors. One thing I found I’m going to have to adapt to is feeling like I’m just calling a friend. When I usually call my friend, I’m mostly listening to what they’re saying, which is counterproductive when online with my therapist because I need to be the one talking more than them. I felt the need to try to fill in the silence on the phone, whereas in person I tend to sit in silence at times thinking about what my therapist and I are discussing.
I noticed that because I haven’t had much interaction with others due to social distancing, I’ve just been contemplating other aspects of my life and have been bringing up vague questions with my therapist. Because of that, I’ve learned that I’m going to have to narrow down specific questions and topics I want to talk about with my therapist. Creating a more structured foundation for my therapist meetings gives me the feeling that I am being productive in in the sessions and not like I didn’t take advantage of the time I reserved with them.
One thing I learned with my first online therapy session, is to make a prior list of things I wanted to talk about with my therapist, so I don’t feel like I’m floundering for something to discuss other than the effects of social distancing amongst the coronavirus. Although talking about the Coronavirus is a valid topic to cover with a therapist, I felt like I also wanted to cover other important topics for myself that were things that weren’t topics that would have come to mind if I was in public and encountering other stressors.
So far, the experience has been an adjustment. I can’t say that it’s something that I got acclimated to on my first appointment, but I am willing to try a couple more times and see if I’m able to get comfortable with the new therapy method.