Resuming in-office sessions

image by cater yang

Amid these unprecedented times, one of the new-normals we have to figure out is how to resume seeing clients face to face. Whether you already have experience of building a practice outside of your home, or currently considering the idea, it is important to consider elements such as health and safety, location, and type of venue.
 
More so than most other professional relationships, the therapist-client relationship ideally requires person-to-person connection. The therapeutic bond is healing in itself, and especially if at crisis point, the holding presence of a therapist in a safe environment could be essential for a client’s emotional state.
 
Of course, a safe environment now means dealing with Covid. More therapists are considering holding sessions outside of the home in order to minimize risk. Office spaces such as Sima Space have ensured that full sanitization and protocols are in place - a reassuring option for both therapist and client to consider (see Sima Space’s response to Covid protocols here).
 
In-office sessions provide the following benefits:
~ Working as a healing practitioner can be an isolating experience, so access to a supportive therapeutic community makes the journey more enjoyable.
~ Healing rooms are often used for other related activities such as supervision, family support sessions, or simply a quiet space to rest and work in.
~ Networking opportunities provide referral opportunities - the benefit of being in a shared practice environment enhances the chance to build your client base or (for those with a full practice) build a more robust referral system for new clients that you simply can not take on.  
~ Working away from home enables you to better compartmentalize work time versus home time. You may feel more professional and held when working in an office environment, or it may be refreshing to simply get out of the house! 
 
Check out Sima Space here to see how flexible and easy it is to manage working away from home. Providing bespoke rental packages (i.e. if you are unsure of how many in-person sessions you will be doing, you can opt for a co-working space), you also have five locations and thirty therapeutically-designed rooms from which to choose from.
 
Stay informed, stay safe, and stay working!
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Ellen Evans, Transpersonal Psychotherapist