Blog: working in the days of corona

''It took some getting used to, for my clients as well as for me. Until recently, we shook hands before sitting down together in a room for 45 minutes every week. Then that brief physical encounter marking the start and end of each session was off the cards. A week later, even seeing each other in person was no more: the coronavirus had arrived in the Netherlands.

I set up a desk at home and found some earplugs that had been gathering dust somewhere. And this is how I now ‘receive’ one client after the other. I used to think people would be done talking faster on the phone; instead I find myself bringing our sessions to a close after 50 minutes, and even then with great difficulty.

So much has changed in next to no time. I see my colleagues during our daily Skype lunch, and where I used to dream of having a practice attached to my home, now it’s actually in my home. During my studies I learned nothing about treating clients remotely, but fortunately several free webinars were organised in the second week. I’ve been inspired to make video calls with some clients and I’m even motivated to give EMDR [a therapy for trauma] this way. If you’d told me that a few years ago, I would never have believed you.

At the end of my work day, I’m happy to see my husband, who works in another room in the house. Where we used to go to meetings, the gym, the pool or out to see friends in the evening, we can now be found on the couch, with the TV on, a book open or the laptop on our knees. In the first week I thought it was blissful — all that extra time to just read a book. Turns out I miss seeing my friends, working out and having a drink in a bar.

Last night I had a spontaneous Skype call with a friend. It was so great to see her and hear her voice! This morning my husband and I took a nice walk in the sun. Even though there was nobody else around, I enjoyed the fresh air, saw lovely spring flowers and afterwards felt pleased about how many kilometres we’d covered. We started our work day feeling fit, and at lunchtime, there was my husband waving two bread rolls fresh out of the oven under my nose.

This is not the way I expected to organise my work day, let alone the way I thought our lives and the world would one day look. But staying in touch with friends remotely, getting a sense of satisfaction from my work and exercise, eating well, and relaxing on the couch in the evenings — I can keep this up for a while. And dreaming about what things will look like after the corona crisis, because that gives me hope: looking forward to hugging my friends, eating out and going on holiday again safely.''