As we entered January 2020, we could not have imagined what lay ahead for us all in a few short weeks’ time, that would change the face our lives both personally and professionally. COVID-19 brought practices and services to a crashing halt, threatening to rupture critical therapeutic connections and denying access to support for many who were unexpectedly facing immense challenges and experiencing extreme distress.
Practitioners responded speedily and with immense courage, turning to information technology for solutions that were already familiar to some, but which, in the majority of situations, were not only unfamiliar but also unlikely and perhaps even unwelcome. Even the most cautious found themselves either being forced to grapple with the technology or being drawn to it by a wish to maintain their connections and to provide continuity for their clients as well as to maintain their professional role and income.
Fast-forward to early summer 2022. Regulations have eased, allowing a return to the counselling room. However many are choosing to continue offering online services, either alongside other provision or in some cases as a permanent replacement. Some services and practitioners now offer a variety of choice.
This workshop invites you to take stock of where you are in this mix, and to review what you have learned and experienced. Kate and John will propose some new ideas which they have brought together in an article they have written together (recently published in a peer-reviewed journal), originating out of their individual therapeutic traditions, which may help in understanding why some things work so surprisingly well, whilst others may unexpectedly seem to fail. These ideas will be illustrated through case descriptions and examples from practice and you will be invited to bring your own material to discuss and share with others in a secure and confidential setting.
This workshop will propose some new ways of thinking about online dynamics, connections and relationships that will help us plan our professional development plans for the future, as we embrace the new world in which we find ourselves.
Course Content
Presenter
I have been facilitating in Counselling & Psychotherapy programmes in the UK for more than 10 years.
I am currently the director at Temenos Education and have a private practice where I offer online Psychotherapy and Supervision using video and chat communication platforms along with virtual environments. I am also the co-founder of onlinevents which has grown to be the world’s largest library of online video and audio content with instant certification and a learning log.
I am also a past chair of the Association for Counselling & Therapy Online (ACTO) and have served for 6 years on the board of the World Association for Person Centered & Experiential Psychotherapy & Counselling. My passion to bring online learning into the field of Counselling & Psychotherapy has also led to the development of online experiential learning within the Temenos programme, facilitating the exposure of Temenos students to external tutors who are located in different parts of the world. Along with the inclusion of experiential learning of online Counselling & Psychotherapy for Temenos students so that they qualify with knowledge and practice in online communication and relationship.
Kate is a psychotherapeutic counsellor, supervisor and trainer/consultant working in private practice, both face-to-face in the room and online using digital technology. She previously worked in a Higher Education setting as a counsellor. She has been working with clients and supervisees online since 2008 and has a special interest in the online therapeutic relationship, which has been the subject of her research, which has been published in a number of books and journals.
She and John, together with their colleague, Carole Francis-Smith, have presented a number of workshops and events for Onlinevents which can be found at https://www.onlinevents.co.uk/behind-the-screen-event-series-video-replays/
