Brier Creek Offices, Covid-19 Update, & Resources for Coping
Dear Valued Rise & Thrive Partner,
As we have continued to monitor the COVID-19 situation and concerns, we want to continue to ensure that you that our health and wellbeing, as well as that of our treatment team, is our absolute first priority. Rise & Thrive Counseling continues to be deeply committed to your continued care, especially in these uncertain time, and know that we will make every effort to ensure that your progress and treatment are not limited by the current or future state of COVID-19. We want to practice Prevention NOT Panic.
We wanted to deliver an update to our previous email from 3.14.20 that had stated we would potentially be returning to the office on March 30, 2020. In news of recent Stay-At-Home orders going into effect until April 30, 2020 and schools remaining closed until May, 2020 in the local and surrounding counties, we will not be returning to in-office sessions at this time. As of today, Wednesday, March 25, 2020 we will be extending office closure indefinitely until we feel appropriate measures and safety protocols are in place to be able to return in a healthy and safe environment for all clients and clinicians, as well as their family members and a community as a whole. We will continue to participate in sessions that will be administered virtually via remote sessions with telesupport options. We will not be making exceptions to come into the office. We also don’t want to be another email added to your inbox that we know we’re all being bombarded with by continually setting return dates that we are unsure of as we continue to watch this situation unfold. In light of that, you can expect to get an update to inform you once we have an official plan upon making the decision to open the Brier Creek location back up. We will continue to monitor the situation and reassess at that time as we continue to review reputable sources and consider any recommendations when addressing the appropriateness of keeping the offices open.
If you have any concerns about the continuation of remote therapy, please discuss this with us. Remote therapy has been shown to be just as effective as traditional face-to-face sessions and allows us the opportunity to deliver support to you in situations when the latter is not possible or convenient. We stand by the belief that the benefits of remote therapy 110% outweigh the risks no therapy at all. We’d like to offer free 10 minute trials to anyone who may still be struggling to make this switch and please keep up with our Blog over on the Rise & Thrive website for a post for yourself or to share with anyone you know about “Why Remote Therapy?” and taking advantage of the distance option!
We want to take a moment to implore you to PLEASE take steps to STAY-AT-HOME and practice Social Distancing unless you do have to go into work or have a necessity that you need to leave your home for. We know that Covid-19 takes up to 10-14 days to show symptoms. That's why transmission could occur from asymptomatic individuals. We also know that virus shedding could continue for days up to three weeks AFTER a person recovers. This does not include the actual “sick” or symptomatic time people are experiencing. This virus does live on surfaces for up to 72 hours after contact depending on the surface. And remember, while you may be a healthy individual who this will come and go for, you may expose others that do not fall into that category. Let’s take a community health approach.
Keep a minimum of 3-6ft away from people around you.
Wash your hands frequently.
Let’s NOT shake hands at this point.
Cover your mouth and nose if you sneeze or cough.
Throw away your tissue IMMEDIATELY after using.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Stay at home if at all possible from work an avoid any social activities at this time.
Be aware of the surface you touch if you do go out to the grocery store or pharmacy.
Open doors with napkins or sani-wipes.
Use Video conferencing anytime you can to stay connected.
Go outdoors for a walk or workout but maintain your distance.
What else can you do??
As your therapists and support system takes steps, we certainly recognize that the spread and continued unfolding of COVID-19 can take its toll as the weeks progress. We strongly encourage everyone to set themselves up with a “Media Diet” -- setting healthy boundaries with the amount of news coverage and social media you expose yourself to. The majority of what’s being posted and covered can set a major negative tone to your mindset and energy throughout your day feeding the worry and panic beyond what is ecologically sound. Remember, we are what we expose ourselves to! We’ve found most people can surprise themselves and have a much more positive tone to their days with this one simple step, even when we’re not in the middle of a global crisis! Suggestions have been made to pick one or two 15-20 minute time periods per day where you check with REPUTABLE sources that you trust to stay informed about the risks and what’s going on in the world and in your community. We truly want to encourage all clients and clinicians to PROTECT YOUR SPACE. Stay informed, but not so much so that we strengthen our triggers.
Sources we recommend:
https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/public-health/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-response-north-carolina
https://www.dconc.gov/county-departments/departments-f-z/public-information/covid-19
http://www.wakegov.com/covid19/Pages/default.aspx
https://www.cdc.gov/
https://www.who.int/
***We encourage you to limit your activities with the local news (WRAL) and use them as a source only if you can do so while not taking on the plethora of opinion posts and other negative news that’s often relayed there.
Along with this we want to offer extra resources at this time to help those cope and maintain mental wellness while providing actual coping skills one can DO. We have found a great resource from Psycotherapy Tools for a guide to “Living with Worry and Anxiety Amidst Global Uncertainty”.
We want to offer this to you to please review. You can find this attached to this email or you can find it here:
While we take zero credit for adapting this guide, we do see its value and the connections that we can make to various coping skills that we have used with MANY of our clients in sessions such as how to plug in SODAS problem solving and using your Brain Dump journaling methods as a way to work though your worry postponement. Expect us to be reviewing this within sessions to ensure that you all have coping skills in place and continue to be supported to the best of our abilities.
For those of you who have been utilizing the EMDR Therapy techniques and protocols in session, Please stay tuned! We have been collaborating with other EMDR professionals, attending webinars, and trouble shooting technology to be sure we have several methods to deliver EMDR to you remotely. Your therapist will be walking through the guidelines, setting safety standards in place, and assuring your verbal consent and we’ll be learning how to deliver and receive EMDR remotely together. We are very excited about this as this will help us continue to deliver the best support we can even when all of the Covid Crisis is said and done!
For those of you whose employment and financial security has been impacted due to Covid-19, please reach out to discuss your options for continuation of services before just canceling your appointments. We take a strong ethical stance in our duty and responsibility to our clients and do not intend to leave anyone hanging and want to ensure you feel supported as best we can. While we are taking an approach to think of our livelihood and longevity of the practice, we are more than willing to problem solve, take a look at budgets, and set a plan in place in order for you to be able to continue to make your mental wellness a priority and necessity during this time (and at all times). Please discuss this with your therapist.
Please feel free to reach out to me or your therapist if you have ANY questions, comments, or concerns along the way. We are here to support you. Please take care of yourselves, and by doing so, know that we are all taking care of each other.
Be Safe & Stay Healthy,
Terri K. Lankford, LPCS, NCC, LCAS
Owner/Therapist
terri@riseandthrivecounseling.com
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