How has the lockdown been for you? Were you able to catch up on work pending at the office or at home? Staying at home was certainly the time to do the things we previously did not have time for! (Including time with family!)
Indeed, the pandemic and subsequent lockdown in the NCR region has affected our lives in many ways. In our case, a consequence of the lockdown was the disruption of work for all of us professionals (medical doctors and psychologists) at the clinic. This was quite frustrating firstly because our work momentum was ground to a stop and secondly the learning from work with my clients was disrupted!
On the other hand, what the lockdown did was it gave people like me the opportunity to slow down and review as well as update my knowledge and skills important in my work.
For instance, I had felt the need to learn more about psychiatric conditions and psychopharmacology but have not had the chance to, what with the busy testing schedule at the clinic. These topics are accessible online and I have learned a lot! Hopefully, with the lifting of ECQ, or with the MECQ, we will be back at the clinic soon. I have already been putting some of these learnings to good use as I continue my work with clients online!
Continuing therapy sessions with my clients online have also made it imperative for me to familiarize myself with electronic devices and platforms. It’s a good thing I had been using Viber to chat with my son (who is based in Guangzhou China) so I was familiar with at least one online platform! Zoom is another platform I have become familiar with.
By the way, I will be continuing to provide psychotherapy (or teletherapy) sessions online. Just click the appointment button on my PsychManila website and go on from there! It is important to note that the service is open to clients based in the Philippines only.
