{"id":28636,"date":"2020-04-20T10:48:42","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T15:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=28636"},"modified":"2020-04-20T10:48:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T15:48:42","slug":"apsu-telehealth-provides-new-creativity-for-counseling-sessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2020\/04\/20\/apsu-telehealth-provides-new-creativity-for-counseling-sessions\/","title":{"rendered":"APSU, telehealth provides new creativity for counseling sessions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – In the months before face-to-face interactions became taboo, something to dread the world over, Sara Beth Geoghegan at Austin Peay State University (APSU) often sat within six feet of her clients, listening compassionately to their fears and stresses.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University Mental Health Counseling intern Sara Beth Geoghegan. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Then, in early March, the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic struck Tennessee, and Geoghegan, a mental health counseling intern at Austin Peay State University\u2019s Boyd Health Services, had to find a way to help APSU students without being anywhere near them.<\/p>\n

The age of telecounseling was suddenly thrust upon her profession.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to make a lot of allowances, and telehealth wasn\u2019t really something in my tool belt,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were no telehealth classes, so we\u2019ve done crash course trainings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, instead of sitting across from her clients in Austin Peay State University\u2019s counseling rooms, Geoghegan is using Doxy \u2013 telemedicine software \u2013 to meet with students through impersonal computer screens. The transition to this new, technology-based counseling, has been surprisingly smooth for Geoghegan\u2019s clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great tool because it\u2019s such a generation of screens,\u201d she said. \u201cComputers and iPhones are definitely not new to students, so they\u2019re pretty comfortable. And it\u2019s allowed a new creativity in counseling which, again, they\u2019re open to because they\u2019ve grown up behind screens.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Creativity in Counseling<\/h3>\n

Geoghegan, a graduate student in Lipscomb University\u2019s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program with a specialty in play therapy, arrived at Austin Peay State University last fall as an intern and immediately began counseling students struggling with mental health issues. Austin Peay State University\u2019s Office of Student Counseling Services offers a range of services \u2013 including individual and group counseling and outreach programs \u2013 to help students with their emotional and mental health needs.<\/p>\n

In a traditional, pre-pandemic counseling setting, a client and a counselor sat across from each other, which can sometimes be a little intimidating.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be hard to sit and stare at someone and pour out your feelings,\u201d Geoghegan said. \u201cIn those types of sessions, we have a different set of opportunities than we do in telemental health. Recently, I\u2019ve started using Google image searches for some of my clients as a prompt. I asked them to use a Google search and show me a picture of what they were feeling right then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some clients chose images of animals, other people, outer space and even Disney characters. Their choices often reveal deeper emotions than the clients realized. Elsa from Disney\u2019s \u201cFrozen 2,\u201d singing \u201cShow Yourself,\u201d led to a powerful moment of exploration between a client and her mother\u2019s broken relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working with a different part of the brain – the subconscious,\u201d Geoghegan said. \u201cThere are times when even I am surprised and moved by how effective it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of her clients \u2013 like the rest of the world \u2013 are stuck at home, so Geoghegan also uses telecounseling to explore her client\u2019s personal environments \u2013 something she can\u2019t do as easily in an office.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my techniques is to prompt my clients to find an object around the home that represents what they are feeling right now,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of my clients chose a large bag of toilet paper which, for her, represented feelings of fear around COVID-19 Coronavirus, feelings of safety associated with being prepared, and feelings of anger for having to fight for a common household item.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge of working on a different platform has produced new ways of connecting on different emotional levels,\u201d Geoghegan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to say to my clients, \u2018We\u2019re face to face, but not in the same space. This reminds them that I am still here with them, supporting them and holding space for them, even if it\u2019s through satellites, wires and screens.\u2019 And being in a field centered around relationships, this is of utmost importance for them to know,\u201d stated Geoghegan<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[470center]<\/p>\n

How are students doing?<\/h3>\n

Geoghegan is regularly hosting telecounseling meetings with her existing clients. These sessions began before the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, and she\u2019s seen a clear change in how these students are doing in this current crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a definite increase of anxiety,\u201d she said. \u201cI hear the words \u2018cooped up\u2019 a lot. They\u2019re struggling with the unexpected transition of doing schoolwork in a totally different setting, and not knowing how to set up a space that is conducive to getting schoolwork done.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a shift in their support networks. Students who used to rely on friends are now back home, which isn\u2019t always for the best.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is especially true with students that come from unstable homes, which produces a lot of depression,\u201d she said. \u201cThe new environment means learning new coping skills and self-care routines. The one thing that has surprised me is their adjustment toward telehealth, which has been relatively smooth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Information about APSU\u2019s Office of Student Counseling is available at https:\/\/www.apsu.edu\/health-and-counseling\/counseling\/index.php<\/a>.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clarksville, TN – In the months before face-to-face interactions became taboo, something to dread the world over, Sara Beth Geoghegan at Austin Peay State University (APSU) often sat within six feet of her clients, listening compassionately to their fears and stresses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[23,30087,34662,7207,262,512,825,34581,34634,19190,9387,34642,34659,34661,34660,1758],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-7rS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28637,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636\/revisions\/28637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}