Welcome to a little blast from the past. What were you doing when the world shut down? Here is a peak into where my family was and where we are now as 2021 winds down.

As many of you know, Coronavirus is shutting down the country right now. I began writing this newsletter on Thursday March 12th 2020 at 3:30. Some of my clients are already calling out as they begin to scramble to get their own offices ready to work remotely. Many colleges, private schools and religious institutions have also announced that they are moving into the virtual world immediately. By 4:30, Governor Hogan made more announcements about public school closures.

Some of you may also be aware that my office manger, and husband, Jason is a nurse. He recently started working in the Emergency Room at a hospital in the city. He is a healthy individual and will hopefully play a role in managing the crisis as it begins to hit Baltimore hospitals. This means our family is likely to be exposed to the coronavirus early, perhaps before symptoms even appear in others. Jason, like all the doctors and nurses involved, will take all possible precautions to prevent acquiring the infection.

With all of these factors in mind I will be moving my offices to a virtual space. Distance therapy is not my preferred form of treatment in any way. There is power in simply being in space with other people but flexibility is one of the best tools for managing mental health in any situation. Some of you have had a chance to visit the new space in Reisterstown so you may be missing it’s creaky floors and exposed-beam ceilings as much as I will. I have a lot of good information about video therapy options. We will be exploring them this weekend starting with a platform called “Doxy”, and will let you know the plan moving forward. If all else fails, we can always use the phone. Your thoughts and advice are appreciated if you happen to have any insider experience with these platforms.

Here we are coming into Halloween 2021. Virtual therapy has created access to mental health services that are unprecedented. Every appointment is full and, as it turns out, I love virtual therapy. These days I see one or two people a day in person which has created a balance I never knew I needed.

Silver linings are strange things. I lost my mother to a rare autoimmune disorder almost a year ago, November 2020. Virtual therapy and virtual school allowed me to move my family to North Carolina for a few weeks to be with her and my Dad as she transitioned to the next phase of existence. Then in May 2021 my 100 year old grandmother also passed. So, like many out there, grief has been a part of my quarantine experience. It swells up in waves and disappears into moments of calm.

What is your quarantine story? Do you have silver linings? Did you face pain and adversity? Each chapter in the book of our lives is valid and shapes who we are and how we face the world. It can be tempting to rip out the difficult chapters but they are a part of us too. Acceptance and validation of our own stories is a critical part of living a full and genuine life.