A “hybrid” therapy practice specializing in online services is offering free self-care sessions to educators and health care professionals experiencing heightened levels of stress during the pandemic.
United Counseling and Wellness is a therapy practice that provides counseling sessions both in-person (pre-pandemic) and via secure video chat. The company has five physical office locations in cities including Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.
Educators and front line workers will receive a 25-minute session with a UCW therapist to discuss strategies for implementing self-care into their everyday lives. The session will include access to personalized resources and recommendations to help the workers cope with the added work stress inflicted by the pandemic, and provide references for long-term therapy, if needed.
The one-time self-care session is not meant to replace traditional therapy or address crisis situations.
“As parents of school-aged children, we are witnessing the amount of adversity and complexity that educators are asked to handle,” the company said in a statement. “While we feel immense gratitude for their commitment and sacrifice, we also feel deep concern for their personal wellbeing. We’d like to help however we can.”
UCW was launched in 2017 by Jen Labanowski and Shelly Smith, colleagues at a previous employer, who sought to strike out on their own and continue providing therapy services to existing clients in a flexible environment.
“We were trying to figure out how to bridge that gap,” Smith says by phone. “Online therapy was a tiny, little growing field; it was kind of an aside. We realized it was a viable way to keep our practice. Technology combined with therapy can do so much good.”
When the pandemic hit nearly two years later, the UCW founders knew providing therapy while wearing masks or in close spaces wasn’t a realistic option. Already comfortable with the technology needed for virtual sessions, the practice expanded their focus to meet clients online.
“The anxiety is so high and the level of grief is so pervasive because of all the things that have been put on hold,” Smith says. “It has led people to feel much more deeply. We’ve been seeing a lot more clients and we’re growing to meet the demand.”
So far, clients have adapted well and Smith believes teletherapy will continue to be a prevailing option following life after the pandemic.
While online therapy is still an emerging industry, the field has been accelerated by the pandemic leading to a surge of individuals experiencing fear, depression, stress, and anxiety. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found more than half of Americans reported that worry or stress related to the coronavirus had a negative impact on their mental health and wellbeing—including nearly 65 percent for front line workers.
Educators and other front line workers can apply for UCW’s free self-care sessions here.
