Ruden Meredith Hemphill
City Center Psychotherapy, The Feather Foundation, 52 Riggs Place, South Orange, NJ 07079 USA.
Clin Soc Work J. 2022;50(1):86-92. doi: 10.1007/s10615-021-00817-9. Epub 2021 Oct 23.
In this preliminary study, social workers' experiences of adjustment and loss during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic were explored as they, along with their clients, coped with the resulting emotional and psychological impacts. As death and illness rates increased alarmingly, masters-level social work students' discourses and feedback in a course on grief and loss revealed a knowledge gap surrounding counseling in face of shared loss that led to a pilot study. Subsequently, a qualitative research study (n = 7) of video self-reports from clinical social workers was conducted to further explore their losses and their consequent professional impact. They responded to the question, "What losses have you felt in this pandemic that have impacted you professionally?" Participants listed multiple losses related to work (e.g., loss of professional therapeutic space, loss of the work/life divide) and recognized the challenges to maintaining a personal sense of well-being. In consideration of the pandemic's impact when counseling others, participants identified the following themes: greater emphasis on one's own well-being, greater focus on maintaining strong therapeutic rapport, the value of creativity in the new therapeutic space, and a continual assessment of dynamic shifts. For society to process-which means, largely, to grieve-the losses related to COVID-19 and adjust to the world , there is a need for counselors to do so as well. This paper explains how some counselors have experienced loss through their work and coped with it; thus, they have been able to support their clients through the pandemic.
在这项初步研究中，我们探讨了社会工作者在冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间的适应和丧失经历，当时他们与客户一起应对由此产生的情感和心理影响。随着死亡率和发病率惊人地上升，社会工作硕士研究生在一门关于悲伤与丧失的课程中的论述和反馈揭示了在面对共同丧失时咨询方面的知识差距，这导致了一项试点研究。随后，对临床社会工作者的视频自我报告进行了一项定性研究（n = 7），以进一步探讨他们的丧失情况及其对专业的影响。他们回答了这个问题：“在这次大流行中，你感到哪些丧失对你的职业产生了影响？”参与者列出了与工作相关的多种丧失（例如，失去专业治疗空间、工作/生活界限的消失），并认识到维持个人幸福感面临的挑战。考虑到在为他人提供咨询时大流行的影响，参与者确定了以下主题：更加强调自身幸福感、更加注重维持牢固的治疗关系、在新的治疗空间中创造力的价值以及对动态变化的持续评估。为了让社会处理——这在很大程度上意味着哀悼——与COVID-19相关的丧失并适应这个世界，咨询师也有必要这样做。本文解释了一些咨询师如何通过工作经历丧失并应对它；因此，他们能够在大流行期间支持他们的客户。
