PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — COVID-19 has affected many people's mental wellness, and therapists are no exception.
Angela Anderson, a local therapist, echoed a Gallup Poll showing Americans’ assessment of their own mental health is “worse than it has been at any point in the last two decades.”
“With COVID, people have run out of their preferred ways of dealing with stress, like socializing and going to the gym,” she explained.
And with more need comes more demand for services.
“The need for therapists has increased dramatically. So that has led to burn out and a reduced number of therapists,” she said.
To help her clients and herself as a therapist, she created a COVID-19 wellness assessment.
“So people have the opportunity to really talk about how this experience has impacted their lives specifically. Because it’s shifted everyone’s world, unfortunately including therapists,” she added.
Anderson suggests that therapists make time to create boundaries, such as office hours and rules of engagement, as working from home and Zoom gives the illusion of 24/7 access to therapists.