Seeing Clients Differently

Increases in depression and suicide require new approaches to mental health.

This pandemic has turned our world and our understanding of the world upside-down. The uncertainty has been psychologically paralyzing for so many people. And many cry for the normalcy they may now vaguely remember. One thing has emerged from the uncertainty, unfamiliarity, exhaustion and chaos, an opportunity to re-evaluate.

In the United States, we typically have been raised, no matter the health and mental health disparities, with a sense of no matter how bad things may get, we can work things out. A sense that we can make things better. Now, in the midst of this almost incomprehensible, adjusted lifestyle, we have to accept a sense of powerlessness with our immediate and distant future.

In this uncertainty, daily processes are even different, brushing teeth, eating meals, showering and bathing, learning to adapt to being at home, learning to adapt to joblessness, and those who still must leave their homes every day to work. New routines and abbreviated or adjusted routines. New expenses and expenses that are no longer relevant, like worrying about our appearance for pending social interactions. For some, a reinvestment in faith communities holding strong to beliefs for some level of certainty, for others, a departure from these belief systems with the evolving social distance requirements, and a new reflection on what these beliefs have meant and how they have served or hindered our connections to others. Digital inequities that impair and exclude some people, and digital access that becomes a sole lifeline for others. Racial disparities that are finally forcing so many to deal with systemic structures, whether in their insulated lives they are in denial of such disparities for the deeply marginalized, or whether in the lack of traditional Spring and Summer vacations, they are finally able to understand the pain and re-traumatization so many have suffered for so long. No sporting events, amusement parks, summer social gatherings, all the former distractions that kept many people from seeing the lifestyles of those who are barely surviving in a country that praises itself for being the richest, most powerful nation in the world.

Within all of this new normal, there is an opportunity to see mental health and its importance differently. Even more important, an opportunity to see clients differently, and to explore a different array of experiences and mechanisms for helping them understand how they can begin to develop improved mental health practices.

Mental health can now move to a place of importance equal to the importance placed on healthcare and preventive healthcare. As we face this global crises, new opportunities can arise to incorporate mental health strategies, gently dissolving the stigma of mental health that has plagued our society.

In our limited social movement, we can find for ourselves and our clients new approaches to maintaining health routines that include proper hydration and nutrition, maintaining daily physical activity, improving sleep, and developing practices for mental health including seeking therapy. Mental health professionals can choose to see clients of all backgrounds and lifestyles differently and improve their assessments and therapies by including a more diverse understanding of how stratified society is, and how this impacts not only marginalized communities, but those insulated communities. This knowledge and awareness can lead to preparing and supporting clients for the new normal that lies ahead.

In addition, in the spirit of our call for a revolution in mental health care, we cannot forget structural barriers that make it more difficult to achieve these types of optimal health routines. We can never forget how where we work and live have norms and values that can shape our lives. For example, medical interns are altruistic when selecting a career choice that involves helping others, but after experiencing mounting debt from medical school, paying off the loans can strongly shape careers toward high income jobs rather than those focusing on the underserved. Norms also affect police officer recruits who idealistically select a career to protect citizens, but often soon encounter divisive stereotypes from peers that can radically reduce a willingness to be impartial and fair when dealing with daily problems that emerge in communities. Most importantly, inappropriate power can instill a climate of superiority which perniciously separates us from those we intend on helping. We cannot forget these cultural and systemic forces that are more difficult to see, but have a powerful effect on our sense of optimism, our sense of community, and our health. More will be said about these factors in future blogs and what we can do to confront and change them.