Editorial

In response to the 2020 pandemic, the Co-Editors-in-Chief of Counselling Psychology Quarterly sought to contribute to the field of mental health at large by organizing a special issue focusing on The practice of counselling and psychotherapy in the midst of pandemic: Surviving and thriving through the era of COVID-19.This special issue presents practice-oriented papers that support the work of counsellors and counselling psychologists in a timely manner.

The world has drastically transformed in the last few months, and it still is uncertain when and how our lives might return to some sense of normalcy. COVID-19 has affected people across the globe. Those most vulnerable at the onset of this pandemic were the elderly and those with other health conditions and comorbidities. However, with the strategies to control the spread of the virus, everyone’s daily activities have been profoundly altered, including the closure of schools, businesses, and even hospitals to reduce the chance of infection. As a result, many people lost their job, leaving those from lower socioeconomic groups especially vulnerable. Whatever our individual circumstances, we likely all feel vulnerable, and thus the world is now connected through our shared distress.

The fear of contagion, worsening medical and economic circumstances, extreme uncertainty, and changes to daily routines in all areas of life are increasing people’s stress. The availability of the newest information on the internet can be a double-edged sword: We seek the most recent updates and reliable information to protect ourselves, but in doing so often also encounter misinformation, speculations, and catastrophic predictions.

During this unprecedented period, counselling psychologists and other mental health practitioners encounter many challenges to deliver services to their clients. Our work is based on human contact and an interpersonal relationship. Social distancing prevents us from meeting in person. The fear of contagion keeps people away from one another, and mental health professionals are no exception. We are torn between our desire and natural inclination to approach and empathize with our clients, and our instinctive need to withdraw and to protect ourselves. Tele-psychology with recent web technology is now available to move our services online. However, many of us still feel reservations, including how tele-mental health may alter the therapy relationship and boundary dynamics. We also know that some clients do not have access to this technology to continue their treatment, and some therapists are not versed in these web technologies.

In seeking to speak to some of the challenges inherent in this unusual time, this special issue includes a collection of articles that address various practice-related issues of delivering mental health services during the time of COVID-19. It is our hope that this issue will be a helpful resource to assist clinicians, and also that it will be a historical document of the work in which counselling psychologists and other mental health professionals engaged to continue to serve their clients.

In order to make this resource widely available, we have increased the number of articles that are free to access. For this special issue, we also used a more rapid review process to expedite the availability of the manuscripts to readers. The manuscripts may not follow the format of more traditional academic papers and may list useful practice tips in a simple form.

We would like to thank the authors who, in spite of this highly stressful situation, worked so hard to submit their work to Counselling Psychology Quarterly in a timely manner. We are also grateful that Editorial Board members accepted their fast-track review assignments to provide helpful comments. Finally, we would like to thank Alyse Taggart from Taylor and Francis, who made it possible for us to produce this special issue. We hope that you find it helpful.