“Wear a Mask” as a Therapy Directive Curt and Katie chat about COVID, science, and critical thinking in an anti-intellectual, post-truth era. We look at what therapists’ responsibilities are to the greater good, whether we should tell our clients to wear masks, and how to help clients navigate very challenging decisions that must balance mental versus physical health as well as individual versus societal needs. It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age. In this episode we talk about: Should we tell our clients to wear masks? How do we help our clients navigate the complex decisions related to risk Client autonomy, transparency of goals, decreasing therapist bias How science and the greater good come into the equation Is there a duty to warn? Or duty to protect? Imminence, privacy issues Should we try to change behavior around wearing masks in public? How we address risky behavior with clients The impact of the presenting problem on deciding what we do Our responsibility to society, to our communities versus our clients Psychoeducation and alternate facts The process of making decisions around health and safety Sorting through and gaining agreement on what is truth Therapists needing to be informed and be able to sort through expert information The importance of critical thinking and the scientific method Anti-science, anti-intellectualism, and cognitive dissonance How to meet your client where they are while also not colluding with unhealthy beliefs Helping our clients to navigate the current challenges to balance physical vs mental health needs, individual vs societal needs The responsibility to bring up healthy decisions for our clients through psychoeducation The complexity of decision-making during these times Our Generous Sponsors: Hushmail Hushmail and Hush Secure Forms take the guesswork out of secure communications by providing encrypted email, web forms, and e-signatures all in one package. During a time when limiting contact is necessary to protect our clients’ health, using secure email and web forms to communicate is more important than ever. Now’s the perfect time to move your paper forms and PDFs to HIPAA-compliant, digital forms that your clients can easily fill out. You can send them through secure email or put them on your website. Hush Secure Forms makes emailing securely with your clients and using HIPAA-compliant web forms very easy. You can start with one of their form templates and customize it to reflect your practice or use their drag-and-drop form builder to build beautiful forms from scratch. No need for extra services to get your forms signed; Hushmail provides email, web forms, and e-signatures that work seamlessly together in one package to get the job done. Great for contact forms, health histories, client experience surveys, referrals, and screenings. Among other popular forms, Hushmail’s template directory includes a COVID-19 screening questionnaire and several screening forms such as the PHQ-9 depression screening and the GAD-7 anxiety screening, which calculate a score upon completion. And as a Modern Therapist Survival Guide Listener, you get a 10 percent lifetime discount. Just go to hushmail.com/therapyreimagined and sign up for the Hushmail for Healthcare plan that suits your practice. Hushmail has a plan for everyone!   Kelly & Miranda – ZynnyMe Do you ever wish there was someone who could really tell you what the right path is for YOU in private practice so you could avoid wasting time and energy and get to what you love- helping clients? Kelly & Miranda of ZynnyMe are two therapists who just that!  They don't get you cookie-cutter solutions that work for some people- instead they teach you a process that works for everybody.  Kelly & Miranda of ZynnyMe have been helping therapists from across the countr