I am growing more and more concerned about the plight of those in our midst, who are stuck at home with an abusive partner during lockdown. This has been brought home to me by some of my clients, who cancel online sessions unexpectedly, because their partner is now ‘looking over their shoulder’. Before lockdown, they could go to a cafe or to a friend’s house to speak with me. Now this is not possible.
I would like to highlight here the advice to psychotherapists I read recently: ask your client to go for a drive and speak to you from the comfort of their car or walk to the park and speak to you sitting on a park bench. Remind them to take with them a pair of sunglasses for a bit more privacy and a rechargeable battery pack for their mobile. And a bottle of water. Whether we are psychotherapists or stuck in very difficult relationships, this advice may apply to more of us than we perhaps realise.