This week’s blog was written by Lindsey O’Brennan, PhD, a licensed psychologist and owner of Morningstar Wellness.

In March 2020, the majority of Americans were faced with the stressful and uncomfortable task of transitioning work to be entirely remote. No more were the days of enduring the rush hour commute or booking flights for work conferences. Instead we spent our energy buying and learning new online platforms and software. The titles of mom and dad were suddenly synonymous with teacher, coach, and classmate. We carved out space for a home office and, if possible, a sense of privacy from family members (our new coworkers). The after work happy hours were replaced with Netflix binging (thank you “Tiger King” and “Ozark” for your life lessons!), learning how to make sourdough bread, or taking our dogs for yet another walk to get out of the house.

The initial phase of lockdown was difficult on even the best of days. Yet there was a sense of unity during those early months. I felt closer to my neighbors who now became the only other people I physically saw beside my immediate family. I relished our neighborhood walks and time spent in the backyard as a family. I frequently saw “We’re in this together” and “Kindness matters” signs in the windows of closed-up shops or spray painted along my neighborhood streets. There was a sense of hope that America was going to get through this. There was also an underlying optimism that we would be waving goodbye to COVID by summer. 

Well hindsight is 2020 (not sure that saying holds up anymore). Despite our desires for a quick vaccine, COVID remained ever steady in our world through the summer and fall months. However, noticeable things were changing across the nation in terms of the reopening of businesses and school districts and the growing need for mental health services.

Related Article: ASSESS THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON KIDS

As a psychologist who works both in private practice and with local school districts, I had to decide how and when I was going to return to work following quarantine. During the initial lockdown, I moved my entire business over to telehealth. Because of this, about 25% of my clients—particularly school-aged clients—decided to take a break from therapy until they could be in-person again. I frequently heard from parents that kids were “simply Zoom-ed out” and didn’t want to stare at a computer screen while yet another adult talked to them. I also noticed I was not bringing my best self into the telehealth therapy sessions. I would catch myself glancing down at the clock more frequently. I hated knowing that my inbox was one click away from the telehealth browser window, thus requiring me to mentally refocus more often.

Part of what I love so much about therapy is creating a sacred space for the client where they can unload their emotional baggage. But with telehealth, we did not share the same physical space, so the distractions of the real world felt ever present for me and my clients. It came to a point where for me, the benefits of telehealth (ease, safety, convenience) were not outweighing the risk of contracting COVID-19. My focus was then to develop a plan for how I could safely offer therapy to clients in person and via telehealth depending on their needs and comfort level. 

Related Article: E-MANUALS: CONVENIENT DIGITAL TOOLS TO HELP YOU

I want to point out that my decision to return to my office full-time was a personal one. I’ve talked with a multitude of colleagues—some of whom returned to their office months before me and others who continue to solely provide telehealth services. No matter where you land on the spectrum of remote versus in-person work, here is some food for thought on how to navigate the path to a new normal:  

1. Listen to your gut instincts on when and how to return to work. People’s perceptions of safety vary greatly. What I may deem to be a “safe” environment may appear to be riddled with landmines to someone else. When it comes to COVID-19, age, weight, race, pre-existing health conditions, access to healthcare, and family members’ risk level all contribute to our comfort level. Beside these factors, the decision to stay home may feel deeply personal and tied to greater beliefs about public health and prevention science. Reflect on what matters most to you and make a choice that aligns with your values, not the values imposed by someone else.
2. Create systems and safeguards that make you feel safe. A key factor in our perceptions of safety is our sense of control over a situation. The more perceived control we have, the more likely we feel safe. Discuss the safety protocols that have been put in place and advocate for additional precautions as needed. If you are self-employed, design your own protocols regarding masks, temperature checks, screening checklists, etc., that allow you to feel comfortable. In turn, this will allow your clients to feel comfortable.
3. Be prepared to feel uncomfortable. The initial phase of going back to work may feel overwhelming, especially if you have been away from the office for several months. You may be surprised at how drained or energized you feel after meeting with clients or coworkers in person. You may also feel a little starstruck when you get to see the people from your Zoom calls in real life again! They may look, talk, or act different than you remembered, and they are likely thinking the same about you. If possible, take your time transitioning back into the office. Try going in 1–2 days a week and working up to 4–5 days to help with the initial shock to the system.

Related article: Read Dr. O’Brennan’s blog on her initial shift to telehealth services.

As children return to school, many may exhibit signs of anxiety and stress. Your job is to find out whether these are existing issues or whether they are related to the pandemic and quarantine.

Help is here.

The Pandemic Anxiety Screener for Students–12 (PASS-12) is a 12-item checklist developed by FAR, FAM, and FAW author Steven G. Feifer, DEd, designed specifically to evaluate the impact of a pandemic on a child’s school-based functioning.

Related article: OUR STORIES: STARTING THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

A parent rating form, it allows you to rate the severity of anxiety symptoms specific to the pandemic and quarantine and provides information to help school professionals make important decisions.

• Entirely digital, the PASS-12 is administered and scored via PARiConnect, our online testing platform, in about 5 minutes—for the combined price of just $1.
• Raw scores and percentiles are provided for quick and easy interpretation; follow-up with more comprehensive assessment is recommended if the total raw score falls within an elevated range.
• Intervention recommendations and resources are provided in the Score Report, and the free Technical Paper provides administration guidance.

To learn more or order, visit parinc.com/PASS-12. 

Editor's note: This article refers to a promotion that has expired.

Serving your clients and students is getting a little easier.

e-Manuals—downloadable digital versions of PAR professional manuals—are becoming more and more useful as having remote access to files is increasingly necessary for you to do your job efficiently.

In our uncertain times, you can’t always rely on paper. e-Manuals allow for greater flexibility in how you access important product information.

In addition to the nearly 100 e-Manuals previously available, 13 new e-Manuals can now be purchased and downloaded for your digital tool kit:

CAS (Children’s Aggression Scale) e-Manual

CAS (College Adjustment Scales) e-Manual

CNNS e-Manual

COVR e-Manual

CPCI e-Manual

CTI e-Manual

PAI-CS Module e-Manual

PAI Public Safety Selection Report e-Manual

PDDBI-SV e-Manual

RADS-2:SF e-Manual

SIQ e-Manual

SOPA e-Manual

TSCC/TSCYC Screening Form Technical Paper e-Manual

And, over the next several months, we’ll release dozens more.  

Related article: REMOTE ADMINISTRATION FOR THE IGT2 AND WCST! 

The best part? If you’ve already purchased a print professional manual for which we carry an e-Manual equivalent, we’ll provide that e-Manual to you at no charge, for a limited time. Simply call us at 1.800.331.8378 to request your free download.

Keep checking parinc.com as we add more e-Manuals to our lineup, or call our Customer Support team at 1.800.331.8378 for more information.

PAR is proud to announce our latest innovation, a product designed so you can more efficiently serve those you help. ChecKIT on PARiConnect offers you a centralized location for brief, commonly used mental health checklists that offers so much more! ChecKIT allows you to save repeated administrations in one location and regularly track client symptoms across therapy sessions.

Flexible purchase model

Buy multiple units of checklists up front, but you don’t need to decide which checklists you want to use until you are ready to administer them.

Score reports and technical papers

After administration, receive a score report that offers interpretive text that can be easily incorporated into your professional reports. You can also export data to have a ready-to-analyze dataset to facilitate research. Furthermore, each ChecKIT product offers a complimentary technical paper that explains the development behind the measure.

Check back often

We are constantly expanding the ChecKIT product family so you can have a variety of tools that work for you!

• Now available! The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a 9-item depression screener designed for use with adults in a primary care setting, but has garnered overwhelming popularity in research and clinical practice.
• Now available! The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) is a 7-item screener for anxiety. Based on the diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder in the DSM-IV ^™, the GAD-7 is ideal for use in research and clinical practice.
• Coming soon! The Language Acculturation Meter^™, which helps clinicians determine the level of English-language acculturation.

Check out ChecKIT today!

Related article: Screening for trauma is more important than ever

Whether you want a deeper understanding of a favorite product or want a sneak peek into a test you are considering, the interactive courses, recorded webinars, video tutorials, and supplemental materials on the PAR Training Portal give you greater insight into some of our most popular products.

The PAR Training Portal is a free, on-demand resource available 24/7. Some of our newest offerings include:

• Interactive courses on the NEO Inventories and the Feifer Assessment of Writing (FAW)
• Recorded webinars on trauma and COVID-19, RIAS-2 remote assessment, digital and remote assessment, PARiConnect tips and tricks, and an introduction to the PAI Plus
• Video tutorials on the FAW Administration and Scoring Guide and the RIST-2/RIAS-2 Remote
• Supplemental materials on the RIAS-2 and PAI Plus

Log in today to see what’s new! Use your parinc.com username and password.