Author Archives: Stephen

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Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak – March 16, 2020, Video Chat Sessions

For the next several weeks I’m transitioning my counseling practice to online video conferencing.  

I’m taking this step in order to follow the urging of the CDC, Oregon Health Authority, and other experts in the medical science community to minimize contact with others to help slow the spread of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 through our population.   Transitioning to video conference sessions is what I can do toward helping my local and broader community, and it’s what I can do to support the CDC’s and OHA’s goals, so I’m taking this step now.   It feels like the responsible thing to do for the community I’m part of.

“Flattening the curve,” is the phrase we’ve been hearing from immunologists and the medical science community.  

I recognize how extraordinary these circumstances are and how broad the impact is on individual persons and on our community as a whole.   The heightened level of worry, “cabin fever”, isolation, loss of opportunities, unraveled plans, social disruption and other changes are having a powerful impact.   I’m feeling it too and I feel sympathy for all of us as we respond to the coronavirus situation.   Collectively, I see that we’re all in the same boat.  

I’ll reevaluate the recommendations for social distancing from the CDC, OHA, and medical science community each week.   I anticipate returning to in-person sessions when the recommendation changes.

In meantime, I hope that you’re well!   I’m healthy and well as I write this. May that continue, eh?

Economic disruption has already begun in our communities as events are canceled and people don’t go out or engage in services the way they did just last week.  It’s moving through like a wave.  If you’ve already been impacted my heart goes out to you in sympathy.    I’ll be focusing on resilience and on resources for managing stress in the coming days, so check in again soon. 

For reference – sources I’ve drawn upon lately for information include government agencies: the CDC, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) have issued recommendations and recently a few mandates.   I also found helpful information in the Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, interviews with Dr Anthony Fauci from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Dr. Marc Lipsitch, director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  I wanted to dig into the medical science literature for guidance and not be unduly influenced by social media or political news. 

I hope we’ll be back here soon!

Given that we’re still in the early stages of this pandemic, the medical science community is still in the process of understanding SARS-CoV-2.   If you’re interested in further reading, a few papers that I found helpful and informative are: