At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 none of us could have imagined what lay ahead of us much less anticipated that we would still be dealing with it over two years later. During this crisis we have experienced increased levels of distress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness as a result of social isolation. For people dealing with a cancer diagnosis these difficulties, along with the disruptions in health care services, are even more significant. Mental health clinicians are particularly vulnerable to the impact of stress and distress as we struggle to balance our work with concerns about our own well-being and that of our family and friends. How all of us learn how to support ourselves and one another during this ongoing time of stress impacts how we cope, recover, and begin to heal from this crisis.

In this course we will explore both our professional and personal experiences and concerns in our work with clients during this unprecedented time. Experiential and conversational, the first hour will focus on issues and themes in our clinical work and the second hour will offer us the space to have a dialogue on how the continuing and changing realities of the pandemic impacts us personally and professionally.  

Educational and Learning Objectives

• Participants will be able to utilize information regarding at least three (3) clinical issues in their work with clients particularly as they relate, to Zoom fatigue, over-functioning/over-working, clinical boundaries, and conflicts about returning to in-person sessions
• Participants will learn at least two (2) ways to talk with clients about issues and themes of the COVID 19 pandemic, social justice issues, current climate change concerns
• Participants will be able to apply knowledge of how the social isolation of the pandemic impacts people with a cancer diagnosis.
• Participants will learn at least three (3) tools and techniques of self- care for themselves as clinicians specifically as they relate to burn out and compassion fatigue. Dialogue about how much we are holding and how to let go of the deep distress we are sitting with as clinicians

Cheryl Krauter, MFT, is a cancer survivor with more than 40 years of experience as a depth-oriented Humanistic Existential psychotherapist whose personal experience with cancer brought her to this work. She has authored three books:

• Surviving the Storm: A Workbook for Telling Your Cancer Story (2017)
• Psychosocial Care of Cancer Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide and Workbook for Providing Wholehearted Care (2018)
• Odyssey of Ashes: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Letting Go (2021)