Those of you who have only done video sessions since the start of the pandemic...

...do you think you'll get to go back to face-to-face in 2021?

I know it depends on a lot of factors and it varies from country to country, but I was just wondering what your thoughts were. I go through waves of optimism followed by waves of pessimism and sometimes even waves of sheer panic. I'm in the UK and in therapy for the long-haul, so I reckon I will sit in the same room as my T at some point in the future...I just really, really, really hope it will be sometime in 2021. I don't think I can do another year like this one. At least I know I'm not alone in that.

Just curious (desperate*).

Thanks in advance.

I’m UK based and honestly don’t see face to face returning until 2022. There is now the possibility of an even more strict lockdown than what was in place last March/April and reports that vaccines won’t have any effect until late summer or autumn so I have absolutely lost any hope of normality returning in 2021. If it continues like this much longer I won’t be here to see the end of 2021 I know that much.
I am praying that I am completely wrong but things are getting worse at a rapid rate not better.

Maybe it’s just a hard winter. Part of me still has hope that springtime will be better, though I’m no longer sure what that even means. Vaccines will make an impact as long as the rollout is successful and I’m ok with a hard lockdown until spring if that means the NHS won’t get overwhelmed and they can focus on immunisation. I think it’s the uncertainty of it all that gets to me. Zoom sessions are fine, but they’re not enough. I’m jealous of every single person in his life who gets to see him properly....family, partner, neighbours, random people on the street. Why are they allowed access to him and I’m not? It all seems like a cruel joke.

Hugs and strength to you @KLL85. I know how hard and unfair it all is. Let’s hope our pessimism is wrong.

I'm not in therapy, but I am in education. I don't see any change in safety protocols occuring at least until summer or fall, assuming the vaccine gets widely distributed AND the case numbers go down significantly.

I am also in the UK. I think that one of the most difficult aspects of this situation is that no one can give definitive answers at this point: not the government (definitely not the government!); not your therapist; not the posters here; not the scientists. We can predict or give our subjective opinions, but sometimes this feels more difficult for me. What happens when those predictions are inaccurate? It's more painful. I don't know. How do we live with the uncertainty and the longing? It's really hard work and I am feeling increasingly bleak. Mostly, I prefer remote working with my therapist because it feels safer and I am more relaxed with her. However, there are other aspects of in person contact which I have grown to really miss and crave. I did not expect this, it has shown me something new about myself.

In terms of the UK specifically, I wonder if time-scales will depend on the country (or region?) in which you live. For example, Shetland is in a very different situation to London.

Therapy isn't education and, if I recall correctly, you are in the US so the comparisons are probably meaningless.

I am trying to not think about it. Hoping the vaccine will make a difference. The idea of another year of this scares me.

Working in a hospital, I will qualify for thr vaccine in a couple of weeks.

OPPs I didn't realize the post was for UK residents only.

I don't think it is! I think I was being unnecessarily hostile, as I am often.

Sorry Artley and Merope and nottrustin! Sometimes I don't know what comes over me.

It's not for Uk residents only. It's for anyone who would like to share. I used the UK as an example because I'm from the UK.

No worries at all, always appreciate your input. I often get hostile too, especially these days.

I really don't care all that much about seeing my T in person but we do a lot of EMDR and that is much easier in person using the hand buzzers that he controls. That is the only reason I would want to go back FTF.

I know I am always on the opposite end of the spectrum as everyone else on these boards, but I keep thinking that as long as isolation is needed I will be able to continue to work from home. Once things are better I am going to have to leave my house, go back to work in person and deal with people which is actually going to make my mental health worse. So I guess I will take the inconvenience of having to do EMDR without him working the buzzers.

I'm in the US, but we're also having a surge of cases, so I assume it's OK to reply? My T has only been seeing clients virtually since mid-March or so. He's said before that he does intend to see clients again in person (and has kept his office and usually has virtual sessions from there). But when I asked him about it at one point, he said he'd seen guidelines from the American Psychological Association (his governing body) about how to make an office safe for clients, like wearing masks during session (that would also be required by the state for now), disinfecting, etc., plus a waiver clients would have to sign. And he said he just didn't feel comfortable going back to in-person with all those requirements. That short of putting plexiglas up to divide the office, he didn't see how to make it fully safe. So he's continuing virtually for now.


I haven't asked if he'll only resume once vaccines have been widely distributed (which I think could take until late summer here, depending on, say, what happens with the third vaccine that's in the works, what percentage of people opt to get the vaccine, etc.). Or if, say, he'd require clients to have been vaccinated to see him. I get the sense that he's both personally concerned about COVID (as in, contracting it himself and/or passing to his family), but he's equally concerned about keeping clients safe.


I do feel like virtual sessions will go on until at least early summer for me. And it makes me quite sad. Especially with no clear end in site. But I also can't really imagine having a session in person where both of us are having to wear masks the whole time and staying 6 feet apart, including starting and ending sessions (I suppose we normally sit...3 or 4 feet apart?). If that's the only option for in-person, I think I'd prefer to remain virtual for a longer period.

My T has reverted to teletherapy again due to tier 4 restrictions but if and when the restrictions are lessened we will resume face-to-face. So it largely depends on many factors such as area, restrictions, the individual therapist and the nature of their practice. As far as I understand it bacp have okayed their therapists to work with clients face-to-face in some circumstances even within tier 4 restrictions but only in business settings not from home.

I hope that 2021 will be a better year. I have to hope that.

Just realised that you were asking people who have only done video therapy since the start. Sorry. I'll leave my post here in case it's helpful anyway. I started off doing video therapy but then resumed face to face.

I miss seeing my therapist in person a lot. I did see her twice in person during the fall because I was struggling so much. But I am the only one she saw. Those sessions weren’t very productive because she was crabby. I think because she had to do them. At one point in the hallway she was urgently telling me to come on in a tone she doesn’t usually use with me. I don’t know. Maybe I was standing too close. But video sessions have been more productive even though I don’t really like them. I don’t know when I’ll have another in person session.

All my other mental health stuff I love being able to do virtually. Virtual IOP is so easy (now that I’ve gotten the hang of it.) I do it while sitting in bed. And no one can be assholes or say rude comments because you have to stay on mute if your not the one talking. I like seeing my Pdoc virtually too but I did see him once in person. Which I thought was much more productive.

I've been fortunate that I've been able to see T sometimes F2F. We wear masks and sit six feet apart and do all the social distancing things. I like seeing my therapist better in person though when we talk on the phone it is okay. I just am not as talkative on the phone so sometimes there are these long silences that are really a bummer. I never really know from appointment to appointment if it will be in person or not and that is kind of frustrating but I just try to go with the flow.

Maybe by summer/fall 2021? With masks..

But realistically (or pessimistically) I think 2022 might be a safer bet.

I seem to have kind of given up ever seeing T in person.

I think there are two questions here: 1) when will things go back to semi-normal, and 2) when will you be able to see your therapist in person again? Fortunately, I think the second will likely happen before the first. Unless I'm overlooking something, it seems like you'll be able to meet safely in person again once you've both been properly vaccinated and have had time to build up antibodies. That will probably happen before all restrictions are lifted, before concerts and other huge gatherings become safe again, before masks aren't necessary anymore, etc.

In the U.S., I've seen estimates that it is likely that there will be enough doses for anybody who wants one by Memorial Day (late May). It looks like there may be even more of a supply issue in the UK right now, but I would be surprised if there isn't good availability by the end of the summer, and hopefully infection rates will start to go down as vaccination rates go up, even if not everybody has access yet. This may make your therapist more comfortable seeing clients in person with masks etc (which I personally have found isn't that bad).

I keep thinking about how limited COVID testing was at first and how now it's not. In fact, lately I have been randomly selected for COVID testing by my employer an annoying number of times. I think vaccine availability in developed countries will be similar: frustratingly limited and eventually ubiquitous.

I do think you are likely more than halfway through this period of not having in person therapy. I know it's particularly difficult now because we have been living with these restrictions for so long that they feel like it's always going to be this way, but I think the end of the worst of it will come fairly soon, before the end of 2021.

Honestly I don't see that changing either for at least the next quarter. Probably some hope of it returning to normal from maybe April. I don't know, I know some therapists saw their clients face to face in few months between the first and second lockdown, mine never returned to face to face, it was just too risky.

Also my T is going on maternity leave in March next year, so since she's pregnant, I can be sure that our sessions will still be online until she goes on leave, and she also said when she comes back to work, she will begin with some online work, and probably will at least take another few months transitioning fully back to work. So honestly I don't think I will have any face to face session with my T probably not until the end of 2021. That's my case.

I'm hopeful that I will be able to see my therapist again in person come the warmer weather as we were seeing each other one time a week in a park. It really depends on how the numbers go.