[Mountaindewed]

When I first went back to in person in May I wore mine until I was fully vaccinated for 2 weeks. Then at my other therapist I had mine on when I walked in and she immediately told me it was ok to take it off if I wanted to. It’s a lot easier to do therapy without it on. We sit 6 feet apart but I’m wondering if maybe I should wear mine again. She never actually told me if she was vaccinated or not I just assumed she was. But with these variants I’m concerned.

What do you do?

[LonesomeTonight]

I just started back in person with my T today. He's only allowing fully vaccinated clients in person (and says he has the right to ask for vaccine card), and he's been fully vaccinated since like February. We aren't wearing masks, though I had to wear one in waiting room and until I sat down in his office. We're seated a bit more than 6 feet apart (so I can't sit in my usual seat), and no handshakes or anything like that.

I'd ask your T if she's vaccinated if you're concerned. From what I've read, people who are vaccinated can still get Covid, but would be a mild case or asymptomatic. I was just reading an article saying that if someone is vaccinated, gets Covid, and is asymptomatic, there's an extremely low risk of transmitting to others. If it's a symptomatic infection, there is a chance a vaccinated person could transmit it, so stay isolated until symptoms are gone (and then a few days after, I think?).

But if you're concerned, or have risk factors or live with others who have risk factors, I completely understand both asking your T if she's vaccinated and if she's checking vaccination status of clients.

[NP_Complete]

At the beginning, we wore them for entry and exit, but once seated we took them off. I'm pretty isolated socially, so I think he knew I was low risk to be around unmasked. Now that we're both vaccinated, we don't wear them.

[velcro003]

No, when my T went back to in-person about a month ago, she did not require masks. She does require her clients to be vaccinated, and she is as well. Also, hugs began again.

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Been back to in person for a year now. We've always worn masks since then and still do. We're both fully vaccinated, but that doesn't mean full protection and we both feel comfortable like this.

[ArtieTheSequal]

After we went back to in person, we wore masks for a bit, but we don't anymore. I don't remember when we stopped, time has become rather a blur.

[Quietmind 2]

Yeah, I do. And will continue to do so after full vaccination, same as my T. Delta is widespread and my government says surgical masks or better even after full vaccination. My T wears a N95 mask to all in person sessions.

[Rive.]

It depends on what makes you feel more comfortable. Especially, and as your correctly mention, with new variants etc. So, I would say, do what makes you feel safer.

I would also ask her if she is vaccinated. It is, after all, a pretty big deal (health) so I would absolutely ask T if they were vaccinated. That might also inform your decision to mask or not.

[RoxanneToto]

I don’t, but we’re both fully vaccinated and unless outside don’t sit close together anyway.

[ArtieTheSequal]

*I should have included with full vaccination and she is not in an office building with lots of people, works out of home office.

[nottrustin]

We are stìll doing virtual appointments. We have both fully vaccinated for months. Thr plan is to fo back to in person sessions when it is safe. Honestly, I am losing faith it will happen any time soon.

[LonesomeTonight]

Originally Posted by nottrustin

We are stìll doing virtual appointments. We have both fully vaccinated for months. Thr plan is to fo back to in person sessions when it is safe. Honestly, I am losing faith it will happen any time soon.

I hear you--my T just started back with in-person sessions yesterday, but with some of the news from the CDC, I'm half expecting to wake up to an email from him saying to do the session virtually tomorrow. Or that he'll tell me in session he's switching back to virtual. Which would make me really sad, as I waited 16 months for this, but I'd also understand. But I'm hoping we can at least do a few more in-person sessions first. Maybe I'm overreacting, as our state and county numbers are still low, but they're going up pretty much everywhere in the country...

[Taylor27]

No we don't. The clinic is requiring everyone to wear a mask regardless of vaccination and exemption. Because my therapist cannot wear a mask and i get too many panic attacks we meet in a private room at the library. Things will probably go back to normal in mid August.

Before my therapist got sick she wore a mask and face shield for almost a year. I had to wear a mask until I got in her office. It will be nice to be back in her office again soon without the mask and the anxiety that comes with it. I am fully vaccinated

[*Beth*]

I'm so relieved to be back to in-person therapy sessions that I'll put up with wearing a mask. My guess is that the mask wearing will continue for (at least) the rest of this year. To me, both of us having masks on and sitting 6' apart has a dulling effect on the therapy. But, it's better than teletherapy.

[LonesomeTonight]

Originally Posted by BethRags

I'm so relieved to be back to in-person therapy sessions that I'll put up with wearing a mask. My guess is that the mask wearing will continue for (at least) the rest of this year. To me, both of us having masks on and sitting 6' apart has a dulling effect on the therapy. But, it's better than teletherapy.

I wish mine would at least be open to trying masks in-person, if the other option is going back to Zoom. But I don't think he is. Not for safety issues, I don't think, but comfort (he said it strains his voice) and not being able to see the whole face. And I know he's concerned by the fact that I generally cry in session. But I wish, if we have to resume virtual, that we could at least do the occasional masked, in-person session.

[Merope]

No, thankfully we don’t wear masks.

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by LonesomeTonight

I wish mine would at least be open to trying masks in-person, if the other option is going back to Zoom. But I don't think he is. Not for safety issues, I don't think, but comfort (he said it strains his voice) and not being able to see the whole face. And I know he's concerned by the fact that I generally cry in session. But I wish, if we have to resume virtual, that we could at least do the occasional masked, in-person session.

I have my fingers crossed for you. Maybe I'm just very burned out on the whole pandemic thing, but I think many therapists are taking it to an extreme. If therapist and client are both fully vaxxed, come on...dear therapist, for years you sat in a small room, close to your client. That's your job. If you're too frightened to practice, take a leave of absence for pete's sake.

[Mountaindewed]

I’m thinking of starting to wear mine again. We sit 6 feet apart but she walks me out of her office and we get pretty close to each other. Her being able to see my facial expressions is important to me but I want to be safe too.

I hope she won’t give me a hard time. She hasn’t really but she did say at my last session I seemed a bit paranoid about things by refusing to leave my house the majority of the time. I know people are focusing on trying to get me to go back to work but I honestly am scared plus I have stuff unrelated to Covid coming up that makes it dumb to go back now.

[Mountaindewed]

And honestly I can’t imagine saying goodbye to another therapist via zoom again instead of in person. When I did that with that one therapist I was not right for several months.

I also really hold back in virtual sessions because of privacy issues.

[LonesomeTonight]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

I’m thinking of starting to wear mine again. We sit 6 feet apart but she walks me out of her office and we get pretty close to each other. Her being able to see my facial expressions is important to me but I want to be safe too.

I hope she won’t give me a hard time. She hasn’t really but she did say at my last session I seemed a bit paranoid about things by refusing to leave my house the majority of the time. I know people are focusing on trying to get me to go back to work but I honestly am scared plus I have stuff unrelated to Covid coming up that makes it dumb to go back now.

Mine requires me to wear one while not seated in his office. So, while in waiting room, then the walk back to his office until I'm seated (then I also have to hand-sanitize). He wears one then, too. I'm supposed to wear one when I leave, so I put one on before getting out of the chair, but I realize he hasn't worn one the last two times (of three total) that I've left.


So I wonder if an option for you would be to just wear masks when you're entering and leaving the office?

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

I’m thinking of starting to wear mine again. We sit 6 feet apart but she walks me out of her office and we get pretty close to each other. Her being able to see my facial expressions is important to me but I want to be safe too.

I hope she won’t give me a hard time. She hasn’t really but she did say at my last session I seemed a bit paranoid about things by refusing to leave my house the majority of the time. I know people are focusing on trying to get me to go back to work but I honestly am scared plus I have stuff unrelated to Covid coming up that makes it dumb to go back now.

I would definitely ask, I can't see how anyone who believes Covid is a danger wouldn't want to agree to masks.


I know the facial expression thing is an issue, but it's really not that large. The face doesn't stop at the mouth, and the face is not an entity separate from the rest of our body. There have been studies of dogs that only see half the face of a human, they can still tell what emotion is being expressed. I can't imagine that being not true for humans as well.

If you cry, that might be another issue, but you could either bring a replacement or if your T would also wear a mask, there's not too much to worry about if there are some wet spots either.

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Just wanted to also add, since it's kind of relevant to this thread: the CDC just published a study a few days ago that shows that even in fully vaccinated people, if they do contract the delta variant, they will spread the virus just as well as a non-vaccinated individual. Of course the probability to contract it in the first place is smaller, but if it happens, the symptoms have changed enough, especially if you're also vaccinated, that you might think that it's just a cold and will spread it around.

[LonesomeTonight]

Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup

Just wanted to also add, since it's kind of relevant to this thread: the CDC just published a study a few days ago that shows that even in fully vaccinated people, if they do contract the delta variant, they will spread the virus just as well as a non-vaccinated individual. Of course the probability to contract it in the first place is smaller, but if it happens, the symptoms have changed enough, especially if you're also vaccinated, that you might think that it's just a cold and will spread it around.

Yeah, this is why I suspect my T will pull the plug on in-person very soon. If he was willing to use masks, that might be different. He said how he'd rather use Zoom than in-person with masks, but I also think it could be nice if he also asked what clients preferred? If it's a safety issue, that's one thing, and of course completely up to him to decide what he's comfortable with. But if it's a case where he would rather see a full face on a screen vs. a partial face in person, I think it could be good to see what clients might want. (I mean, I might try it once and be like, "OK, let's go back to Zoom.") Or at least give it a try before saying no.

It would just be nice to have an option in between in-person, unmasked and Zoom.

[ElectricManatee]

Both of my therapists ditched masks around the time that the CDC claimed it was safe for vaccinated people (all three of us have been fully vaccinated for a while). I don't know what they will say after the latest news, although EMDR T mentioned maybe wearing masks if things got worse again but probably not going back to telehealth. I think I'm going to ask for masks again for a while, though, because I have an unvaccinated kid (toddler) at home and another on the way. The delta variant seems like something worth paying attention to, and I'd rather have more protection until it becomes clear that I don't need it. I also don't really mind wearing a mask in session. I have to remember to not mumble, but that's the main difference. If I cry, I either let the tears get soaked up by the mask or I briefly turn away and remove it to wipe my face or blow my nose. (Before I was vaccinated, I would go into the vacant hallway to do this, but it only happened like once.)

[ScarletPimpernel]

When we first started in-person, we'd wear masks when we were in the lobby, holding hands, or when we started hugging again. When we were both vaccinated, we stopped wearing masks.