By this shirt here: Poodle Valentine's Day Shirt
I don’t remember my last session in person. But I do have distinct memories of the office itself: the stack of magazines (if my therapist is reading this, I admit I considered stealing The New Yorker every week), the evaded glances in the Poodle Valentine's Day Shirt room, the air purifier in the corner, lazily exhaling a yogic blend of eucalyptus and patchouli, the pleasant neutrality of it all. And it’s that neutrality that worries me: Because it might mean I’ll never return. And if I don’t, what other reasons to leave my home, to enter into the outside world, will I lose when this is all “over”?
Beyond the pros and cons of telehealth, therapy has never been more important as Americans experience increased rates of anxiety and depression amid the pandemic. Mental-health start-ups like Frame and Talkspace are responding to the Poodle Valentine's Day Shirt by providing new digital structures that normalize therapy for all. So while this virtual model has not yet been resoundingly embraced, it has huge potential for creating increased access to mental-health help, even when social distancing is a thing of the past.
