As Demand Surges, Counseling Clinics Learn How to Adjust to Telehealth

Kentucky-based MEBS Counseling shifted to a telehealth platform as the coronavirus pandemic took hold last year. Nine months later, the clinic is still learning about the benefits and challenges.

The coronavirus pandemic forced many counseling centers to transition quickly to telehealth this past year. Some have had an easier time than others in adjusting, but nearly all have learned invaluable lessons in how to deliver virtual care.

“It’s been challenging at times,” says Nikki Fangman, LPCC, executive director of MEBS Counseling, whose Kentucky-based practice went all-virtual in about a week. “We had to shut down our face-to-face services very quickly. A lot of people had to adjust. The first two to four weeks were difficult.”

This affected people on both sides of the platform.

“For me, it was the human connection, that synergy you feel when you’re in the same room with the other person,” she says. “I worried that going online … would lose that.”