Since March 17, and the start of containment instituted to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of Montluçon psychology offices have closed. However, these professionals have not stopped all activity and continue to follow part of their patients.
Volunteers and professionals are there to listen to people suffering from psychological problems during confinement in Creuse
Consultations by phone or video
“My clientele is mainly made up of children. So I closed the cabinet. Meeting all hygiene standards seemed too complicated. We should have cleaned all the equipment after each patient … And since children use a lot of toys … “, explains Mélanie Piat.
The professional therefore opted, like many, for remote consultations.
“I called each patient. For the older children, older adolescents and the few adult patients I have, I offered them interviews by telephone or by videoconference. “
Mélanie Piat (psychologist)
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Impossible to put this in place, however, with the youngest.
Delphine Genini, also a psychologist in Montluçon, notes: “There are roughly a third of my patients in my office who accept follow-up by telephone. The other two thirds prefer to wait until the end of confinement. And among those that I am still, some asked me to be called a little more often because they do not feel well and they are anxious. “
Marie Buferne, she explains: “I have a liberal activity and an institution at the Rocher Fleuri medico-educational institute [avec des enfants handicapés, NDLR]. I continue to call the young people I am, to take new families to see how they are and to support them. “
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New practices
Confinement thus pushes these professionals to adapt and turn to new practices. “It is the first time that I have set up this type of interview by telephone or video,” underlines Marie Buferne. “The clinic and the practice of being a psychologist is to be as close as possible to the people you receive. But we adapt, we don’t really have a choice. ”
Solène Bourget has also opted for remote consultations.
I really went groped in this new mode of consultation. I was the most reserved at the start. But against all odds, it’s going very well.
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Sometimes even facilitating dialogue with certain patients.
“Not having the psychologist in front of you, for some, it can facilitate expression,” notes Mélanie Piat. Delphine Genini confirms: “Currently, I have several people that I have never seen and that I have every two weeks by phone. They wanted to maintain their choice to have psychotherapy, confinement or not. And I am surprised at the ease with which they express their difficulties. Maybe the phone is an advantage for them. ”
However, this monitoring also has certain limits, in particular for patients not living alone.
Puy-de-Dôme psychologists open remote consultations from Monday, April 13
Lack of privacy
Mélanie Piat underlines: “These interviews are still quite different from what happens in the office. Older adolescents who are at home and do not live alone cannot address certain subjects. There is no guarantee of confidentiality. “
“Usually, my patients came to see me when they weren’t working. With confinement, they have their children with them all day long. If their spouse works, they cannot isolate themselves for an interview, ”says Delphine Genini.
Videos every week. Yolande Rossignaud is a psychologist. She works for the Montluçon educational success program. And like other professionals, she chose remote monitoring. “It is rather an audience in difficulty. So every week, I call each of my families. And she also sends them videos. “I work a lot with the brain-gym, the brain gym, a technique for working on all that is learning difficulty and in particular reducing stress. So I make videos once a week. ”
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Laura Morel
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