A therapist shares her patients’ experiences—and her own—during the dramatic disruption of the Covid crisis.
By turns a memoir, a chronicle, and a provocative contemplation of life in a socially distanced and virtual world, How Are You? tells the story of a therapist plunged overnight into the unsettling reality of a pandemic and all-virtual therapy.
Therese Rosenblatt shares her privileged front-row seat into the hearts and minds of her patients, to report on what has gone on inside real peoples’ heads from the dark, early days of the pandemic through its long, drawn-out progression. Dr. Rosenblatt then trains her attuned eyes and ears onto herself, sharing some of her experiences and challenges—and unexpected pleasures—as she navigates this new world together with her patients.
In addition to recounting how her patients are coping with loss, loneliness, and isolation, as well as overcrowding with relatives, spouses, and partners and challenges with substance use, she opens a window into her private thoughts as she conducts her sessions. All the while, she contemplates the specter of catastrophic illness and the move to an existence liberated from the physical space of the consulting room, yet missing its comforts and human sensibilities.
Whether addressing difficult marriages, ambivalence about pregnancy, or young adults trying to launch into the world while locked down with their parents, Dr. Rosenblatt offers insight gleaned from twenty-six years of practice—and explores in depth this historic event’s psychological effects on us as individuals.
