The Covid Months | Student Life

Life hasn’t been easy for the students. As the realities of lockdown came home to all of us their concerns came pouring in. Would final assessments still go ahead? How can missed hours be made up now? Single parents trying to manage childcare alongside being in class asking for guidance about how to juggle the two. Placements shutting down temporarily and not supporting remote working, making it impossible to continue to build practice hours. Struggles in finding classes on Zoom accessible or enjoyable. Missing the camaraderie being with classmates. Student self-generated WhatsApp groups throwing up nuclear curve balls that were wounding and painful.

This will be one of a number of posts where students share their reflections on this time.

It goes without saying that I would have preferred to have continued in our usual way - face-to-face classroom sessions on a Tuesday evening at the Guild, face-to-face training therapy, regular coffee catch-ups with classmates in Freudz Café and running my trainee counselling clinic at the GP surgery where I have started building my practice.

 …  For me, it has worked. Yes, it has required a shift in thinking and approach to studying, the position of being both ‘alone’ in your space with a computer whilst simultaneously being in a communal space with your Zoom colleagues is something which requires a level of self-motivation and focus that perhaps is easier when physically present with the group … However, it has allowed for a relatively seamless and uninterrupted transition and, most importantly, continuation of the course teaching which - whilst being an adjustment - has been of huge personal value.  … Likewise, having set-up a new trainee counselling placement with my partner GP surgeries at the beginning of the year (pre-lockdown), where I was regularly holding face-to-face client counselling sessions, the ability to have given my clients the option to continue with our work remotely (video and telephone consultations) I feel has been both important to my clients and, at the same time, essential to the continuation of my journey towards qualification.                                                                                             

Anon Yr 1 Student

…. I didn’t think when I left my third year classmates at Northern Guild on that sunny cold weekend in March that I wouldn’t be seeing them again in the flesh for who knows how long. Despite this forced separation our group have formed a special bond over the past years and we have managed to keep in touch during the pandemic thanks to various technologies.

It’s been a similar positive story with our Northern Guild weekends by Zoom, our tutor has, as always, managed to be creative and inspirational without actually being in the room with us, what a talent.

However to not be able to say our goodbyes on our last weekend in person…  it was truly a moving time. The weekend’s theme was … ‘Endings’ and proved to be challenging as on so many levels there have been lots of endings we could not have predicted in these recent months. For those of us working with children and teenagers many of us didn’t get the chance to say ‘farewell’ to our little clients and sometimes we haven’t been able to find out how they are coping<or> if we will be able to see them again in the coming months.

But there have also been the opportunities thanks to the staff at NG who have worked tirelessly to help us to continue with those clients who are able and <permitted. to use safe online methods. <Because> to this we have learnt new skills that we may never have had the opportunity to use ,in other times>. And … for me, despite enjoying working with some teenage clients online, I have also learnt to truly value how special it is to sit in a room with someone, personally a screen is a poor substitute for a human being… but at least we have been able to keep in touch with each other.

… my Supervisors …have been there supporting, advising and … as creative as ever without a hint of how tough it must be for them spending hours working by screen. Their positive attitudes and understanding of what our clients, and we might be going through is a lesson in fortitude and resilience.

In Lockdown ,,, I have … spent much of my time sitting or walking outdoors watching the sky, the trees and nature generally. This has grounded me and made me think of something a friend told me recently about our …  iconic English tree, the mighty oak. …the UK’s oldest and largest oaks grow in forests surrounded by other trees, they thrive better when they have others around them. This shouldn’t be a surprise as we now know trees feed and protect each other and are connected through their roots.        

Stephanie Robinson  

I remember taking my time driving to class on an evening. The radio would gently play in the background as the rush hour traffic started to make haste. I would have that sensational sense of achievement upon the first try at finding a parking spot as I drove up towards Jesmond. I have found it interesting how I have been reflecting more on the smallest of things. “Mono no aware” is a Japanese phrase for ‘the (pathos) sadness of things’. It comes from an awareness of the transience of our world, like looking at a flower in the knowledge that its bloom will not last forever yet appreciating the bloom that exists in the here and now. I miss that drive.

When we were given the news that COVID-19 was to impact our ability to exist as we had before I was scared and a sadness struck me. What would it mean for the future? What would it mean for my clients? What would it mean for my course? I had more questions than answers and time seemed inconsistent with moments feeling fast, backwards, even stationary. It reminded me of the stroboscopic effect which is an optical illusion that appears to rotate a spoked wheel differently from its true rotation. This feeling did not have a chance to linger long. Within the same week of being informed that COVID-19 was about to change our lives forever, the Northern Guild team was already organizing, developing, and implementing their plan. As a community, they actioned a response quickly and decisively leaving no time for the weekly class to be in question; class was a go.

I had never heard of Zoom prior to COVID-19. I had used other systems before but was keen to give this new platform a try. It was simple and effective. So affective that myself and classmates have used this to continue to communicate throughout the “stay at home” orders. Student life had now changed as we collectively sheltered in place. Class started and I was excited how this would work and if it would change what we had experienced. It did change and having had this experience it was not a bad change, it was simply different. I enjoyed having what felt like more time in my quiet room at home to listen more intently to the tutor and classmates. I found myself focusing more on what I wanted to learn and explore than perhaps what else was happening in the room. I felt that I was more focused on what I needed. I still missed my breaktime catch up with this group of amazing people whom I have been journeying with for so long and whose time was shortly coming to an end.

To this end, we decided to support each other by setting up meetings as if they were our own private café time before class. We remained physically but not socially distant as we moved our social interactions online and to phone. During our zoom get-togethers we talk about how we are doing and what things are coming up in class. We discuss the future of our personal training and what direction we are individually heading towards. We have tested our on line skills together by sharing Zoom meetings and getting used to the platform as both a participant and a host. We have been learning how to become comfortable with this new way of working with our clients, tutors, supervisors, and therapists.

My supervision groups have also seen no delay. From infant observation groups, class group training and group supervision the Guild team have facilitated a smooth transition online. We have all had to relearn what its like to be in a group setting with time delays or internet connection issues. The group have been supportive and effective in respecting that we are all different with different circumstances and needs. This had made me reflect on this experience and how much more present I have felt during class.

I still resonate with “Mono no aware” in what has been and what is no longer. In its sadness, this phrase reminds me that I have come to appreciate the joy and beauty that exists in the here and now. With the help and support from my tutors, supervisor, and therapist at the Guild I have been able to give myself permission to be scared and hopeful during this time.

The tutors, supervisors, therapists, and office support team are all human beings experiencing this global pandemic alongside us. They have risen to these unprecedented times with the highest professional standards and genuine humanistic care. With that, I thank you all.  

“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings.” – Carl Jung

 Nicola Airey