Virtual counselling aims to ease pandemic-related conflicts

Virtual counselling sessions seek to ease the strain of the coronavirus pandemic and all the associated changes on interpersonal relationships. —Dreamstime/TNS

Like many other people over the past month, Bonnie Clayton of San Diego, the United States, was so preoccupied with taking care of her children, moving her business online and trying to organise her family's food supply that she forgot to take care of herself.

So a few weeks ago she signed up for one of the National Conflict Resolution Center's (NCRC) new Virtual Community Circles, which are online group therapy sessions conducted via the Zoom meeting app. The free, twice-weekly sessions were created to help isolated San Diegans like Clayton learn coping mechanisms and communication tools during the COVID-19 crisis.