GREATER SPRINGFIELD – For the past several weeks, state Sen. Eric Lesser has been hosting a series of “lunchtime livestreams” where he hosts local experts on a myriad of topics. On May 15, Lesser welcomed his mother, Dr. Joan Lesser, who specializes in mental health, to discuss the state of mental health during COVID–19.

“My mom is one of the top mental health advocates in Western Mass., and really nationally and globally known on social work and on clinical social work practice,” Sen. Lesser said of Dr. Lesser.

At the start of the livestream, Dr. Lesser described this as an “extraordinarily difficult time in the world of  mental health,” noting that the virus is not only mentally affecting individuals who have been diagnosed with it, but also first responders, individuals in the medical community, families, children, adolescents, adults, older individuals, families, mental health professionals, educators, clinicians and more.

“One of the most important things we talk about is recognizing when you yourself are emotionally depleted,” Dr. Lesser explained to those tuning into the livestream. She noted that for individuals hosting telehealth sessions, such as mental health clinicians, this new form of communication and learning platform takes a toll and “puts a burden on mental health clinicians to reach within themselves.”

Interjecting, Sen. Lesser added to give people context that Joan was “involved in response to the AIDS epidemic in New York” and asked her if anything is “on par with what you’re experiencing and seeing in the mental health community right now in terms of scale and challenge” and in terms of need.

Dr. Lesser responded that as a trauma therapist, she doesn’t like to make “any kind of comparisons” but noted that “the AIDS crisis was enormous and nothing I could ever say could ever do justice to what went on at this time,” she said. Dr. Lesser added that “[COVID–19] has its own form,” and that this is considered a “collective trauma.” She further explained that this impacts individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, statewide, nationally, globally and more, “...that has enormous implications for the world of mental health,” she said.

Continuing, Dr. Lesser explained that “the essence of trauma is about loss,” and that “we are experiencing unprecedented loss” at this time.

“I think there isn’t a single person who hasn’t been touched by the loss and the implications for loss,” she said, noting that people must be mindful of not negating anyone’s personal experience during this time, as there are individuals who came into the pandemic “in different places,” with various social identities, class issues, economic issues and more.

“Young children, adolescents, adults, older people – there are implications for how each of these groups will need help and support to handle loss,” she said, adding that the situation is “dynamic – it’s not static. We have to be extremely mindful, because when we talk about coping to help people, we have to be mindful of where people start.”

Moving on in the discussion, Dr. Lesser noted that there are many forms of resilience, physical, psychological and more. She stated that with psychological resilience, we “start with the reserve people come with, so to speak,” and tap into that reserve to help people build resilience.

Then Dr. Lesser noted that despite being well–meaning, some mental health professionals may offer mental health strategies and advice that could end up making some people feel worse as they do not match what people are capable of doing or where they are at at the time.

Shifting the conversation, Sen. Lesser brought up all of the types of milestones that are going without celebration during this time – graduations, weddings, birthdays, to name a few. “Without painting a broad brush, if someone watching right now is just looking for strategies, what would you advise people can do to manage the stress?” he asked Dr. Lesser.

“As someone who works with children and adolescents for many years, I’m heartbroken for my young friends out there who are not able to celebrate these very important milestones in their lives,” Dr. Lesser said. She continued to explain that “people need space to breathe and that means identifying with yourself, within yourself, with each other, with your children, with whomever you can identify it with,” noting that children and adolescents may need help identifying with the loss, as they often show the stress in “other ways.”

“I always say...the first thing is to connect the dots – what is it you are feeling and why is it you are feeling it?” she said, stating that while it sounds simplistic, connecting the dots is recognizing the ways in which an individual is impacted.

The second aspect to coping with the stress, Dr. Lesser said, is perspective taking.

“What I mean is that we have to have self–compassion for our own perspective and the individual ways in which this is impacting each human being, that’s the ‘I’ here,” she said. “Everyone needs a little help, which is why people come to mental health professionals with moving beyond the ‘I’ to hold a little bit more of the ‘we.’ This is not about shaming people, this is not about divide and conquer – this is a mental health practice that actually helps people because it moves to a feeling of being the victim to survival.”

Dr. Lesser then encouraged viewers to think about self–compassion for what they themselves are going through, and then to think about one other person and what they are going through and to then extend themselves.

“Not to do anything – but to extend your mind. We need tremendous compassion for ourselves and everyone. Compassion is not to be confused with validating what people want to hear, we’re validating people’s experiences of things,” she said.

Moving onto policy, Sen. Lesser noted that access to telehealth is varying, as is access to support. He then asked Dr. Lesser for suggestions that she has for policy makers about which mental health access points need the most support. In general, Dr. Lesser stated that “there isn’t a human being who can’t do something with regard to [reaching out to the most vulnerable] on the most basic level.” She explained this could come in the form of reaching out to check on an elderly neighbor in the community, assisting with food banks or religious organizations and more.

She further explained that “This really is not just policy makers, it’s everyone who needs to do this,” adding that “everyone’s suffering – I never minimize anyone – but let’s be honest, there are some people who are really, really, really struggling and they need our help.”

Sen. Lesser noted that while the state “has been working on mental health legislation for the last several months,” and that there had been “growing momentum around telehealth” until the crisis hit, and “now it’s been turbo charged,” he asked Dr. Lesser as a provider, what are the advantages and limitations of telehealth.

Dr. Lesser said that the most obvious advantage was that telehealth can be done, that people can be reached and they can reach providers and there can be “some type of therapy going on.” However further in the discussion, she explained that some people are comfortable with it, and others are not, with technology being an obvious factor.

In addition to potential technological barriers, Dr. Lesser noted that she personally feels there needs to be more flexibility.

“Right now for example, if I’m licensed in the state of Massachusetts and I’m seeing a person who then goes to college [in another state] and wants to keep a relationship with me, the way the laws are now, I can’t [treat] that person in the other state with telehealth,” she said. Dr. Lesser added that there are small things that needed to be looked at.

“What is the reason for that? It has enormous implications. Just when a young person is going off to college when they may need the relationship, you’re telling them, ‘No, goodbye, you have to get someone new.’ We have to think about these things,” she said.

Finally, she added that while the technology works, it doesn’t allow for the provider to physically witness every nuance, body language and more.

“As good as this is from my perspective, there’s stuff missing – that doesn’t mean it isn't good or not good enough, you just can’t do everything,” she said.

Sen. Lesser added that from a policy perspective, he thinks there is a concern that insurance companies could force people to telehealth down the line as it is “arguably more cost effective.” He said he feels that would “be a mistake,” as there needs to be options for people. Dr. Lesser said she agreed, and noted that there are individuals who have serious mental health conditions, and people must be mindful of how they’re managing the stress of COVID–19 and managing technology.

On a final note, a few small ways that people can reduce stress, Dr. Lesser noted, include setting small reasonable goals for themselves while simultaneously managing expectations, seeking some kind of social support if the individual does not have social support within their family, to try to focus as much as possible on something the individual can control however small, and to try to maintain a daily routine with flexibility.

“Look to historical eras – people have been through very rough times and they have come through, and I think that’s extremely important,” Dr. Lesser closed. “The biggest thing I want to leave people with... practice compassion for ourselves and others as we all struggle to balance individual and collective grief, needs, rights and desires.”

Sen. Lesser noted that for individuals who are seeking mental health resources, his office is a resource at 526–6501, and that at his website, senatorlesser.com/covid19 there is a state and local resource list compiled in one place for individuals. He then noted that if you or someone you know is in a life–threatening situation where you are concerned for safety, 911 is the appropriate phone number to use.