By Olivia Belanger

Keene Sentinel

As health officials urge people to distance themselves amid the COVID-19 outbreak, local mental health providers are adjusting to ensure their clients can still receive care.

And as people learn to adapt to working remotely, home-schooling their children and the realities of a global pandemic, area agencies say this is imperative.

To help, N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu issued new temporary guidelines Wednesday for telemedicine services, requiring they be covered by insurance providers. Telemedicine, or telehealth, refers to patients and doctors connecting virtually through video conferencing or telephone conversations.

“Telemedicine is definitely going to be the new norm,” said Bethann Clauss, clinical director at Maps Counseling Services in Keene.

The mental health provider, which also has an office in Peterborough, switched to being “almost entirely remote” Friday. Clinicians are offering counseling sessions from their homes to clients, mostly through video conferencing.

The video software is secure and compliant with HIPAA, a federal law that contains patient-privacy provisions, Clauss noted, so that clients’ medical information can’t be tampered with.

But if video conferencing doesn’t work for someone — whether it’s due to inadequate Internet speeds or improper equipment — Clauss said clinicians can call them.

Either way, she said, counseling through electronics can be challenging.

“Any therapeutic services that aren’t offered face to face, it shifts part of the quality,” she said. “Therapy is about verbal and nonverbal communication, so being able to see each other is important ... and there are children that typically access play therapy, which is kind of impossible.”

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At Monadnock Family Services in Keene, the focus is on telephone contact, according to Executive Director Phil Wyzik.

“We are trying to do our part to minimize the spread of the illness for our vulnerable clients and keep our staff as healthy as they can be, too,” he said. “That means a lot of counseling over the phone, outreach calls and limiting emergency and face-to-face services whenever possible.”

Unlike Maps, Wyzik said Monadnock Family Services still has staff members working in the office because they “don’t have the capacity to do everything remotely.”

He said clients who need on-site medication injections for substance-use disorders or who are in domestic-violence situations are both examples of this. But those who can work from home, he said, are.

Monadnock Area Peer Support Agency in Keene has had all of its staff working from home since Wednesday, according to Executive Director Peter Starkey. The remainder of this week has been focused on “ironing out the kinks,” he said.

“Right now, we are doing a soft opening of these remote services,” Starkey said. “We had our first group video-conferencing last night, and it went really well … and then we hope on Monday to be completely operational.”

Similar to Maps, Monadnock Area Peer Support will be using both video and telephone communication. Schedules and call-in information for peer support groups will be posted on the agency’s website and Facebook page.

The only service not being provided during the pandemic is the agency’s peer respite, which provides short-term shelter for anyone at risk of hospitalization due to their mental health.

But Starkey stressed all peer groups are free of charge, so anyone who needs mental health assistance should contact the organization.

“Even if there are people outside of our region who need support, we are willing to do that ... we are really trying to be as flexible as possible to meet as many needs as we can,” he said.

And though all agencies interviewed said there are challenges that come with remote counseling and not being able to physically see their clients, Clauss said what’s important now is to just be there for others.

“One of the things that I am encountering is that, as overwhelmed as people are, in times of crisis people tend to come together in a powerful and beautiful way,” she said. “... there’s beauty in connection and people’s willingness to do whatever’s possible to continue to support one another through a completely unprecedented situation.”

Monadnock Area Peer Support can be reached at 352-5093 and has a “warm line” year-round, from 4 to 9 p.m., at 866-352-5093.

People can schedule an appointment with Monadnock Family Services or access its emergency service line at 357-4400.

To schedule an appointment with Maps Counseling Services call 355-2244. Maps also has an office in Peterborough at 924-2240.

Olivia Belanger can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or obelanger@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBelangerKS.

These stories are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.