AMA, An exciting event to help us all cope coming out of lockdown on PWB.

Good morning everyone,

This pandemic has affected so many of pour lives and in so many ways we are all learning how to cope with this insidious virus out there and PWB was set up by HU support to support us their members during lockdown and the pandemic and a very successful community it is.

Saskia who is one of the HU support team and one of our admin on PWB has organised AMA.

To quote Saskia:

Next Wednesday (12th Aug) at 10:00am BST/ 6am ET, we have expert CBT therapist Anjali Singh-Mitter joining the community for an hour long Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on how to stay positive and cope during these uncertain times.

Anjali Singh-Mitter is a qualified therapist with expertise in CBT and Hypnosis. Anjali will be able to to give you tangible tools on how to cope with potential anxieties surrounding COVID-19 and re-entering a 'new normal' life. You can take these skills away and implemented into your routines offline.

Please see:

healthunlocked.com/positive....

So please feel to join us and log on next Wed at 10am as I'm sure that we will get some great ideas from Anjali and I am very impressed that Saskia has organised this and am grateful that Anjali has agreed to give up their time for us. 👍🙏

I will tell you how I see COVID19, there's a devil lurking outside my door and I don't want in crawling across my floor...

This is a global pandemic and we will beat it and beat it together. 🌈😷

[Activity2004 Administrator]

Fantastic posting! This will definitely help everyone.😀👍👍👌🌈

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Thank you Jerry for posting and I hope that people are able to join next Wednesday.

Alicia

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Jerry, I have to ask you the same thing as I asked in another place where I read about this AMA.

It's wonderful that Saskia has taken the trouble to organise this for us, and it's wonderful that Anjali has agreed to take time out of her schedule to answer our questions. But what are her qualifications? Exactly what is she qualified to do and which authority gave her the qualification(s)? Without that information, I have to assume she's just doing a favour for a mate, and that wouldn't inspire confidence!

In the UK, as I understand it, anyone can call themselves a therapist - and I am not suggesting that Anjali is one of those people. But wouldn't it be good practice of HU to post the qualifications of this woman when you are recommending her to us?

After all, isn't that exactly what you would do before you went to see a therapist "in real life"? Health Unlocked has special rules about how it is run to protect its members from being exploited by people online who might take advantage of their vulnerabilities, doesn't it? Wouldn't it make sense to be seen to be being clear and above board about why we should all feel safe and comfortable to trust this person who has come along to help us?

Bear with me for a moment. I'm not criticising Saskia, who I don't know but if she's on the HU support team, I'm sure she's a good egg. I'm not criticising you either, because it's clear as day that you are a good bloke who puts a lot of time and effort on a daily basis into the running of these boards.

The point is: shouldn't we be told *why* someone is an expert we should trust (by giving her qualifications, experience, any areas of special interest to her)? If you just introduce the expert to us by telling us that she's an expert, it's rather patronising to the membership of HU.

I mean, wouldn't you agree that it's good practice for everyone to ask questions about a person's therapeutic qualifications before we go to see them with our questions?

When I'm looking for a therapist, I don't just ask them how much they charge and go with the cheapest provider - and I am mindful of the fact that Anjali is almost certainly doing this free of charge for the benefit of members of HU, which is truly wonderful and great of her. I also ask them what their qualifications are, what the letters after their name mean in terms a lay person can understand, and whether they have any special interest in whatever it is I'm wanting to see someone about. Every therapist I've seen in real life has had their qualifications framed and stuck up on the wall in the office somewhere so that they may be seen by anyone who wants to see them.

So please, if you agree that in our everyday lives we should ask questions about a person's qualifications before we see them in a therapeutic context, tell us why we should trust someone we don't know when it's online. Let us know why she is qualified to help answer our questions about getting out of lockdown and the new normal of life alongside coronavirus.

Thank you.