From NPR March 14 2020

"How long can the new corona virus live on a surface, like say, a door handle, after someone infected touches it with dirty fingers? A study out this week finds that the virus can survive on hard surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours and on cardboard for up to 24 hours.

In accord with CDC guidelines, when visiting Altus' office:

I wipe and spray through out the office right after each appointment: using ammonia or alcohol-based products on surfaces we may be touching including doorknobs, pillows, pens, and cell phones used in billing. Ultra violet cleansing lights to be used with cell phones in billing are on order.

I Wash. My Hands. Before and After Appointments. (Seriously!)

Hand sanitizer is available to all clients and used by me after all appointments .

Your appointment is offered at no charge if I offer to shake your hand, touch my face, or sneeze without covering into my arm during our time together.

From Houston Chronicle Opinion

March 14, 2020:

"With the past week’s new certainty that corona virus COVID-19 is loose and being transmitted in Houston, the region’s medical providers are bracing for the current handful of known cases to blaze into an outbreak like nothing in modern memory...By shutting down events and closing schools, officials aim to 'flatten the curve'— to stop too many people from getting sick at the same time and overwhelming the region’s hospitals and medical providers. Much about the highly contagious new virus remains unknown, and projections of its future behavior vary wildly..." For most people, the editorial continues, their physical responses to COVID-19 will be mild.

However, the changing landscape of our routines has greatly increased overall levels of anxiety that have led to social distancing and isolation from supporting communities.

In response, Altus Counseling offers specialized EMDR services uniquely suited to treat and neutralize these sorts of anxieties and concerns.

EMDR therapy specifically targets distressing thoughts, feelings and specific life experiences.

Altus offers regular face-to-face therapy and also on-line secure video counseling for those seeking treatment from the security of their homes. To initiate on-line services, as a new client, one or two face-to-face appointments are necessary to effectively begin the EMDR process. Existing clients may start anytime after signing Informed Consent. Payment is manged through CashApp.

To start EMDR services, and resolve distress leading you to counseling now, call Rob Benson, MS, LPC at Altus Counseling Services, 713.380.0859, or email robbensonlpc@gmail.com. You may also seek answers to questions about counseling or specifically EMDR at robbensonlpc.com. 

Rob

Clients report significant relief from post-traumatic stress and other mental health challenges after one-to-three periods of EMDR treatment. EMDR treatment targets and relieves distress associated with adverse life experiences; bodily disturbances; disturbing, intrusive memories; present triggers and potential future challenges. Effective EMDR treatment is intended to treat psychological disorders at their roots, to alleviate suffering, leading to an improved view of self and opportunities to live a life worth living.

Marsha Linehan, PhD, ABPP is a developer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Dr. Linehan's contributions to suicide research and clinical psychology include evidence-based treatments for people experiencing trauma, self destructive behaviors and abuse, with high suicide risk and multiple, severe behavioral health challenges. 

"As someone once said to me, "Aren't these skills your mother was supposed to teach you?" I always say yes, but for many people their mother just did not or was not able to get around to it." (Linehan, 2015, p. vii)

Lane Pederson, PsyD, LP, DBTC is a Dialectical Behavior Therapy practitioner, consultant, speaker and trainer of more than 7,000 professionals. Dr. Pederson describes himself as a proponent of "a broader form of evidence-based practice that recognizes the importance of therapist experience and judgment balanced with client needs and preferences." (Pederson, 2015, fourth cover)