Clinical social work journal
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The unprecedented nature of the coronavirus pandemic and clinicians' own concerns for safety and stability amidst collective uncertainty have threatened to undermine our ability to trust what we already know about our clients and how to help them. Rather than search for a novel solution, I suggest that what we need during a shared crisis is to renew our trust in the existing ethos of good enough therapy, a metaphoric corollary to Winnicott's concept of good enough mothering, which presupposes the realities of imperfection and uncertainty along the continuum of growth. ⋯ Through the clinical material, I examine opportunities to make use of clients' reactions, as well as my own, in order to deepen the therapeutic process. I discuss the necessity of holding the therapeutic frame with increased flexibility in light of my use of self-disclosure surrounding my COVID-19 diagnosis and recovery, and I assess the impact of this disclosure.