I feel like a heretic to admit that as a counselor I’m a bit allergic to the word wellness. I know that this word means different things to many different people. However, as I say there can be a “shadow side” of wellness culture and it often gets intertwined with healthism. Healthism elevates health to a moral virtue. This results in discrimination against folx with bodies that don’t look or operate the way culture deems they should. A hierarchy is created in which an individual with health issues or disabilities is seen as less than, and that their struggle is not worthy of collective support. Healthism also gets wrapped up with fat-phobia, ableism, and even ageism.
One reason I am still offering virtual sessions is because it makes counseling accessible! To be frank, the mental health field continues to perpetuate a notion that therapy looks and operates only one way which is often not conducive to those navigating illness. Have remote options helps maintain spoons. This means that my chronically ill clients don’t have to expend spoons getting up, driving, into the office where there might not be guarantees of safety for folx with chronic illness or disabilities.
For more reading/information:
What is spoon theory?
https://www.cnet.com/health/medical/how-the-spoon-theory-can-help-explain-chronic-illness/
What is healthism?