Adrian in Maclean's Magazine: March 20, 2021 Issue

Juric (left), with a friend in Stanley Park, often holds his sessions during walks in the park PHOTOGRAPH BY JIMMY JEONG

MENTAL HEALTH

Step-by-step therapy

BY JASON MARKUSOFF ·

Walk-and-talk counselling has gone from a niche service to a much-needed solution during the pandemic.

The pandemic has propelled many Canadians toward an activity that heretofore was mainly the domain of characters on The West Wing and stroller-pushing new parents. As the feet move, so do the lips. For more than a year, meeting for chit-chat at one’s house or at a café has been discouraged (or outright illicit); even hanging out beneath open skies—in backyards, say, or at picnic tables—is often frowned upon by public health officials. That has left the noble walk-and-talk as one of the few kosher ways to interact with a friend or non-household relative. When you’re chatting and moving, the thinking goes, you’re not occupying anyone else’s aerosol space for any dangerous length of time. If you keep a distance and wear masks, all the better.

Read the whole article here.