art by Alice Mao

“Mr. Roboto, LMSW”

Science for the People, Volume 24, Number 2, Don’t Be Evil

Since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed his services remote, Henry Cole,1 Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), has had to remake his clinical practice for under-resourced and high-risk patients. As a therapist at two different community clinics in New York City, certain things that were once central to his everyday—opening the door and greeting his patient; checking in with their body language and nonverbal cues; providing a welcoming space to decompress; to “just be,” as he calls it—are not possible in the virtual world....