**1. Introduction**

COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis [1], which brings with it one of the greatest mental health shock of the twenty-first century ravaging countries with high death rate. Its infection is chiefly manifested through rapid spread and harmful respiratory consequences. The statistics of infection is rapidly growing across nations associated with its ever increasing death toll despite the infection prevention controlled (IPC) strategies that have been adhered to, such as wearing of face mask, social distancing and washing of hands. Reports indicate that United States, India, Brazil, Russia, Peru and Colombia are the most hit with largest confirmed cases [1], however Africa is no exception. In all ramifications, COVID-19 is compounding global health

crisis with a major economic and financial crisis that is threatening to set in motion severe mental crisis that will burden the society for years to come.

Historically, records show that infectious diseases are correlated with psychological distress and mental health issues like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, domestic violence and child abuse [2]. Besides, quarantined individuals as in the case of COVID-19 are susceptible to present severe anxiety disorder and cognitive distress including depression, panic attack, anxiety and suicidal ideation [3].

Across the globe people are experiencing untold apprehension regarding the possibility of being infected, losing jobs and having children out of school. The prolonged existence of such trepidation is an antecedent of mental ill health. It is in this regard that this paper explores the challenges and compromises some counselors encounter when they are assisting individuals who were either infected or affected by COVID-19. These counselors are based in Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. The exploration is largely based on data gathered through social media and personal experiences of the authors including email communications with their colleagues. Based on these narratives and its thematic analysis this paper makes recommendation that ought to be of interest to counseling policy makers regarding the provision of services in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and beyond**.**

### **2. Certainties versus uncertainties surrounding COVID-19**

COVID-19 has a package of mixed sentiment for almost everyone ranging from the fear of being infected to how long the virus would exist in the world including the possibility of advancing a vaccine to curb the risk of infection [4]. Majority of the world's populace are perplexed that COVID-19 is not going away soon, hence the anticipation is that everyone has to grapple with the likelihood of being a direct victim coupled with the fact that it is changing the world's economic, educational, political, socio-religious spaces [5]. Majority of the people are having a desert experience reflected in the reality that whilst some have resources such as food, water, electricity, others have nothing including the fact that some can work from home yet many cannot. To a large extent no one can really predict the level of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that would arise from the experiences of COVID-19 [6]. The restriction on movement though it has eased off a bit without much downward shift in the rate of infection, is constraining nearly all Nations of the world to still keep their boarders closed. The threatening reality is, would life ever return to its normalcy. Hence it is not an exaggeration to say that COVID-19 is holding the world to a spell-bound changing paradigm of tradeonline, school-online, worship-online and counseling-online and everything online all the way. The question is what kind of implication does this change in paradigm pose to people's sense of living? It is in this bid that professional trained psychologists/counselors alongside other health practitioners who provide essential services for wellness of life are risking their own lives to stand out there ensuring that physical, mental and social among many other form of wellbeing is maintained.

### **3. The imperative of voluntary counseling**

Epistemologically, every counseling session comes to birth on the premise that everyone needs therapeutic assistance in order to grapple with life's stressors. Accordingly, counselors ought to wait for clients to knock on their doors requesting

#### *Volunteer Counseling Services in the Context of COVID-19: Compromises and Challenges DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101972*

for help, which requires the establishment of due protocol such as booking appointment, negotiating time/place for the meeting, duration and fees among other things [7]. However, the leverage of life stressors associated with COVID-19 has necessitated that counselors move out of their work comfort zones to offer help to the populace who are traumatized irrespective of the professional demands of having client's referral among others. The overwhelming demand for help has led professional trained psychologists/counselors to stretch their boundaries to offer voluntary services. Literally, counseling psychologists have to put on the tag reading 'we are here to help' and this slogan needed to be frequently repeated. This concept is what the paper presents as voluntary counseling. Hence, the notion of providing voluntary counseling with or without pay, face-to-face interaction leading to online paradigm of counseling intervention has become a reality.

Volunteering could refer to the inclusiveness of having all hands on deck including untrained and trained professionals. This form of intervention has proved to be challenging in some African countries, particularly in South Africa where psychological services are highly regulated. As a result, most registered counselors were more cautious when offering this form of intervention, so that they do not violate ethics and regulation of the Health Professions Council of Psychology (HPCSA). As such they waited until HPCSA has published the guideline on telehealth and telepsychology that most of practitioners and organizations such as the *Gift of the Givers* were more willing to volunteer psychological services telephonically. But this is different for other nations where the regulation of practice is much relaxed such as in Nigeria and Uganda.
