Office Safety Precautions in Effect During the Pandemic When In-Person Sessions Resume

My office is taking the following precautions to protect our community and help slow the spread of the novel Coronavirus:

• Office seating in the waiting room and in therapy rooms has been arranged for appropriate physical distancing.
• The people working in the office maintain safe distancing.
• Restroom soap dispensers are maintained and everyone is encouraged to wash their hands.
• Hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol is available in the therapy rooms & at the reception counter.
• We ask all patients to wait in their cars or outside until no earlier than 5 minutes before their appointment times.
• Pens and other areas that are commonly touched are thoroughly sanitized after each use.
• Physical contact (ie: shaking hands) is not permitted.
• Tissues and trash bins are easily accessed. Trash is disposed of on a frequent basis.
• Common areas are thoroughly disinfected at the end of each day.

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An online event dedicated to developing your capacity to be resilient in life.

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Anxiety and Depression Association of America:  How to Talk to Your Anxious Child or Teen About Coronavirus

The Conversation:  How to talk to your kids about COVID-19

National Association of School Psychologists:  Talking to Children About COVID-19 (Coronavirus): A Parent Resource

NASP:  Countering COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Stigma and Racism: Tips for Parents and Caregivers

Kids Health:  Coronavirus (COVID-19): How to Talk to Your Child

World Health Organization:  Helping children cope with stress during the 2019-nCoV outbreak

Child Mind.org:  Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus

New York Times:  5 Ways to Help Teens Manage Anxiety About the Coronavirus

International OCD Foundation:  Here are some tips specifically for parents of youth with OCD:

ADDitude – Inside the ADHD mind:  How to Explain Coronavirus to a Child with Anxiety – Expert Tips

Psychology Today:  How to Explain Coronavirus to a Child with Autism

Brighter Horizons:  Talking to Children about COVID-19 (novel coronavirus)

PBS:  How You and Your Kids Can De-Stress During Coronavirus

National Child Traumatic Stress Network:  Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope With the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

National Public Radio (NPR):  Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus

Emotional Literacy Support Assistant:  Book Chapter: Coronavirus Story for Children

National Geographic:  Talking to Your Kids about Coronavirus

CDC:  Talking with children about Coronavirus Disease 2019: Messages for parents, school staff, and others working with children

American Psychological Association:  Five Ways to View Coverage of the Coronavirus with a Podcast

Resources – Parents – Other

KidsActivities.com:  List of Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions Due to School Closures

HuffPost:  30 Parents Share Their Favorite At-Home Activities to Help Bored Kids

Berliner Philharmoniker:   30-Day free access to the Digital Concert Hall

Travelandleisure.com:  12 famous museums offering virtual tours

McHARPER MANOR:  Starting Monday, March 16th, there will be “live DAILY … free art tutorials to keep spirits up, families engaged and creativity flowing.

TEDEd:  TEDEd for free videos across all subject areas.

NatGeokids.com:  Activities, quizzes for younger kids.

Duolingo.com:  Learn languages for free, web or app.

Storylineonline.net:  Tip for Kids and Coronavirus

Youtube:  Hand Washing Video for Young Children

Youtube:  Hand Washing/Coughing (Cartoon) Video for Young Children

Resources – Educators

UNICEF:  How teachers can talk to children about coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

NASP:  Countering Coronavirus Stigma and Racism: Tips for Teachers and Other Educators

CDC:  Talking with children about Coronavirus Disease 2019: Messages for parents, school staff, and others working with children

NASP:  Responding to COVID-19: Brief Action Steps for School Crisis Response Teams

NASP:  Preparing for Infectious Disease Epidemics: Brief Tips for School Mental Health Professionals

Youtube:  Hand Washing Video for Young Children

Youtube:  Hand Washing/Coughing (Cartoon) Video for Young Children

ADDitude – Inside the ADHD mind:  How to Explain Coronavirus to a Child with Anxiety – Expert Tips

Psychology Today:  How to Explain Coronavirus to a Child with Autism

American Psychological Association:  Five Ways to View Coverage of the Coronavirus with a Podcast

ACE’s Connection:  Resilience During a Pandemic

American Psychological Association:  Five Ways to View Coverage of the Coronavirus with a Podcast

Resources – Children and Youth

Kids help phone:  https://kidshelpphone.ca/get-info/were-here-for-you-during-covid-19-novel-coronavirus/

Youtube:  Hand Washing Video for Young Children

Youtube:  Hand Washing/Coughing (Cartoon) Video for Young Children

KidsActivities.com:  List of Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions Due to School Closures

HuffPost:  30 Parents Share Their Favorite At-Home Activities to Help Bored Kids

Berliner Philharmoniker:   30-Day free access to the Digital Concert Hall

Travelandleisure.com:  12 famous museums offering virtual tours

McHARPER MANOR:  Starting Monday, March 16th, there will be “live DAILY … free art tutorials to keep spirits up, families engaged and creativity flowing.

TEDEd:  TEDEd for free videos across all subject areas.

NatGeokids.com:  Activities, quizzes for younger kids.

Duolingo.com:  Learn languages for free, web or app.

Storylineonline.net:  Tip for Kids and Coronavirus

Resources – About COVID – 19

CDC United States:

How COVID-19  Spreads

How to Protect Yourself

Protect Your Family

Protect Your Home

Manage Anxiety & Stress

The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) news release: Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19  

Health Canada:  Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

Canadian Psychological Association:  “Psychology Works” Fact Sheet: Coping with and Preventing COVID-19

CTV News:  Origins of All COVID-19 Cases in Canada

World Health Organization:  World Health Organization – Dashboard

Resources – Corporate / Human Resources

McKinsey and Company:  COVID-19 Implications for Business

Towards Data Science:  Top Resources for COVID-19 in the Workplace

NCDHHS:  COVID-19 Businesses and Employers

Gov’t of Canada:  Coronavirus Resources for Canadian Businesses

The Washington Post:  Why Outbreaks Spread Exponentially

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https://crisiscentre.bc.ca/coping-and-self-care/

Stress is simply a reaction, either real or imagined, to situations, events or people. We may experience symptoms of anxiety, worry, and withdrawal when we are suffering from stress. We may even start taking actions to escape the stressful feelings.

    The most common trigger of stress is some kind of loss – the loss of, or change in a relationship, the loss of another person, or the loss of stability associated with change.

   The best way to cope with your feelings is to communicate with another person.

Am I stressed?

Signals of stress may include changes in your body, actions, emotions & thinking. Being able to identify these changes may help you better manage your stress:

• Changes in your body
  • Tension
  • Headache
  • Stomachache
  • Disturbed sleep
  • Appetite changes
  • Fatigue/tiredness
• Changes in your actions
  • Increased use of alcohol & drugs
  • Withdrawing from others
  • Increased smoking
  • Non-stop talking
  • Short tempered
  • Fidgeting
• Changes in your emotions
  • Lonely
  • Depression
  • Worried & confused
  • Anger & irritability
  • Feeling blue & sad
  • Hopeless or suicidal
• Changes in your thinking
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Lost self-confidence
  • Lapses of memory
  • Negative self-talk
  • Negative attitude
  • Poor judgment

Once we are aware that we are stressed, we can start to identify the specific things that may be causing us stress. Sometimes it will be things that we can control like getting some exercise or getting an assignment done.

It is also important to recognize that no one is in control of all the aspects of their lives that can create stress. Some examples of this may be having to move or parents divorcing.

How can I feel less stress?

There are some practical coping strategies you can use to help decrease your level of stress.

Positive Self-talk

To help decrease our stress, we can first learn to change what we say to ourselves – and the way we think about ourselves. This is accomplished by shifting our words and thoughts from what we call ‘negative self-talk’ to ‘positive self-talk’.

The following are a few examples of how we may turn negative comments into positive ones:

1. Negative: To be a worthwhile person, I have to be good at everything.
   Positive: Just who I am makes me worthwhile.
2. Negative: Everyone has to like me, or else I’m not okay.
   Positive: I’m okay just the way I am.
3. Negative: Every problem has to have the perfect solution and if it doesn’t it’s really bad.
   Positive: There are many solutions out there I just have to find the right one.
4. Negative: People never change.
   Positive: People change.
5. Negative: I can’t help how I feel & I’m feeling miserable.
   Positive: I can learn to control my feelings.
6. Negative: I need to worry about everything that could go wrong.
   Positive: I can learn to concentrate on the present moment & relax.

Long Term Stress Management Techniques

Finding ways to increase our health helps us decrease our stress. Simple ways to do this are:

• Get more adequate sleep
• Exercise more
• Eat healthy food
• Laugh more
• Apply positive self-talk and positive attitudes
• Talk to people you trust
• Work at managing your time
• Make an effort to relax

Make a Stress Plan

Everyone needs a certain amount of stress in order to get things done, but sometimes it can become too much. When you recognize that you are stressed, you can feel better by using a stress plan like this one:

1. Identify the stressful situation: What is upsetting you? (School, work, relationships, family, self…)
2. Identify your signals: How are you feeling about the situation? (What changes in my body, thoughts, emotions & actions do I observe?)
3. Brainstorm your options: What can you do?

• CHANGE THE SITUATION: can I say no? can I assert my needs?…
• CHANGE HOW YOU REACT TO THE SITUATION: exercise, sleep, relax, accept support, make time to have fun, laugh…
• CHANGE HOW YOU LOOK AT THE SITUATION: use positive self-talk, look for hidden opportunities in negative situations, and look into the future past the problem…

What to avoid: Negative Coping Strategies

Most people, either knowingly or unknowingly, use negative coping strategies to cope with stress. These are strategies that may temporarily provide stress relief, but in the long term may increase the amount of stress we experience. A few examples of these are:

• Avoidance
  • Procrastination
  • Skipping out
  • Withdrawal
  • Illness
  • Sleep
• Distractions
  • TV
  • Socializing
  • Video games
  • Shopping
• Violence
  • Hurting others or yourself
  • Throwing objects
  • Yelling
  • Hitting
• Chemicals
  • Smoking
  • Sugar & caffeine
  • Drugs & alcohol
  • Medication

Negative coping strategies are our common responses to stress and feelings of being overwhelmed. Everyone uses these sometimes, and (except for violence) that’s ok. However, if you only use negative coping strategies, you can actually end up causing yourself more stress in the long run.

That’s why it’s important to use coping strategies that will give you long term relief from the effects of stress and help you to find solutions to the problems that are causing the stress.

Successfully Coping with Stress

Learning to manage our stress well can improve many aspects of our lives. For example, stress management can give us:

• Increased ability to deal with problems
• Increased productivity
• Stronger relationships
• Increased energy
• Improved health
• Higher self-esteem

These tools and skills will help us to get better at dealing with stress, but there is no such thing as a stress-free life. Part of life is dealing with stress. When you are really stressed out, here are a few more things to think about:

• You are here. Accept where you are and go from there.
• Don’t try to please everyone. Leave something for yourself.
• Stress can be an energizer. Harness that energy and focus on a task.
• Be active. Look for ways you can start to make some plans, or set some goals for yourself.
• Laugh. Look for opportunities to laugh – laughter is great therapy.
• Take charge of yourself. You can’t control other people’s actions.
• Relax. Create quiet time, meditate, listen to music.
• Give yourself a break. Pause and do something for yourself.
• You are not alone. Talk to someone you trust or talk to us at the Crisis Centre.

Facts about Stress

Stress is a normal reaction and a part of life. When we have a large number of stressful events in our lives (good or bad), we can become overwhelmed – and these feelings can create problems.

The following are some statistics on stress that help to illustrate just how stressful stress can be!

• 25% of youth in BC said a relationship break-up was a big stressor. Other stresses were academic problems, relocation of residence, death of a friend or family member, suicide of a friend or family member, and illness of a friend or family member.
• 65% of students do not feel rested after a full night’s sleep.
• Approximately 5% of males and 10% of females said they were emotionally distressed in the past month.
• Stress related disability claims are estimated to increase by 50% in the next decade.
• In 1997, Canadians cited stress and mental anxiety as reasons for growing levels of absenteeism more often than physical illness.
• 40% of Canadians identify worry and anxiety as their principal de-motivators at work and school.
• In total, the cost of stress in the North American economy is between 150 and 300 billion dollars per year.

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☯️What ways can we develop our capacity to be with the truth of what is, to be with the fear, joy, guilt, discomfort and softness that comes with the human experience? Each work of art in this series will be about exploring our options for unraveling the layers of our minds and connecting with our true selves, one moment at a time.☯️

“Reaction Formation occurs when a person feels an urge to do or say something and then actually does or says something that is effectively the opposite of what they really want.
It also appears as a defense against a feared social punishment. If I fear that I will be criticized for something, I very visibly act in a way that shows I am personally a long way from the feared position.
A common pattern in Reaction Formation is where the person uses ‘excessive behavior’, for example using exaggerated friendliness when the person is actually feeling unfriendly.”*
*From http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/coping/reaction_formation.htm

The art of vulnerability, digital collage, 2019

COUNSELLING & MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCE IN VANCOUVER, BC

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A spiritual bypass is a “tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks”.
~J. Welwood

“Spiritual bypass shields us from the truth, it disconnects us from our feelings, and helps us avoid the big picture. It is more about checking out than checking in—and the difference is so subtle that we usually don’t even know we are doing it.

The shorthand for spiritual bypass is grasping rather than gratitude, arriving rather than being, avoiding rather than accepting. It is spiritual practice in the service of repression, usually because we can not tolerate what we are feeling, or think that we shouldn’t be experiencing what we are feeling.”*

*From: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/emotional-sobriety/201110/beware-spiritual-bypass

What ways can we develop our capacity to be with the truth of what is, to be with the fear, joy, guilt, discomfort and softness that comes with the human experience? Each work of art in this series will be about exploring our options for unraveling the layers of our minds and connecting with our true selves, one moment at a time.

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 ~Reflect on past behaviors: is there a pattern to the moments of discomfort?

 ~Go from furious to curious: what brought on the furious?

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Ever wonder what it would be like if we had to consciously think about each breath we took? What a different life that would be!

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Much like that breath you just took, the stormy weather comes and goes. Sometimes it can seem like an endless winter though, and that can be tough to deal with. A sad storm is similar, it comes and it goes and it can be really tough to deal with.

Here’s a friendly reminder that everything changes. The weather (sometimes it changes hourly in this city), our breath, our feelings. These all change, even if the changes seem small (maybe the weather changes by 1 degree), its the small changes that can remind us during stormy times that nothing is permanent, not even an overwhelming storm.

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