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CrIsIs??? HeLp!?

March 16, 2021
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Although crisis is often unpredictable, there are predictable phases that we experience. Knowing these might allow a struggle to be normalized.

Phases of a crisis: Impact stage - learning new information that is overwhelming. This may include being stunned, numb, immediate grief, anger etc. This lasts up to 2-3 days but can be experienced in as little as moments.

Withdrawal/Confusion - this stage is where we recoil, go inward, and try to process what this new development means. Depression can be a part of this stage as well. This might be cycled through in a few days or it might take weeks or even months to process through, depending on the magnitude of what is being experienced.

Adjustment stage - This is where change is happening with or without our permission and the crisis experience starts to become familiar. We might begin to understand our choices with moving forward. New normals and patterns begin to ...

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Crisis

Tags:

confusion
crisis
depression
withdraw

One Year of COVID-19: Finding Balance Amidst Chronic Stress

March 11, 2021
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For one full calendar year today, life as we knew it, has been on hold.

On March 11, 2020 local news stations began announcing the first big changes due to COVID-19. Colleges would begin the transition of classes from in-person to online learning or suspension of classes entirely. News of colleges plans spread among the state, and shortly thereafter K-12 schools followed suit. By March 13, it was no longer safe to visit residential, health care or juvenile centers. Shortly thereafter, restaurants, gyms, coffee shops, hair salons, and many more small businesses were closed. And on March 23, 2020 the first statewide stay-at-home order for all non-essential workers was implemented.

As I write this blog on March 11, 2021, exactly one year since this pandemic struck our mitten state, Nation, and globe, I noticed the presence of one of my first deep exhales since this halt on “real life” h ...

Posted in:

COVID-19
Self-Care

Tags:

anxiety
coping
self-care
stress
uncertainty

Get in The [Green] Zone!

March 3, 2021
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“I didn’t mean to hit them! I just got really mad all of the sudden.”

“I can’t concentrate on anything right now!”

“I wasn’t trying to distract the class, I was just feeling kind of hyper.”

“I planned to go home to finish that project...next thing I knew, I had finished 4 episodes and a pint and half of Ben & Jerry’s.”

“I know I have to get my work done, but I don’t really feel like it.”

“I didn’t really want to snap at you like that...I guess I was just hangry.”

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My guess is that you’ve heard one if not all of the above statements at some point. Whether you’re a student, a parent, a teacher or an employee, chances are high that in the past week you or someone you care about has felt unmotivated, unable to focus, out of control of impulses and/or emotions. If you’re a kid, or if you’ve ever been a kid (that should pretty much cover everyone, I think) then you know the feeling ...

Posted in:

Goals

Tags:

Communication
Emotions
Parenting
Self-Regulation