Much attention has been given to the health implications of loneliness over the past few years. We can understand how easy it would be for solopreneurs who work alone and/or in isolation to feel lonely and disconnected. On top of that, the pandemic has forced remote-capable entrepreneurs to work from home which only further contributed to increasingly high reports of loneliness and disconnection. All hope isn’t lost, however, there are plenty of ways that entrepreneurs can seek community and connection to find support and relationships that enhance well-being.

At the start of the pandemic, many remote capable entrepreneurs were forced to begin working from home.  This was great for physical health and safety, but not so great for social and emotional well-being.  During the pandemic, many entrepreneurs (including therapists in private practice) reported increasing feelings of isolation and disconnection.

Counseling for anxiety, depression and grief sharply increased since the pandemic, and it has been more common for us to acknowledge that we may be in pain, in sorrow, and in grief. Since the outburst of COVID-19, the pandemic has not only created stress, anxiety and uncertainty about the future, but it has also made us feel some type of loss. The healing process takes time and effort for us to heal globally and individually.

2020年初爆发的疫情，到现在已经持续很长一段时间了。什么时候能彻底结束恢复正常谁也不知道，但大家都希望能早点恢复到以前的样子，我们就可以回国看望父母或者朋友了，大家也可以出国旅行了。疫情期间，在美国境内飞行看望朋友或者家人相对容易很多。但对于那些家人和朋友都在美国境外的人来讲，见面就很难了。国际航班全面取消，各种限制，导致节假日跟家人见面就更加困难了。

It has been a long journey since the pandemic has spread globally beginning January 2020. How long will it take to be back to normal? No one knows the answer, but we all hope that it will end soon, so that we can travel internationally. It’s relatively easier to fly domestically in the US to see friends, relatives and family if they are in another state. But, it’s not quite the case for those who have families who live outside of the United States. Traveling internationally has prevented many of us from reuniting with families to celebrate any holidays.

Teaching students under normal circumstances is challenging. Teachers juggle many roles as they motivate, engage and develop personal connections with their students to keep their students’ minds open to learning and developing. But what happens when the students and teachers alike are going through an overwhelming stressor as with the current pandemic? How does the situation affect student behavior, motivation and academic achievement? Here is a brief explanation of the mechanisms of stressors leading to trauma, as well as strategies to navigate the road ahead.

To my dear teachers and school staff,

There are so many things about this school year that are different. Dealing with rampant behavioral issues among your students. Dealing with administrators who may be short fused as they deal with a plethora of Covid related issues. Dealing with expectations from staff and parents that are not realistically achievable. These are some of the issues that have been arising. In all of this, you have received minimal training and have no previous experience with this. This is not what you signed up for!

Prior to the pandemic, online counseling services were much harder to find than they are now. When the pandemic hit, there was a lot of reluctance to try telehealth. Now that so much time has passed, mental health therapists and clients alike have discovered the many benefits and conveniences of online counseling services. Interestingly enough, we still see some hesitation to give telehealth a try (especially in people who have never experienced it), so we wanted to share about the many telehealth benefits that our clients have shared with us.

What are the odds? The world is facing a pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen since the 1918 influenza pandemic. And as we slowly re-enter the world, so are trillions of Brood X cicadas emerging from the ground after 17 years. The irony is that as the cicadas emerge and leave their exoskeletons and future brood everywhere, we, too, are going through a metamorphosis as we re-enter the world post-pandemic.

With advancements in medicine, vaccines for COVID-19 are now available and have been distributed to more than 87.6 million Americans. This means more people are venturing out and enjoying the people, places, and things they have missed out on for the past year. But for some, the idea of leaving the comfort and safety of home is stressful. The idea of moving around in the world in the midst of an unseen virus can be daunting and debilitating.

At this point, we’ve been living in the midst of a pandemic for almost one year!  We now quarantine, work from home, teach children from home, wear masks, carry hand sanitizer, and think about how we’re going to celebrate holidays and birthdays without worrying about getting COVID-19.  We also have new vocabulary that consists of “social distancing” and “quarantine fatigue.”  This pandemic has created stress, anxiety, uncertainty, new losses and traumas, not to mention the buried grief and trauma it uncovered.  How could all of this not infiltrate our dreams?

2020 has been a year unlike any other!  After months of being quarantined at home, you may be craving opportunities for leisure and self-care that won’t take a toll on your physical or emotional well-being. As such, we’ve included a list of our favorite Baltimore area spaces where you can enjoy yourself while also following best practices during this pandemic.

Back in March the pandemic hit us like a tsunami wave.  Within a few weeks our entire world as we knew it abruptly shut down.  Work and schools were closed as we all sheltered in place.  Our world was filled with chaos as we tried to listen to the doctors, scientists, and government officials who knew very little about this new beast.

In our pre-pandemic lives we established a sense of expectation and predictability.  We had our goals and aspirations that we were working towards.  We had a sense of stability and systems in place as we strove towards our goals. When the pandemic hit, many of those plans and aspirations had to be shelved, either temporarily or permanently. 

作为一名身处海外的华人的心理咨询师，我能理解遇到一场突如其来的疫情时，我们想的是家，亲人，祖国，或者正在着急寻找一个安全的避难所。可是我们如今留在美国，为了读书，工作或者安居，可能很难突然放弃一切，放下当下所有，不顾一切的离开。 那么异国他乡的你是不是在这个时候会感觉更加的孤单，难过，和无助？感受不到亲人和家给你带来的温暖和依靠。面对远离了知己好友在身边玩耍和嬉闹的日子。以及工作上的解雇，无薪休假的选择，和没有了薪资的保障。而让你变得更加着急，忧郁，和无奈？那么我们可以先看看自己是否已存在患有抑郁症或者焦虑症的可能性。但是在自我检测的时候，不需要紧张，认识问题是解决问题的第一步。也不用马上对号入座，立马断定自己就是重度抑郁症，或者是严重焦虑症患者，真正需要诊断的话，还需要考虑很多其他因素。

Self-compassion is crucial during a crisis because it helps us deal better with the all of the bad, negative things that can weigh us down. It’s a way of making room for the bad, unpleasant feelings and acknowledging them instead of trying to shove them down or ignore them. Self-compassion can look like you reminding yourself “Yeah, I’m feeling anxious and scared right now, and it makes sense why I feel this way. It’s okay to feel this way, and so many other people are feeling it too.” Self-compassion can also look like you giving yourself permission to take a break or to engage in self-care.

Coronavirus presents new losses for us because it represents changes in our lives even if we don’t contract the virus. On a universal scale, there are collective losses in communities due to the closures and restrictions of things like schools, businesses, transportation, childcare, or recreational facilities. On individual levels we’re encountering changes in family life, interpersonal relationships and personal activities in new ways. Things, people, places, and opportunities that were there before coronavirus are now absent or different.

Here are 5 things you can do to feel empowered while you manage unexpected losses associated with coronavirus.

I took a walk today to get some perspective in the fresh air about the developments taking place around the world in reaction to the coronavirus. Along my travels it was clear how I was not alone in my efforts. At every turn people were processing their observations, questions, emotions, hypotheses, advice, and general thoughts with anyone who would listen. One universal thread among all the conversations was loss as a result of unexpected change and feelings of anxiety about uncertain outcomes. 

As mental health providers, this COVID-19 outbreak is an opportunity for us to talk with our clients about grief and loss from a unique perspective. Here are 5 things we can do to strengthen our work with our clients…