April 08th, 2020

Everyone is working through this pandemic experience in their own way.  If you or your child are feeling isolated, sad, anxious, or depressed, you are not alone.  Not being able to physically interact with people can bring up all of these feelings.  Therapy can be helpful with this experience. 
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In addition to therapy, below are some ways to combat these feelings:

• Engage in self-care such as: avoiding isolation, maintaining professional connections, keeping expectations realistic, balancing work and life, engaging in intellectual activities that are outside of your profession, keeping your long range goals in mind
• Spend time "seeing" people through video chats.  You can arrange a lunch, dinner, or other hang-out time with friends over video.  You can play a game, such as Yahtzee, Scrabble, Battleship, Sorry, Minecraft, or Fortnight.  Some video platforms like Zoom allow for collaborative drawing and tic tac toe on their Whiteboard.
• Be purposeful in your activities.  Now is a good time to explore a new interest or hobby as a way to learn and give yourself purpose.  YouTube videos or craft kits are places to look for direction.
• Exercise to increase your positive feelings and energy levels.  This can be anything - including but not limited to: taking a walk, following an exercise video, doing a routine you make up, dancing to some favorite music, breathing deeply for 15 minutes 

Children may need help to feel connected to their peers whom they typically see effortlessly on a daily basis.  You can help children connect through routines:

• ​Schedule weekly/bi-weekly club meeting(s) (e.g. book club, drawing club, documentary club, baking club. knitting club, Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons) where content can be discussed for 30-60 minutes
• Plan a regular recess or lunch time to be in a video space together to be silly and play (see potential games above)
• Provide access to meditation games such as Unyte or biofeedback games such as Mightier to give children more tools to cope with stress
• Schedule video playdates
• Facilitate projects like those from Camp Gallileo or other inspirational websites