Dear {First Name},
Sadly, as we say goodbye to 2020, we remain in very difficult and challenging times.
The COVID-19 vaccines give us very real hope that we can eventually get back to a better "new normal.” The vaccine becoming reality is a much needed light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel.
Each of us, in our own way (us as individuals, our families, friends and communities) are struggling mentally, emotionally and physically in coping with the pandemic and its ongoing cumulative traumas and harmful effects. We are living with (and through) multiple, simultaneous traumas and ongoing, unrelenting stress.
The tremendous loss of life, our individual and collective anxiety and grief, an overloaded and overwhelmed health care system, the strain on first responders, financial, food and housing insecurity, the depressed main street economy, continued uncertainty and anxiety over the virus, a divided nation politically and socially, a lingering hotly contested election, and a year of social unrest. It is more than most of us have probably EVER had to cope with in our lifetimes, and it is all happening at once.
As we head into a new year everyone needs to build skills of resilience to face our stress and anxieties and minimize the likelihood of present and future development of post-traumatic stress reactions, negative health consequences, stress symptoms and illnesses of body, mind and spirit.
Mind-body therapeutics, mindfulness practice, compassion practice, engaging in a healthy lifestyle, committing to good self-care, cultivation and maintenance of resilience skills – all of these can help us learn to deal with and better cope with all the stress that we are experiencing as we navigate these dark and difficult waters.
Utilizing all these resources has increasingly become of critical clinical importance as an essential component of care for maintaining wellness and for the prevention and treatment of illness and disease.
I will be sharing resources via email, and on social media, in the coming weeks to support you in building resilience and coping with the stress and trauma that we are living in, and hopefully, moving through and beyond.
