I’m writing to offer simple information about different types of anxiety that could emerge as you and your loved ones transition from COVID life and begin to re-enter more “normal” expectations for daily living. As a family therapist in Washington DC, I often help parents support their children in coping with anxiety as a roadblock toward their goals or happiness. ...READ MORE »
As we begin to get vaccinated and anticipate returning to routines next fall, many parents are already angsting about how they will help their children break habits that have formed during COVID and be ready for returning to a busier routine. During my walks with other mom friends, we are already stressing over how to wean our kids off ...READ MORE »
We are one year into the pandemic, a year since I wrote my first blog on handling our fears in the face of the growing threat of COVID-19, and things are… well, things are a really mixed bag and it depends on who you ask! On the one hand, there are new variants that sound scary, the vaccine delivery started ...READ MORE »
I don’t know about you, but 2021 has brought hope and the realization that this has been a long long haul so far. I’m not someone who tires easily or gets discouraged quickly. And 10 months into this pandemic, I now feel it more than ever. While January 2021 brought hope as many started the vaccine process, it also ...READ MORE »
Winter has arrived! We have spent the last several months surviving, reacting, adjusting, re-adjusting, and working to make sense of some of the most stressful personal, community, national, and global times we have ever experienced. We are not always feeling prepared for more of the same as we begin winter. With each day, however, we are moving through it. Some ...READ MORE »
I’m not going to silver-line it: a lot of things are awful right now, and a lot of things we might look forward to at this time of year – holiday parties, gathering with family and friends, going out to restaurants for celebrations, taking winter vacations – are all cancelled. This pandemic has given us all sorts of problems and ...READ MORE »
… and we will be okay! I have been counseling clients lately with increasing anxiety and despair as we head into the winter and also another wave of the pandemic. Fears of a lockdown, dread of isolation, overwhelm about homeschooling while working from home and fewer social supports, and valid health concerns abound. When I say “we will be okay,” I don’t mean ...READ MORE »
Remember back in March and early April when the shut-down still had a slightly exciting and very temporary feel to it? It was stressful, frustrating and sad but it was also strangely exhilarating. That’s because we were all operating (and sometimes thriving) using our emergency stress response that humans turn to during a crisis. It’s a surge of mental and ...READ MORE »
I’m writing this blog tonight in the hopes of helping all of us have more positive productive conversations about COVID with each other. I’m a therapist in Washington DC, and I help families and couples have difficult conversations on a daily basis. I’ve been thinking about the content of this post for the past 6 months. I’m trained to observe, ...READ MORE »
I’m writing this morning on a topic that many of us are facing as we work to transition our children and teens into virtual learning environments during the pandemic. Screen anxiety shows up in children and teens when they resist, avoid, or shut down in the face of demands to participate in asynchronous and especially synchronous instruction during distance ...READ MORE »
