Resources for COVID-19
We are living in unprecedented times of this global pandemic, being tested in new and challenging ways. Prolonged stress of an uncertain duration can take a serious toll on our mental and emotional well-being. As trauma and resilience are of great interest to me in both my clinical practice and my research, I have created this resource page as a hub for tips and strategies, as well as information about other services I provide if you need more tailored help.
SELF-CARE STRATEGIES
Insert
WHAT IF NEED MORE HELP THAN SELF-CARE?
Frontline workers (e.g., healthcare workers, essential staff working at grocery stores, driving buses, etc.) may have faced an unusually high degree of stress during the recent period of physical distancing. Even as we begin to slowly transition out of these distancing restrictions, you may still be feeling the effects of this stress and have difficulty regulating your emotions. Research shows that the vast majority of people exposed to potentially traumatizing events show a great deal of resilience in the aftermath. That said, for certain individuals, disturbing events can become stored in long-term memory and ‘kindle’ a delayed reaction that can create significant mental health challenges.
In response to this, I am offering a limited number of slots to frontline workers who may be having difficulty managing their stress and emotions and need more individualized help. The modality I will use is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). While EMDR was initially designed for persons with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, there is a specific form of EMDR called the “Recent Traumatic Episode Protocol”, or R-TEP for short. The R-TEP was designed for people who may have been exposed to a recent traumatic event but have not yet developed PTSD or any specific mental health condition. That is, is acts as “early intervention” or “secondary-prevention”. According to the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (2019), EMDR is among the interventions considered to be a '“standard of care” within the first three months following a traumatic event. EMDR R-TEP is very focused on the recent event and as a result, is relatively brief - it can be accomplished in 2-3 90-minute sessions. The sessions can also be done virtually via telehealth (via Doxy.me), so long as you have access to a quiet and private space for the duration of each session.
Additional background information on EMDR R-TEP is available here: https://www.emdria.org/publications-resources/practice-resources/emdr-early-intervention/. If you wish to find out about whether this is a good fit for you, please reach out to me via the Contact page to arrange a brief consultation.