Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

This month marks the anniversary of when COVID arrived in Minnesota and began to ravage our facilities and dismantle our personal and professional lives.

The anniversary can leave us sad for what we have lost, angry that we are not over this yet and too exhausted from months of survival mode to feel good about our work. It can also cast doubt on whether the huge effort we have put into keeping things as good as possible even made a difference.

Rest assured, it did. And…you continue to make a difference even when you feel depleted.

When all else fails (or even before that), prioritize your mental health. It is normal to have lots of difficult emotions around any anniversary of this nature. Arguably, the “beginning of COVID” anniversary is one of the most significant events you’ll remember in your lifetime of work. Let’s mark this anniversary by remembering a few things:

• Know that resilience is not the absence of problems. It is the process of moving through despite them again and again. We know that the most likely human response to chronic stress is to be resilient.
• Communicate (sound familiar?): one of the most adaptive ways we can cope with chronic stress and traumatic experiences is to talk about it, vent, debrief and connect with others. 
• During this anniversary time, make a list of what you’ve learned during this pandemic: the good, the bad, all of it. “Forgetting” is troublesome down the road.
• Comfort the side of you that wants to “forget” and take time to commemorate so we don’t. It will foster better well-being, preparedness for the next stressful events and coping as we continue to come out of the COVID fog.

Resilience perspective during trauma: https://doi.apa.org/fulltext/2020-38956-001.html

For more information about stress relief during COVID-19, go to www.leadingagemncoaching.com.

At no charge, you can arrange virtual staff support groups through LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation’s COVID-19 Staff Coping & Support Line project. Contact Terri Foley at tfoley@leadingagemn.org or 651-815-8137.