Posts tagged healing
COVID-19's Effect on Mental Health (+ 3 Things You Can Do To Heal)
COVID-19's Effect on Mental Health (+ 3 Things You Can Do To Heal)

Ever since the pandemic hit back in March 2020, we’ve resorted to using the word ‘unprecedented’ to describe just about everything — unprecedented times, unprecedented emotional experiences, unprecedented grief. This word has become a failsafe in the absence of any other remotely sensical language to describe this terrible period of time that we’ve been caught in for going on two years.

But I don’t think we’ve truly stopped to recognize just how traumatizing an effect COVID has had on us— both collectively and individually— and our respective worldviews. We haven’t examined how hard a pandemic has been and continues to be on our mental health.

We expect ourselves to carry on as usual, to put on a brave face, to deny ourselves our own internal experiences because our external experience has become significantly more pressing. We only have so much energy to spare, so we’ve turned it towards what feels most important, denying ourselves in the process.

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Grief, Self-Compassion, TraumaNici Richardson-McFarlandCrown of Hope Counselingpandemic, covid-19, trauma, grief, physical effects of grief, healing, therapy, self-compassionComment
A Letter to the New Year
A Letter to the New Year

It is entirely logical that we would hold tight to the idea of a new calendar year marking new beginnings, new resolutions, and at times, even a whole new sense of self. (“New year, new me,” anyone?) We change our habits, we update our wardrobes, we sign up for a gym membership, we reassess our respective career trajectories.

We see an opportunity to regain some semblance of control, and we seize it… myself included!

But what the novelty surrounding the New Year doesn’t account for is the reality of the human condition.

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Grief, Self-CompassionNici Richardson-McFarlandgrief, new year, healing