Is The CoronaVirus Pandemic Stressing You Out?

Coping with a Pandemic

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be stressful for you. Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in you and/or your children.  But finding ways to cope with that stress will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger.

Let's face it: Going through this pandemic can be a lonely road to travel. It's easy to feel alone, overwhelmed and misunderstood.

NEED HELP RIGHT AWAY?

When you contact us at https://www.affinitytherapyservices.com/appointment  please be sure to include the statement 'REQUESTING CORES GROUP.'

  

Do Your Friends and Family Have A Different Response?

Friends and Family may try to listen, but sometimes they may not want to continue to listen.

 Or they may have a different way of responding to the crisis.  Many friends will give you aphorisms, pithy bits of wisdom and cliche speeches but few have the tools to truly guide you on this road.  And too, many friends will tire easily if you don't 'get with the program real soon.'

Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations.  How you respond to the outbreak can depend on your background, the things that make you different from other people, and  the community you live in. 

Your stress during an infectious disease outbreak can include:

• Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones
• Changes in sleep or eating patterns
• Difficulty sleeping or concentrating
• Worsening of chronic health problems
• Increased use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs 
• Feelings of Loneliness and Isolation
• Feelings of Anger at Others 
• Feelings of Shame towards Self

CoronaVirus Online Rational Emotional Support (CORES) Group

COVID-19 (CoronaVIrus) Rational Emotional Support Group --CORES-- is for you, or someone you care about, if you are feeling overwhelmed with emotions like sadness, depression, apathy, anger, fear or anxiety. 

Additionally if you are feeling isolated and lonely due to Social Distancing, this emotional support group will help you connect with others during this challenging time. 

It's common to feel overwhelmed.

And you may not know what to do next. 

At our online, real-time video/audio streaming CORES Group, we work together to help you move forward--by identifying the REAL LIFE problems as well as the triggers and responses, the thoughts, feelings and behaviors that are bothering you. 

Through rational, evidence-based Group  Coaching  or Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy  you will gain the tools and techniques to move forward and experience happiness despite the challenges of this pandemic. 

The CORES Group is a place to be listened to, supported and positively challenged. 

 

NEED A PLACE TO TALK ABOUT IT?

When you contact us at https://www.affinitytherapyservices.com/appointment  please be sure to include the statement 'REQUESTING CORES GROUP.'

 

Here are just a few of the situations that CORES Group members may deal with:

Emotional Problems:

Anger and Rage:

• Anger at the news media.
• Anger at social media
• Anger at the behavior of foreign governments
• Anger at your own national, state, county or local government.
• Anger and frustration at family members who are panicking
• Anger and frustration with family and friends who are not taking any precautions
• Anger and hurt over friends and family who treat you as if you are paranoid for feeling scared and concerned.
• Anger and fear towards strangers who are not practicing good hygiene in public or who carelessly spread the virus.
• Anger or Rage towards your conception of God or a Higher Power

Fear and Anxiety

• Fear of contracting the virus
• Fear of your own death
•  Fear of loved ones dying.
• Fear of Social Chaos.
• Fear of appearing frightened or vulnerable
• Fear of missing news or information resulting in Obsessiveness
•  Fear of Contamination resulting in Obssession and hygiene and Compulsive hygiene.

Shame and Self-Criticism

• Shame toward yourself for potentially exposing yourself to situations in which you contracted the virus.
• Shame toward yourself for unintentionally exposing someone else to the virus.
• Shame toward yourself for unintentionally exposing someone else to the virus who subsequently had permanent disability or death
• Shame towards yourself for needing financial assistance from others during this time. 
• Shame towards yourself for feeling vulnerable or frightened.

Depression and Apathy:

• Depression over the loss of lives due to the pandemic
• Depression because of the 'unfairness' of the devastating consequences of the pandemic
• Depression because of the loss of loved ones due to the pandemic.
• Depression because of severe financial impact due to the pandemic
• Depression and Apathy over the lack of control resulting in 'escape' behaviors--overdrinking, over-substance using, overeating, excessive risk-taking, excessive online shopping. gambling, risky or excessive sexual behaviors.

REAL LIFE PROBLEMS

Before and during the pandemic, you may be contending with any number of problems: familial, relationship, social, occupational financial

Family Problems:

• You may have a conflicted relationship with your family yet fear for their health.
• You may feel resentful that they haven't checked on your health.
• You may feel fatigue from trying to calm and soothe your frightened senior parents.
• You may feel fatigue from trying to provide stability to your scared children.
• You may feel stressed because you live so far away from family, yet fear traveling by air.
• You may not have citizenship status in your country of residence and fear that if you visit family in other countries that you may not be able to return.
• You may feel stressed because you must scramble to find childcare for your children who have been sent home from school. Or you yourself may need to provide that childcare while working remotely.
• If you have tested positive for the virus, you may be further isolated from family and friends while in quarantine. You may also find that those close to you may not believe you are no longer contagious and may seek to avoid you.

Relationship Problems

• You may have recently separated or divorced and are suddenly alone with few social options.
• You may have been considering separation and divorce but fear making a change during this turbulent time.
• You might have been just beginning to date and feel the Social Distancing program has now prevented you from connecting with anyone, increasing your feelings of loneliness.
• You may have a partner who has opposite views about Social Distancing and Precautionary Hygiene causing friction between you.

Social Problems:

• You may have recently relocated and have not yet found a new group of friends. Now those options have been further limited.
• You may have made some new friends but now find that no one is willing to risk face-to-face time together.
• You may be scared of confronting current friends on their hygienic practices and start to avoid them.'

Occupational Problems:

• You may have a job that that doesnt allow you to work remotely and may have significant financial strain due to your company mandating people avoid the workplace.
• You may work in a service job that requires customer contact, but your employer has temporarily shut down your workplace.
• You may work in the Gig Economy as a driver or delivery person and find you are exposed to more people than you are comfortable with.
• You may live in a new city and work at a new job that provided your only social contact and are now removed, at home, alone.

Financial Problems:

• You may be suffering great financial hardship due to the shutdown of your industry, your company during the pandemic.
• You may be suffering great financial hardship due to being laid off due to the downsizing or bankruptcy of your employer's business.
• You may be an entrepeneur whose business depended on live, in-person customer interactions.
• You may be a creative, an artist, or technician in the media or arts and found your production has been shut down.
• You may be financially dependent on funds that are vulnerable to the stock market fluctuations and lost significant value in your investments.

FEELING ISOLATED?

When you contact us at https://www.affinitytherapyservices.com/appointment  please be sure to include the statement 'REQUESTING CORES GROUP.'

Are you a Responder?

Responders often deal with STS when helping families and individuals after a traumatic event. STS is Secondary Traumatic Stress reaction. This may include:

• Fatigue
• Illness
• Fear
• Withdrawal
• Guilt

Whether you ar a paramedic, an emergency room nurse , a firefighter, or any other kind of responder to those who are suffering or who have been harmed by the outbreak, you too deserve a place to be heard in confidence.

Reactions to Quarantine and Social Distancing:

You may have different stress reactions to being Quarantined or Social Distancing including:

  

Anxiety, worry, or fear related to:
 

• The experience of monitoring yourself, or being monitored by others for signs and symptoms of the disease
• The challenges of securing things you need, such as groceries and personal care items 
• Uncertainty or frustration about how long you will need to remain in this situation, and uncertainty about the future
• Loneliness associated with feeling cut off from the world and from loved ones
• Anger if you think you were exposed to the disease because of others’ negligence
• Boredom and frustration because you may not be able to work or engage in regular day-to-day activities

• Uncertainty or ambivalence about the situation
• A desire to use alcohol or drugs to cope
• Symptoms of depression, such as feelings of hopelessness, changes in appetite, or sleeping too little or too much
• Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as intrusive distressing memories, flashbacks (reliving the event), nightmares, changes in thoughts and mood, and being easily startled.  

Release From Quarantine: If you've recently been released from Quarantine, you may have a mixture of reactions including:

• Relief
• Fear and worry about your ongoing health and the health of loved ones.
• Stress from self-monitoring or being monitored by others for symptoms.
• Sadness, anger, frustration because friends and family are fearful of contracting the disease from you, even after recovery.
• Guilt about giving up work or parenting duties during quarantine

YOU CAN GET SUPPORT FROM OTHERS RIGHT NOW!

In a CORES  group, you will be surrounded by like-minded people ONLINE who know what you are going through.  In the CORES Group we discuss our experiences during the pandemic and support one another.  Some of the issues and feelings discussed include:

• Sadness
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Fatigue from caring for others
• Substance use and abuse in response to stress
• Fear of illness and death

CORES Group members also discuss Ways to Support Yourself  including how to:

• Disconnect from media/news
• Take Care of Your Body--exercise,nutrition, sleep
• Activities to increase enjoyment
• Talk with those you trust. Sharing your thoughts and emotions
• Learn the facts and avoiding hearsay.

You'll also get:

1. A 'No B.S.' Reality Check. Your CORES Group peers will challenge you to take an honest look at your situation and your part in it. We're going to help you identify false beliefs and B.S.--and by B.S. we mean 'Belief Systems.'

2. A Sounding Board for Your Decisions. The pandemic changes many aspects of your life. Having a tribe of others going through the same life transition who can listen to you and help you evaluate major decisions that  this pandemic brings can be a true gift.

3. Real Change. When you work on yourself in a CORES Group, you change. You also change how you react to life circumstances beyond your control. As a result, your relationship with life changes. 

4. A Support System When Your Previous Supports May Disappear. Many men and women invest so much time and energy in their work relationships and love relationships that they forego other close connections.r.  If your primary emotional supporter has always been your spouse or domestic partner, and they become infected with the virus  you've lost your primary emotional support system.

  A CORES Group can fill that void. Group members provide you with a community, a tribe of others who are there to support you, and help you through, not only the pandemic but your life well after the current pandemic is behind us.

5. Wisdom from Collective Experience. No matter how alone you feel, how isolated you think you are after going through a life-disrupting pandemic, the reality is:  you are not alone.

Even if you feel your experience of the pandemic is different from the other group members, you can still gain deep insight, from their experiences, wisdom and even their mistakes. You gain access to knowledge and wisdom from those who are walking the same path.

Figuring out "Normal" During the COVID-19 Pandemic? It's easy to feel as if you are 'going crazy' as you go on the rollercoaster ride of isolation and social distancing. Anger, Apathy, Sadness, Fear, Hope, Despair.  You will learn that what you are feeling is completely normal during a pandemic.

Believing you'll never feel safe again is not uncommon, nor is ruminating about life and death.

6. Deeper Emotional Awareness. By gaining more understanding of your emotions, you can start to heal those emotions. CORES groups provide you with the tools you need to learn to feel your emotional state and to communicate what you are feeling to others.  This often improves every relationship in your life.

7. A Safe Place to Feel. CORES groups not only allow men and women to express their feelings in a safe environment rather than stuffing them away. By allowing for difficult emotions and giving expression to them, we avoid 'leaking' our feelings, or having them 'come out sideways' in inappropriate behaviors with our friends, family or partners.

8. A Group That Can Help Make the Pandemic Less Lonely. Maybe you recently moved to a new city. Perhaps you just broke up with your significant other. Or you've said goodbye to friends who did not support a healthy lifestyle. And now the society suggests you spend time alone, away from other people.  In the CORES group you can connect with others virtually and reduce some of those feelings of lonelinesss and isolation.

9. Transforming Your Relationship with Your Kids. Through the work you do in a CORES Group you will become better at identifying your thoughts and emotions. It will then make it easier to be more of aware of your children's thoughts and feelings about the pandemic, thus increasing your ability to provide compassionate parenting.

10. The Wisdom and Growth That Will Help You Become a Better Communicator. By having a more intimate knowledge of your own thoughts and feelings, you will be able to identify rational from irrational thoughts and reduce unrealistic expectations during this difficult time. This in turn will allow you to experience more satisfaction and even joy in all your relationships as you navigate through this global challenge.

NEED A PLACE TO GET REAL?

When you contact us at https://www.affinitytherapyservices.com/appointment  please be sure to include the statement 'REQUESTING CORES GROUP.'

In the CoronaVirus Online Rational Emotional Support (CORES) Group, members will support one another and learn how to:

•            Connect with Others for Support
•            Identify your Triggers (Activating Events) that lead to overwhelming emotions and ineffective behaviors.
• ·         Dispute Irrational Thoughts
• ·         Identify Belief Systems
• ·         Identify Command/Demand Thinking
• ·         Identify Negative Self-Talk
• ·         Identify Irrational Thoughts
• ·         Dispute Irrational Thoughts about the pandemic, other people, yourself and your life.
• ·         Create Effective Coping Thoughts
• ·         Identify New Goals
• ·         Practice Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy Dispute Method (ABCs)
• ·         Practice Rational Emotive Imagery
• ·         Practice Progressive Relaxation
• ·         Practice Shame Attacking Exercises
• ·         Practice Mindfulness Exercises

Also note, we believe its every therapist and/or life coach's duty to assist clients in maintaining a strong, ongoing connection with their referring therapist. CORES group members will be directed back to their referring clinician for questions related to individual counseling.

All CORES groups are confidential and all members must sign confidentiality contracts. 

Potential Group members can write to us at [email protected] and request the CORES Group. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

CORES--GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY 

Participants have the option to join either a psychotherapy-based CORES group or a coaching-based CORES group. 

The Psychotherapy-based CORES groups are for those individuals who feel they may have a diagnosable mental or behavioral health condition that may be amenable to psychotherapeutic intervention. This may include but not be limited to such conditions as:

• Adjustment Disorders
• Anxiety Disorders
• Mood Disorders
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorders

The group is ongoing and there is no mandated end date for participation.

CORES--COACHING GROUP 

The Coaching based CORES  groups are for those members who want the group support but who are not suffering from any diagnosable mental health issue.  Additionally, attending a coaching group allows the member to pay out of pocket and to keep their record of attendance private as it will not be reimbursed by insurance, thus no records are identified or provided to an insurance company. Coaching is generally 'strengths based' rather than 'dysfunction based and works on helping individuals to achieve their strengths and goals. 

The group is ongoing and there is no mandated end date for participation.

The Group Leader may discuss with you the most appropriate option for you.

CORES is not intended as a replacement for individual therapy. If the Group Leader identifies issues that would be better addressed in individual therapy. s/he may recommend appropriate referrals for the member.

Also note, we believe its every therapist and/or life coach's duty to assist clients in maintaining a strong, ongoing connection with their referring therapist. CORES group members will be directed back to their referring clinician for questions related to individual counseling.

All CORES groups are confidential and all members must sign confidentiality contracts.

PARTICIPANTS:

Maximum capacity for each group is 10 members. Groups include all genders and are for adults over the age of 18 only.  The Group leaders will send an intake form to each potential member to evaluate if the CORES group is appropriate for their needs.

Participants may be considered for either a psychotherapy-based CORES group or a coaching-based CORES group.

LOCATION AND HOURS:

CORES Group is a one-hour per week, ONLINE, confidential, live video-streaming member participation group.   We have multiple groups with different hours during the week. When you contact us, tell us your hours of availability. The CORES group leader will send participants a confidential link each time a session begins.

RATES and PAYMENT:

The CORES  Group rate is $50 per hour with a one-month commitment and a recommended minimum of 8 sessions.

Private paying clients must pay for each month in advance. The group is ongoing and there is no mandated end date for participation.  Coaching CORES is not reimbursed by insurance. Participation fees are non-refundable.  

Cores Psychotherapy Group may be paid by select insurance plans. 

Currently  we accept only the following insurance plans for the CORES Group Psychotherapy only:

• CIGNA
• MHN (HealthNet) 
• Optum (United Behavioral Health) 
• ComPsych Guidance Resources  

REACH OUT AND CONNECT WITH US

When you contact us at https://www.affinitytherapyservices.com/appointment  please be sure to include the statement 'REQUESTING CORES GROUP.'

Please also include Insurance Provider (if any) or Private Pay.

We will contact you within 24 hours or less to assist you. 

CONNECT WITH OTHERS THROUGH THE  CORES Group.

Remember, reaching out to people you trust is one of the best ways to reduce anxiety, depression, loneliness, and boredom during social distancing, quarantine, and isolation.  

TIPS to help you in the meantime--

In addition to the CORES Group you can: 

• Use the telephone, email, text messaging, and social media to connect with friends, family, and others.
• Talk “face to face” with friends and loved ones using Skype or FaceTime.
• If approved by health authorities and your health care providers, arrange for your friends and loved ones to bring you newspapers,movies, and books.
• Use the Internet, radio, and television to keep up with local, national, and world events.
• Talk about your experiences and feelings to loved ones and friends, if you find it helpful.
• Maintain a sense of hope and positive thinking; consider keeping a journal where you write down things you are grateful for or that are going well.
• Call SAMHSA’s free 24-hour Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990, if you feel lonely or need support.
• Call 911 if you feel that you may harm yourself or someone else.

REACH OUT AND CONNECT WITH US--

When you contact us at https://www.affinitytherapyservices.com/appointment  please be sure to include the statement 'REQUESTING CORES GROUP.'

We will contact you within 24 hours or less to assist you.