School Psychologist (Lauren Dragon)

Looking After Yourselves During The Holiday Break

With the ever evolving landscape of Covid-19, the experience of some tragic events and the normal workload stressors of the job, it has certainly been a challenging term for us all.  I am sure many of us are looking forward to some much needed time to rest and recharge.

In light of recent tragic events, I just wanted to reiterate to you all that grief is a very individual process with no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ ways to experience it.  Some people may feel sadness, others anger or disbelief, anxiety, irritability or numbness may also be experienced.  Some may even fluctuate between these emotions, everyone grieves in their own way.

Grieving does not have a timeline and grief may be felt over an extended period of time.   Please be mindful of your own wellbeing during the school holiday break and practice self-care.                                                                                                                                                    

Some of the self-care strategies outlined below incorporate a mental activity identified by David Rock and Daniel Siegel to be part of ‘The Healthy Mind Platter’ and necessary for optimum mental health.  

 Some suggestions for private self-care strategies to get through difficult times include, keeping a diary, allowing yourself to express your thoughts and feelings privately (Time In –Healthy Mind Platter), exercise (Physical Time – Healthy Mind Platter), meditation (Time In – Healthy Mind Platter) and maintain healthy bedtime routines (Sleep Time – Healthy Mind Platter).