August 2020

Pandemic Teacher Support Group

With the coming school year, teachers are having to navigate uncharted waters like never before. As if managing the stresses of regular teaching weren’t enough, teachers must not only educate but enforce and oversee complicated protocols as their school administrations struggle to keep up with local and state guidance. Join us for an 8-week support group where teachers can share frustrations, worries, feelings and ideas in a warm and supportive, judgment free environment. Learn coping strategies, self-care tools, and get expert guidance under the leadership of group facilitator, Gerard Micera, who has the unique qualification of being both an educator and a psychologist.

When? Wednesdays at 4pm, September 9th – October 28th
Where? Google Meet
Cost? $240 for full 8-weeks. Space is limited to 12 participants.

Click Here to Enroll

Pandemic Parent Support Group

Times are tough for parents right now. With school just weeks away, parents are having to make tough decisions. Working from home or is it living at work? How to make the commute work? Remote, hybrid, homeschool, masks, shields, pods, six feet, ventilation, rapid tests, A/B, AM/PM, staggered drop offs, socially distanced playdates, bubbles? One year ago, this vocabulary would have sounded alien to all of us. Now we’re living it and anxiety levels have increased for parents and children alike. The very concepts of home, work and school have turned upside down. Join us for an 8-week support group where parents can share frustrations, worries, feelings and ideas in a warm and supportive, judgment free environment. Learn coping strategies, self-care tools, and get parenting guidance and resources from group facilitators, Marisa Picheny and Emily Bly.

When? Tuesdays at 8pm, September 8th – October 27th
Where? Google Meet
Cost? $240 for full 8-weeks. Space is limited to 12 participants.

Click Here to Enroll

What Does Boredom Do?

What is boredom and is it worth paying attention to? Isn’t boredom just wanting more stimulation and excitement? Well, yes and no. According to this New Yorker article, it may be worth noticing the next time you are bored. Often when we aren’t distracted, we can really examine what’s really going on in ourselves and our feelings (an anxious person’s “bored” may feel very different from a depressed person’s). But the article also examines how there is new brand of boredom popping up in society, one that is unique to this moment in our history.

Stress Resets & Strategies

This New York Times article has some useful tips for self-soothing in times of distress. With COVID, we are in the middle of an emotional marathon, but some of these strategies will work when everyday life is back to normal. Here are some key takeaways.

Pacing your breath. Slowing down your breathing to six breaths a minute has shown to decrease anxiety.
Practicing Anchoring. Notice if you are engaged in thinking that isn’t helping you, often our interpretations of events supercharge the intensity of what’s happening around us.
Cool-off — literally. By lowering your body temperature with water, you activate your body’s dive response, a reflex that happens when you cool your nostrils while holding your breath, dampening your physiological and emotional intensity.