Selfcare and mental health resources for Teachers and Staff Counseling Department
Presentation
5zylljn
Dear colleagues, Warm greetings from the Counseling Team. We have put together this newsletter to provide you with some tools and support that may be useful to you, both at work and in your personal/emotional life. We are experiencing a historical situation, which affected our personal and family routines and work plans, and which has led to challenges in adapting to our different roles. There is no doubt that we all generate different emotions depending on our personalities or current dynamics, and there is no “correct” way of feeling; the ideal is to identify what emotion or emotions we have (both positive and unexpected), their level of intensity and the effects they have on us. We can focus on some of the advantages of being at home, such as comfort (includes working in comfortable clothes), avoiding the stress of traffic, more family time and with pets, among others, but it is also important to accept that there are negative factors that affect us, such as uncertainty, fear of illness, missing loved ones, and the momentary loss of our work and personal routines, among others. These aspects cause us discomfort, and it’s important to pay attention and measure the effects they have on us, in order to be able to learn to control them, so that they don't control us. Stress, anxiety, and sadness are all normal emotions, and at certain levels they can be advantageous, because they drive us to act. However, if they start to increase, they can cause changes in our eating and sleeping habits, they can cause us to overreact to certain situations and, in general, they cause internal discomfort that can affect those around us. On the following pages you will find a summary of resources we wanted to share with you, which we think might be useful for managing emotions, and in general, to continue developing a growth mindset. You are all invited to join the Google classroom we have created, in which all the counselors will be including articles, videos and techniques, as well as contacts of professionals who offer therapeutic support, both within Guatemala and in the United States, so that you can consult them according to your needs. The code to join the Google class is 5zylljn. We hope this service is useful to you. Thank you for the amazing work you are doing, we are proud to be part of the Colegio Interamericano team.
ALL IN, ALL INTER!
Let us support you
SURVEY
YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS IMPORTANT FOR US
As mentioned before, each person lives and experiences the quarantine in a very unique way, no two people are facing exactly the same challenges. Our goal is to share with you useful resources according to the needs you are able to identify; please fill out the survey in the link provided. Counselors will have access to the results and will handle this information confidentially, with the exclusive objective of uploading relevant resources for teachers and staff. When sharing these, we will not mention any individual name.
If you have any questions or particular requests and you would rather talk to us directly, please send an email to counseling@interamericano.edu.gt; the six counselors will receive your communication and we will answer according to the question you have. If you would like to contact a specific counselor directly, you can send us an email to our individual addresses: : Aura Sandoval de Mejía Estefanía Coma Gloria de López Brigitte Chinchilla Anahí Peláez Karla González
ECE ELEM ELEM MS HS HS
admejia@interamericano.edu.gt estefania.coma@interamericano.edu.gt gloria.delopez@interamericano.edu.gt brigitte.chinchilla@interamericano.edu.gt apelaez@interamericano.edu.gt kgonzalez@interamericano.edu.gt
Recommendations for the personal area
CONTACTS FOR EXTERNAL PROFESSIONALS Many people is suffering from stress and anxiety during quarantine. We are sharing contacts from external professionals that are working through videoconferences to support counseling and therapy. Services available for free Professional Psychological Association in Guatemala (Colegio de Psicólogos)
Attention through chat
https://www.colegiodepsicologos.org.gt/
Viktor Frankl Clinic, Francisco Marroquín University
Attention by psychology students in their last year of university, supervised by professionals
Send an email to
clinicaviktorfrankl@ufm.edu
Low cost services Guatemalan Psychological Association (Asociación Guatemalteca de Psicología)
Group of professionals who offer a discount in their fees
Initial contact through whatsapp 54416862
Proyecto Aiglé Guatemala
Group of professionals who are currently offering the first 3 sessions for free; the following sessions at regular cost. They offer sessions in English.
info@proyectoaigle.org.gt Tel 23690020- 22216727
Services at a regular cost Dr. Ana Lucía Alcahé
Adults and teenagers
Contact her through whatsapp 559562632
Licda. Ruth Córdova
Adults and teenagers
Contact her through whatsapp +1 (678)4694238
Proyecto Aiglé Guatemala
Group of professionals who are currently offering the first 3 sessions for free; the following sessions at regular cost. They offer sessions in English.
info@proyectoaigle.org.gt Tel 23690020- 22216727
RELAXATION TECHNIQUES
Three Simple Ways to treat COVID-19 Anxiety, Fear and Trauma
Muscle Relaxation Exercise
RELAXATION MUSIC
To maintain a positive environment during the day
To work or study
To sleep and rest
RESOURCES FOR PERSONAL USE ●
Take a summer class online: several universities are offering free summer programs or courses online, including Columbia and Georgetown and Harvard, for example.
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Universities virtual tours
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Universities in Spain that offer 42 free online courses
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Free online Harvard courses
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EdX: examples of courses: Philosophy and Critical Thinking, Digital Design.
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Open Education: examples of Courses: Introduction of Conflict Resolution, Foundation of the Legal Practice course, Data Skills for Public Health.
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Coursera: mobile Robot Control, English Composition I, Dynamic Public Speaking.
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Open Learn: Creating sound music, Global Warming, The Poetry Sorley MacLean.
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MIT OpencourseWare: Artificial Intelligence, Poker Theory and Analytics.
Recommendations for your family
Covid-19 and Mental Health Concerns, anxiety about COVID-19 and its impact can be overwhelming. Social distancing makes everything even more complex. Learn ways to cope with the situation during this pandemic. Here are some steps you can take to help your children deal with the situation: ● Keep calm. Your children will have you as an example of how to react. Remind them that it is okay to feel the way they do now and encourage them to look to the future with hope. ● Keep a routine. Maintain or create new family routines, such as learning activities, meal times, homework, relaxation, and bedtime. This structure helps children predict what the plan is, allowing them to feel in control of situations. ● Limit access to news. Limit reading, listening, or watching the news. Also the use of social media that can expose your children to rumors and false information. Be careful when talking about the news and your own fears in front of your children. ● Be creative about ways to have fun. Encourage them to do activities that your children enjoy, such as doing puzzles, art projects, reading, listening to music, cooking, games and organizing nights when they watch a movie. ● Enjoy doing virtual sociability. Connect with friends and family with phone calls, FaceTime or similar applications. This can help you to not feel isolated, to form and maintain relationships. ● If necessary, ask for advice. If you notice persistent sleep problems, mood swings, changes in eating habits, difficulty concentrating on routine tasks, or if your children show persistent lack of hope, excessive sadness, or constant worry, contact the doctor or a mental health professional for advice. For more information CLICK HERE
How to protect the mental health of my teenager during the pandemic? Our children have been incredible, in these moments that we are all exploring uncertainty and constant bad news that is COVID-19, adapting to distance learning, and facing the lack of social and human contact in general. It is reasonable to assume that sometime in the near future quarantine will begin to affect their mental health, if it isn’t already. They may experience irritability, loneliness, anxiety and fear, and in each adolescent it can manifest itself differently. Right now, there is a common denominator in every home and it plays an important role as most of our teens are hiding behind this: THE SCREENS. As if it wasn’t already a challenge to manage screen time in a teenager, our current situation has made it a little more complicated. So what can we as parents do to protect their mental health with all this extra screen time?
Balance screen time with other activities.
Don’t eliminate structure and expectations: Experts recommend NOT to use screens at least 1 hour before bed to rest properly. Sleep plays a big role in mental health, especially in teens.
Use the computer to connect with other people.
Model healthy device habits: Do this by taking breaks and showing priorities without devices (like reading, cooking, eating, walking, talking)
Resources for Online Safety Here are some resources so you can stay up-to-date and understand how and what our teens use to stay connected. It is very important that parents are informed about new applications and are kept up-to-date to provide a safe online environment, as well as not to be fooled by our tech savvy teens.
How to set parental controls on Netix
What is Snapchat?
Ultimate Tik Tok Guide for Parents
Apps to send anonymous messages that teens love
For more resources like these, ideas or tips on how to protect your teen's mental health, please feel free to contact us via email or Google Meet.
Additional resources to promote wellbeing in children, teenagers and adults Here are additional resources that are available online. ●
Unicef: How teenagers can protect their mental health during coronavirus
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CDC: Taking care of your emotional health
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CDC: Coping with stress
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World Health Organization
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Best free meditation apps
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Coronavirus story for children: Elsa support
TIPS TO MANAGE WORK STRESS
WHAT IS WORK STRESS? It is the physiological, psychological and behavioral response of an individual who tries to adapt and adjust to internal and external pressures of their own work, organization and work environment (European Commission, 1999). The person perceives that they do not have sufficient resources to face the labor problems and the experience of stress appears (INSHT, 2004).
Why does stress occur? The most important stressors have to do with: work overload, excessive responsibility and fundamentally the overvaluation of the notions of success or failure that each one has in his or her daily tasks. Being elements that cause a lot of concern, we call them direct stressors. Of course, the relational climate that can occur in the workplace also influences. All work implies ties, just like in all the spaces in which we move, home, family, friends, etc. In the workplace, there are also certain links that can favor the climate being cordial or hostile (Hospital Alemán Asociación Civil, 2020).
Observable signs of stress (Hospital Alemán Asociación Civil, 2020).
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Physical tiredness Fatigue Lack of energy Difficulty focusing Sleep disturbances (insomnia and hypersomnia) Sadness Irritability Bad mood Impatience Headache Lack or excess of appetite
Tips to prevent work stress (Hospital Alemรกn Asociaciรณn Civil, 2020). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Respect the lunch space, a small break in the day where one can relax and put his head on something else. Pause mid-morning and another mid-afternoon. Get up, stretch your feet, walk, get a little oxygen, change the position of the body. All of this relaxes. Try to maintain a relationship and even promote the bond outside the workplace. Focus on the tasks accomplished and not on the pending ones. Focus on the objectives achieved. Get organized and set reasonable goals. Talk to someone (partner, friend or psychologist).
CONFERENCE
“Mental Health during the Covid-19 Pandemic”
The Counseling Department, in collaboration with the “Escuela para Padres” group organized this conference by Dr. Claudia de Sibony; who among her extensive career has a Master's degree in Family and Couple Therapy from the University of Boston. She has been recognized for her experience working in the area of Clinical, Educational and Family Psychology. We hope you find it useful. To access the conference CLICK HERE (It’s in Spanish but auto-generated subtitles for translation are available)