A Word from the Editor by Stephen Douglas

A Word from the Editor

by Stephen Douglas, MA, RP, (cert)OAMHP

Hello to all our members and readers,

Eras are defined by issues that have a common impact upon a majority of the population. 2020 has born far-reaching issues that both unite and divide us. How we respond as a profession and as a nation will define us.

Each of us — our clients, our colleagues, our family members, ourselves — has been affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic. According to a survey released by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) in May, 58% of Ontario residents believe that their mental health was negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, 69% believe Ontario is headed for a ‘serious mental health crisis’ as a consequence, and 77% believed that more mental health supports will be necessary to help society manage. That same month, a study released in the Lancet projected suicides as a consequence of the impact of COVID-19 on unemployment alone could lead to an increase of 27.7 per cent to Canada’s annual average of deaths by suicide — about 4,000 per year — in both 2020 and 2021. As Dr. Jonathan Moult wrote, even if only a small percentage of people have coronavirus, “100 percent of us are psychologically affected by it.”

More recently, a study released in July by the Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder suggested that healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic are at risk of severe stress that could cause longterm psychological damage, citing examples leading to guilt, moral injury, fear and shame, urging doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and mental health workers to practice self-care through nutrition, exercise, social connection, and professional support.

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The coronavirus pandemic further escalates many previously existing mental health stressors issues. Isolation and job insecurity are expected to exacerbate rates of alcoholism. Nearly one in four Ontario residents recently polled were consuming more alcohol, cannabis, or tobacco since the pandemic hit. Maternal mental health experts are anticipating an increase in post-partum mood disorder, noting that simple acts like going to the grocery store become for more anxiety-producing than ever before.

More recently, evidence has begun to reveal the structural inequities in our supposedly universal health system during this global health crisis, particularly with respect to race. Data released by Toronto Health on July 10th, 2020 indicated that the rate of infection in Toronto’s northwest (932 cases per 100,000 people) was almost four times higher than in the rest of the city (238 cases per 100,000).

The relationship between the determinants of health impacted by systemic racism — unequal starting points and unequal access to health services, financial burden, nature of employment, freedom to work from home, homelessness, all factors that lie beyond an individual’s biology and behaviours — and infection rates of COVID19 could not be more clear.

So we put out a call to our members. And how you responded!

In total, we were able to include 14 articles in this edition, making it the most substantial edition of Psychologica to date. Yet it was not the volume of submissions but rather the quality of writing that stood out. I believe you will find each contribution worthy of careful reflection.

The first section includes five articles that explore the impact of COVID-19; Suzanne Duc has provided a valuable essay on grief, in an interview with Psychologica Dr. Roger McIntyre offers a clarion call to the looming mental health crisis nationwide, including the anticipated escalation in rates of suicide, Dilcio Guedese shares his observations and insights into the impact on children and families, Elizabeth Carey-Scarlett provides caution concerning professional burnout, and Naomi De Gasperis has written with insight and self-awareness concerning her thoughts on racism in the midst of a pandemic.

Four articles comprising the second section focus on empowerment and resiliency, from Allan Hirsh’s use of storytelling to model resiliency, and Laura Ducharm identifying steps to foster resiliency, to Claire Edmonds personal account how coping with cancer helped her to manage the uncertainty of COVID-19, along with Shalyn Dussiaume’s “survival tips.”

Our third and final section features adaptations to therapeutic models and methods our contributors have identified. Valery Belyanin exploring of a Cognitive Behavioural approach, seeking an effective model of treatment during COVID-19, Anna Woo engaging MindfulnessBased Cognitive Therapy along with Compassion Focused Therapy, Mary Ann Saltstone’s adaptation, discovering unexpected benefits to virtual therapy, Claire Edmonds, offering good insights and practical advice in the use of virtual conferencing, Naomi Tessler, a facilitator of improvisational playback theatre. This last article features tips for working with large groups that may benefit readers who are considering a virtual resumption of group classes and programs.

In the midst of this period of uncertainty, protests were sparked by the police murder of George Floyd, sweeping across the US, Canada, and ultimately around the world as citizens braved the COVID-19 pandemic and police violence to challenge racial and class inequalities. If individual, professionally, and nationally we were in denial before, our ignorance or passive response has been called to account. Systemic racism is real. Racialized and marginalized people face institutional discrimination daily, reflected in a lack of diversity, inclusion, equity and equality in every arena of life. We must all acknowledge how systemic discrimination and barriers impacts upon issues like housing, social programs, health care, education, political power, and income.

At the intersection of systemic racism and the COVID-19 crisis lie moral dilemmas for many front line workers who need to keep their frustration concerning inequities to themselves. Access to health care services, contrary to our egalitarian fantasy, is swayed by wealth. Exposure to risk during this pandemic has also revealed inequities in our economic system. In northwest Toronto, lower-income predominantly Black communities represented a disproportionate number of retail workers deemed essential (phase 1) relying on high-risk public transit. Rates, as noted above, spiked in that region of the city.

At the time of this publication, acts of police brutality continue, and society is rightfully being pressed to respond. This will raise many questions for us as a profession. As a consequence of COVID-19, what impact do changes in the delivery of services through video-conferencing have upon access to care, as well as unforeseen impacts to quality of care and the therapeutic alliance? What privilegebased assumptions might we be making? What is our professional responsibility during such an important moment in history?

I hope as you read these questions and consider others, you might feel the inspiration welling up inside you to write on the topic our professional role regarding racism with the wisdom of your heart and experience, and send us your submission for the next edition. Together, as an association, we can co-author and help inspire a new way forward.

I am grateful to the Editorial Committee: Brittney Mandryk, Kelly Quinn, and Valery Belyanin for their assistance and wisdom in reviewing our submissions and Samantha Younan, OAMHP’s Communications Specialist, for her positive spirit, creative ideas, and commitment to getting this publication out to your inbox. After three wonderful years, I will be stepping down from my role as Content Editor following this edition. I will gratefully continue to sit on the editorial committee and look forward to our next Editor’s new vision.

As always, however, it is your contribution that we all are most grateful for. We are, most importantly, here to publish all the great insights and inspired narratives inside each of you …just waiting to be shared with the world.

With my gratitude for your contributions and readership, Stephen Douglas About the Editor

Stephen Douglas maintains a Etobicoke-based practice offering individual psychotherapy, family and couples counselling. He also travels northward ten days a month at the invitation of the Band Health Authority to provide counselling for members of Sandy Lake First Nation.