PSYCHOLOGIST, EDUCATOR, CHANGE-MAKER

Professor Antonio Puente addresses the pandemic from a different perspective

By Tricia Vance

In March, as he prepared to push his classes and research meetings online, UNCW Professor of Psychology Antonio Puente was simultaneously working with other advocates at the national level to persuade Medicare and other insurers to cover telephone-based mental and behavioral health care.

In his role as a psychologist and an ambassador of the White House PREVENTS task force addressing the emerging national and behavioral health epidemic as a result of COVID-19, Puente is particularly concerned that suicides and opioid addiction will worsen as the pandemic continues. After the onset of the pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of many businesses and services, “the only way we could reach many of our clients was through telephone,” said Puente, who is also a practicing psychologist and founder of the mental health section at the nonprofit, multidisciplinary Cape Fear Health Clinic. He worked with a small group from the American Psychological Association to create a telehealth system. Medicare approved the coverage, and other insurers followed.

“Medicare rose up quickly, and unbelievably,” he said. “Something like this takes us, on average, five years to accomplish.”

Puente, who was the 2017 president of the American Psychological Association, has long been active in the group’s advocacy efforts, such as encouraging insurers to include psychology services in health care coverage.

Even as he remained active nationally, Puente put his role as an educator front and center. He wanted his students to continue their education as close to normally as possible, even meeting at the regularly scheduled days and times each week. Realizing many students could not “attend” in real time, he also recorded and emailed lectures to all his students, saying that his job was to help them finish the semester as strong as they started it.

Puente understands that his students and most other Americans have experienced different degrees of difficulty adjusting to the loneliness, economic uncertainty and personal upheaval the pandemic has caused.

“Instead of having answers, we have questions,” Puente said. “We are used to disasters in this part of the world. With a hurricane, we know when it comes, we know when it leaves, and the damage is very visible to us. We don’t know when this pandemic arrived, we don’t know when it is going to leave us, and we don’t know what the outcome will be.

“Live for today, be mindful of life, and appreciate all the things we take for granted, like family and significant others, or even simple things like walks. And maybe we will realize that it’s our duty to give back, and that we could replace despair with gratitude.

“Maybe we can’t change the world, but maybe we can begin by changing ourselves and those close to us. If we do that, we will have emerged from the pandemic much stronger people.“ Stress and worry are natural reactions in times of crisis or uncertainty. Here are a few tips to help maintain a positive outlook and good mental health :

1. Develop a reasonable routine; structure your life. Make each day productive and meaningful by making it as predictable and manageable as circumstances allow. 2. Practice stress reduction techniques which might include walks, stretching, yoga, meditation, and prayer. Even if you don’t feel stressed out, make these practices part of your daily routine. 3. Exercise as much as your circumstances allow and, again, make it routine. 4. Realize that we are all trying hard, but nobody is achieving the same level of productivity as pre-COVID-19. Do your best and focus on effort rather than outcome.

5. Emphasize the positive rather than the negative. Just like hurricanes, we can only watch so much before panic sets in. Do your part to prepare, then focus on what is going well. 6. Replace uncertainty with hope; replace what you have been used to doing with what needs to get done.

Ailey II’s Kyle H. Martin

PHOTO BY NIR ARIELI Third Coast Percussion Photo BY SAVERIO TRUGLIA

Allow us to offer you the Best Seat in the House!

The Office of the Arts is excited to share the Best Seat in the House program, a collaborative new effort to lift spirits during this difficult time. The “Best Seat” webpage serves as a hub for the sharing of live and prerecorded performances featuring local, regional and national artists – all available for streaming from the comfort of your home. All content shared is free, but when possible, links contain opportunities to directly support artists. Enjoy episodes of the “Behind the Curtain” podcast, clips and full-length dance and music performances, comedy sketches, kid-friendly art appreciation lessons and more!