How School-Based Mental Health Professionals Can Connect with Students and Cope with Grief
The coronavirus pandemic has complicated and curtailed the therapeutic relationship and presented students and School-Based Mental Health professionals alike with unique challenges.
Most SBMHs didn’t get to say goodbye to their students for the 2019-2020 school year. They didn’t get to see the students they care about go to prom or graduate. The school year was ripped away months before anyone expected to have to deal with any of these issues, and many of us might be experiencing grief over this loss.
And now we are left to figure out how to connect with our students from a distance and guide them through the regular challenges of life alone with the new challenges of living in a pandemic where previously normal, healthy things we might have taken for granted are now dangerous.
With many school districts facing uncertainty or flexible plans with returning to in-person classes at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, things remain in flux, which continues to put strain on students, families, and teachers alike. And as the SBMH, you’re having to hold a lot of grief for all of these folks — and also for yourself.
How can SBMHs cope with their own grief and help their students handle their own challenges?
Acknowledge the shift. From there, thank it for presenting itself and then tend to how your physical self is responding — some people do this by practicing containment i.e. writing your thoughts down, talking with someone you love/trust, painting as a form of expression, listening to music, gentle movement of your body, etc.
Be kind with yourself through this process. There was and is nothing that you did to cause this. This is the first time we are experiencing this as a collective, and we have no idea how to manage it. This is all NEW!
Find the joy! The beauty of this time is that we might be reconnecting with parts of our lives, homes, selves that we never took time to indulge in or sit still with it. Embrace these new discoveries.
Give yourself room to feel all the feelings. A main tenet of our work is to remain grounded, centered, and present with our clients. It’s especially important in this time we’re living in to make space for us to feel the full spectrum of feelings so that we come to our work unencumbered.
Stay connected to yourself and each other. The persistent uncertainty and subsequent disappointment stemming from so many unmet expectations is A LOT to hold. Give yourself time and space to be with it, and also find ways back into community.
With so much left to uncertainty in other aspects of your work, let SocialNote be something that you can unflaggingly depend on. SocialNote can help you stay organized so you can stop spending precious time wrangling spreadsheets and filing systems, and instead, focus on your students. Learn more about how SocialNote can help you here.