Coping during the coronavirus outbreak

Living during the coronavirus outbreak is stressful, and Erika
Pablos-Velez, Psy.D, says she is seeing the strains from uncertainty about the future embodied in her patients.
“There is no training for this type of situation,” said Pablos-Velez, shown in the photo above.
She is a psychologist with a practice in Miami Lakes.
Most of her clients used to look forward to therapy sessions to unwind and release tension.
But having to temporarily shut her doors during the outbreak has denied a safe haven for her clients and forced them to attend sessions electronically.
“I have told my clients to focus on today, get through today, then rinse and repeat tomorrow,” she said.
“I want them to focus on the things they have control over, such as sleep and their eating habits,” she said.
Pablos-Velez has used video conferencing in the past for specific clients, and for now, that’s how therapy sessions are conducted for everyone she counsels.
Some clients attend therapy online from their cars to get away from conflict that may be happening inside their homes.
Pablos-Velez said despite the barriers that are preventing face-to-face sessions, she said she will continue to be there for her clients, and is sharing ways to cope each day on Instagram and Facebook
@themindfulcorner.
She also has a podcast with the same title.
Among her tips:
--Start a quarantine journal to document your thoughts, feelings and experiences during the outbreak. It can serve as a guidebook for how to handle difficult situations that may arise in the future.
--Practice radical acceptance. Accepting that a situation is happening doesn’t mean you’re agreeing with what is going on. It means you’re acknowledging that the event happened and is real. Acceptance means not fighting reality.
--Don’t worry too much about getting through this week. Get through today. Focus on what you can control today, which will arm you for the next day. Then, do that again tomorrow.