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As noted elsewhere on my website, I'm a Clinical Psychologist in Perth, Western Australia. I live with my husband and my 3 special, biggish kids! Because of my own health quirks, I have now had to go into isolation/quarantine, but I have been lucky enough to be able to be continuing to provide my wonderful clients with Tele-health based services.

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From the start, the 1st thing I noticed is that I'm having loads of very similar conversations when talking with family & friends, and also with most of my clients, both adults and kids, through Tele-health sessions and also through email & SMS contacts... So I figured there will probably be lots of other people out there who are having similar issues & concerns. Therefore I thought I would try to put together some things that may be helpful. I've decided to do this by trying to keep a Blog and adding Resources, Information Sheets, Handouts & Activities, but also going forward (hopefully in the very near future), by filming some You-tube clips (which given I don't like public speaking OR being photographed or filmed is a long way out of my comfort zone - but right now, I think the whole world is a long way out of its comfort zone!) Some of these things will link, some will be quite similar and some will be quite, quite different.

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In WA, the rest of Australia and a lot of the world, things are rapidly changing like never before. Things as we have known it to date, are gradually shutting down as we go into a new world of lock-downs, quarantine and isolation. Basically we are all still waiting to see what the "new norm" will look like. For most of us this is quite overwhelming and even quite scary. We may feel rather helpless and hopeless (which are risk-factors for depression), as this has been something which is probably rather unexpected, remains unpredictable and uncontrollable (which are risk factors for worry, stress, anxiety, frustration & anger), we tend to feel insecure, overwhelmed, threatened and unsure. For many people they may be dealing with significant changes in their financial and work situations too!  For many kids they are no longer at school or able to see their friends and life as they know it seems to have completely changed. 

 

It's hard to cope with ourselves when times are changing so quickly, but even harder when we are also trying to cope for our kids, immediate and extended families, and friends (especially if we can;t easily go and check on extended family such as elderly relatives). Lots of families can't figure out just how to make this work, & to keep things as calm & positive as possible. Let's face it, the news is full of SCARY things!!! You are NOT ALONE, lots of people are experiencing exactly the same things and are having exactly the same questions.

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Simple things have become tricky with school closures, isolation or lock-down, like, how do parents get even 2 seconds "ME-Time" to have a coffee, have a shower, to process what's happening & deal with their own feelings, to get things done, or just BE, now that most kids are no longer in school? Obviously, we are more limited in our options such as going to the park, day-care, baby-sitters, respite, grand-parents, friends etc... but hopefully we won't be left with our only options being burning ourselves out, just bunging our kids in front of the often mindless TV, onto electronics to game endlessly, or randomly on You-Tube (& yes I see the irony of me saying that, when I am using some of these very same platforms to try to help - I believe they have their place & can be an asset - it's all in how we use them!) How do we keep kids busy and connected? How do we keep them, & ourselves. socializing if we can't leave the house? How do we keep our kids & ourselves active if we can't go to the park or the gym?

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Through my posts and the resources I put up on this web-site, I hope to work through trying to help manage many of these questions & difficulties as we go progress through to the other side of this tricky time, into a world that is hopefully a bit slower, calmer, kinder & more appreciative. AS I said before, this is not a nice thing to have happening, or that any of us would have wanted, but I do believe we can try to get the best from it & treat it somewhat as a gift!

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With so many questions and uncertainties, I also thought I'd try to put together Quirky/Qworky active & activity-based sessions which may give you some breaks, and help the kids feel a bit connected and engaged! I wanted to make sure there were some gentle, reliable resources available to help meet our kids' emotional needs in this ever-changing world and these uncertain times, which will hopefully also help you so you don't feel quite so alone.

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I don't have all (or probably even many) of the answers by any stretch, but I hope that I can at least help to lessen or share the load.  My aim is to provide a web-site that may help by giving you a glimpse of a possibly quirky, and hopefully useful, positive, and constructive approach to help us all through this very unusual time and its challenging difficulties, and potentially to also maybe even help you find some positive possibilities. 

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We are all in this together, even if it is from afar! We can CHOOSE to make this more of an opportunity for a positive reset towards a better way of life going forwards.

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