All of a sudden many people find themselves in an unaccustomed and disconcerting workspace. Home!
Your new workspace can be filled with very busy “colleagues” and distractions. On the other side, you may be totally isolated and alone, which can be equally distracting. Working from home is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea.
The involuntary quarantine causes many mental health issues to the surface because we are social beings. This is even true of the self-proclaimed introverts because people need social interactions. We don’t realize the value of the interaction and exchanges between colleagues during the course of a normal working day.
The issues that can come to the foreground from being forced to work from home in the midst of a world-wide pandemic are:
- The change in your mindset from “living” to being in survival mode. This shift in mindset is the clearest in people binge shopping for so-called essential goods, leaving shop shelves empty. The empty shop shelves aggravate feelings of anxiety and despair. People who cannot afford to stockpile are even more anxious because their situation turns out to be more hopeless.
Book your online or in-person appointment today
People need ways to express themselves freely and spontaneously, without the anxiety of being analysed.
Children learn naturally and most effectively through play.
“The therapeutic value of art and play” is my latest online workshop for teachers, parents, counsellors and people who enjoyed being kids. We look at the value of spontaneous play and art-making, as well as the value of folk art in our communities. This workshop will give you a new perspective on how valuable art, craft and play can be without burdening anyone for an artificial outcome. We explore spontaneous art and natural play; handicraft; folk art and culture as tools of self-expression and creativity, leading to healing, learning and wholesome pleasure.
This online workshop will also be presented in English and Afrikaans on Aquilla Training’s website, in collaboration with Inter Trauma Nexus and Aquilla Wellness Solutions. You can enrol for the workshop at your convenience and complete the workshop in your own time.
Price R 400-. Length 5-6 hours. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the CPD/CPTD points are negotiated, but still pending.
Aquilla Training’s online workshop library is growing at a steady rate, as we add at least two online workshops per month. We help you to stay up-to-date which gives you the confidence of knowing you are working with best practices.
Hotline Numbers:
(Published in 17 March 2020)
- Department of Health WhatsApp service where news; info; questions and updates regarding the #coronavirus is available. Simply add this number: 060 0123456 as a WhatsApp contact and type Hi in the message block. They will then send you a menu to choose from and you can use this to get regular updates.
- Corona Virus Outbreak 24-Hour Hotline Number: 0800 029 999
- Latest information from the the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD): https://www.gov.za/NovelCoronavirus
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases Covid-19 updates: http://www.nicd.ac.za/media/alerts/
- World Health Organisation Q&A https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
- Department of Health http://www.health.gov.za/index.php/outbreaks/145-corona-virus-outbreak/465-corona-virus-outbreak
- Speech on 16 March 2020 from President Cyril Ramaphosa: Measures to combat Coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic: https://www.gov.za/speeches/statement-president-cyril-ramaphosa-measures-combat-covid-19-epidemic-15-mar-2020-0000
- South African Government Newsroom https://www.gov.za/newsroom/
- Dept of Health Online Resources and news portal https://sacoronavirus.co.za/category/press-releases-and-notices/
- Informative videos about Covid-19 https://myhealthtv.com/home
The World Health Organization reports that “Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Suicide is a global phenomenon and occurs throughout the lifespan. Effective and evidence-based interventions can be implemented at population, sub-population and individual levels to prevent suicide and suicide attempts. There are indications that for each adult who died by suicide there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide”.
It is reported that in South Africa 9 per cent of all teen deaths are caused by suicide. The fastest-growing age is young people under the age of 35, specifically female suicides which peak between 15 to 19 years.
Some counsellor prefers not to use the term suicide, but rather self-harm. Self-harm is then defined as an act of deliberate self-poisoning or self-injury, regardless of motivation, and self-harm mortality is a death resulting from such an act.
Youth are at risk because they face a number of social, economic and health challenges that contribute to self-harm behaviours, including the emotional and mental stress associated with high unemployment rates, poverty, HIV/AIDS, educational difficulties, physical and emotional abuse, parental separation and substance abuse.
Going for counselling can be a daunting prospect, especially when you are sitting in a problem-saturated situation. My clients often start the conversation with stating that they “don’t even know where to start”.
The good news is that there is no correct or wrong place to start our conversation. The fact that you made your appointment is already a leap in the right direction. Coming to get the guidance, support or counselling takes courage and determination to become well.
Helping traumatized clients is more than just listening. Aquilla Advisors’ facilitators are trainer in various disciplines in order to provide the best available support to our clients. Just talking about a traumatic experience can put an emotional tail-spin on the experience, causing more harm. We are committed to help all our clients to put trauma behind them.
Definition clarification:
I believed that Christian Counseling is rooted in the Bible and a two-thousand year tradition of loving pastoral care to facilitate the kind of cure that Jesus promised. In my practice we work to help or clients find peace, wholeness, direction and stability in Christ.
In Christian Counseling the true power to change comes from the Holy Spirit’s active involvement in the process of encouragement, consolation, challenge and transformation into the likeness of Christ.
Traumatology is a health and social science which is concerned with all the aspects of emotional trauma and crisis on the individual and society. Traumatology brings together the inputs and draws on a host of related sciences, such as: psychology, sociology, theology, nutrition and others. The study of traumatology enables the practitioner to provide supportive and curative interventions to sufferers of trauma.
Coaching is about creating change that helps enhances performance and learning. Coaches emphasize new competencies, learning and goal attainment. In fact, a coach is a personal navigator for the journey of life, focusing on what the clients want. Everything in coaching hinges on listening with the client’s agenda in mind. COMENSA defines coaching as “a professional, collaborative and outcomes-driven method of learning that seeks to develop an individual and raise self-awareness so that he or she might achieve specific goals and perform at a more effective level”.
COMENSA defines mentoring as “a partnership in which a mentee is assisted in making significant advances in knowledge, perspective and vision in order to develop their full potential; the mentor’s wisdom is utilized by the mentee to facilitate and enhance new learning and insight.” The mentor’s focus is the development of the learner, and about passing on personalized, domain-specific knowledge.
It is very important to ensure that the person helping you is properly trained and registered to offer these services. Don’t be afraid to ask to see registration documents.