Wellbeing Tips during

Covid Quarantine
Alicia Searl, LCSW LMHP
FAO Staff Counsellor
 Creating a Healthy Routine
 Sleep
 Adding variety
 Dress for the social life you want, not the social life you have.
 Shower and take care of your personal hygiene
 Move your body-30 minutes daily
 Get outside- 30 minutes daily
 Reach out to others- 30 minutes daily
 Stay hydrated & eat well.
 Stress can cause us to eat too much or too little.
Create a Self-Care Toolkit
 Involve the 7 senses: Mindfulness
 Touch (Blanket or stuffed animal)
 Taste (Tea, favorite treat, gum)
 Sight (Photos of family, vacation spot, visualization)
 Hearing (Comforting music, favorite songs, listening to sounds
outside)
 Smell (Lavender, fresh flowers, scented lotion, favorite foods)
 Vestibular (movement and comforting pressure) (Swing, rocking
chair, walking, dancing)
 Creating your own retreat and work space
 Helping children find a retreat space as well.
 Practice daily deep breathing
 Having Grace for Yourself & Others
 Being quarantined can bring out the worst in everyone
 Provide grace to one another during blowups
 Choosing your battles
 Offer forgiveness rather than contempt
 Expect behavioral issues with children and respond gently
 Expect an increase in anxiety, worries and fears, nightmares, difficulty
with sleep, testing limits, and more meltdowns
 Support your children and allow time for extra one on one play and
attention
 Children process difficult things through play
 Play can help reduce meltdowns and misunderstandings
 Lower Expectations & Practice Radical Self-
Acceptance
 Many are functioning under fear and stress
 Practice accepting yourself as is, your current situation, and your life without
questions, blame, or pushback
 There is no roadmap, no precedent for this time, and we are doing the best we
can in an impossible situation
 Try and create manageable goals
 Focus on prioritizing safety and attachment with your children rather than
demands and disconnect
 “Chunking” your time to focus on whatever pieces of the challenge you can
manage right now
 Remind yourself that this season is temporary and will end.
 Limit Social Media and the Covid
Conversation
 Remember most sources of information are often sensationalized, negatively
skewed, and alarmist.
 Find a few trusted sources of information to check in with and limit your
time to 30 minutes 2 to 3 times a day
 Be mindful of conversations around children
 Try and notice the good in the world, the helpers
 Counter balance the good with the bad
 Try and seek out humor everyday
 Counterbalance the heaviness with something funny and light hearted
 Activities to Help Reduce Stress
 Find ways to Help others
 Check in with others
 Find a need and meet it
 Find something you can control and control it!
 Organize your space
 Find a long-term enjoyable project
 Learn an instrument, puzzles, reading a book series
 Find something that will keep you busy, distracted, and engaged to take a
break from the outside world
 Practice Gratitude
 Make a list of things you are thankful for and reflect back daily
 Activities continued
 Engage in Repetitive movements and left-right movements
 Create self soothing and help to maintain self-regulation
 Knitting, coloring, painting, sculpting, jump roping, Running,
drumming, skating, dancing
 Have a creative outlet
 Our emotional brains are receptive to the creative arts and can help
to release negative emotions
 Drawing, dancing, music, singing
What is something you will do to reduce
your stress during this time?
 Feeling sad or down more days than not
Change in concentration levels
Having excessive fear or worries
Extreme mood changes of highs and lows
Symptoms to Trouble sleeping, nightmares, restlessness

Watch out For Obsessive thinking patterns

Having flashbacks from significant events
Inability to relax
Changes in appetite, upset stomach
Physical tension
Feeling “on edge”
Easily angered
Suicidal thinking
Reach Out for Help

 If you are having difficulty with coping, I am available for

CONFIDENTIAL one on one sessions and group support.
 Alicia Searl
Alicia.searl@fao.org
Email me to set up a session
 If you are struggling with homeschooling your children, reach
out to teachers and online resources.
 Seek out local supports, friends, family, clergy, online groups.
Questions?
Resources
 Mental Health Wellness Tips in Quarantine, NYS psychologist, USA
 Staying Healthy at Home: Advice for UN staff for protecting your mental health during
Covid-19