A relaxed mind is not trying to control, fix, or improve anything. Take a few mind breaks and allow your mind to be in this calm state for a few minutes to rejuvenate before doing the next unilateral task, focusing on one task at a time. Move one step closer to a healthy mind with this relaxed mind exercise. Show your mind love and feel equanimity.

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Last week Guest Mentor Leah Steeger and I introduced two of six psychological and overlapping therapeutic themes we are experiencing with the coronavirus pandemic. Today, we will fortify you with the other four themes. You can find our first conversation HERE. 

We look at each theme through a systems lens, Leah’s specialty, looking at the whole person and how we live in the world. I appreciate her practical approach. Each theme starts with identifying the changes and layers on top of changes coming at us.

I begin each theme by outlining the disruptive changes. Leah adds her experiences, psychological implications, and ways to navigate each theme. She has an AND/BOTH perspective vs. a right or wrong or black or white viewpoint.

We had to make fast changes quickly, which was trauma-inducing individually and collectively worldwide.

Complexity has gray areas that overlap. We are creative, spiritual beings; the way we acknowledge and work through change is as varied as our uniqueness. Be kind to yourself and those around you. We are still working our way through the themes.

The diagram is from Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, developed in 1974. We use this diagram to give you a picture of the five systems that influence us.

Our conversation has insights and gems to fill in spaces within your experiences where understanding, clarity, and a broader perspective are necessary to move forward. Knowing the difference between rejuvenating activities and escapism tactics is an example of a useful tip. Embedded in each theme are these kinds of tips.

Leah has easy-to-listen-to wisdom I am eager for you to hear. Use the following information as an aid while you listen. DOWNLOAD

6 Psychological and Overlapping Therapeutic Themes of the Coronavirus Pandemic

Theme I – Panic and Anxiety accompanies News of a Novel Virus (disclosed nationally Mid-March of 2020)

Theme II – Social Distancing and Other Life-Altering Changes like Virtual Living

Theme III – Systemic Strain and Disruption of Well-Being

Theme IV – Semi-Opening Flurry

Theme V – COVID Fatigue and Effects of Prolonged Extreme Polarization and Extreme Tribalism

Theme VI – Long-term Effects of Misinformation about our Public Health and Freedoms 

Terms and definitions to supplement our conversation:

Objective Truth – proven through empirical data based on facts, reality, and truthfulness.

Subjective Truth – cannot be proven; there is no proof. Subjective truth is rooted in our feelings, beliefs, senses, and perspective.

We can gravitate toward comfort information instead of the objective truth as a way of coping with the unknown and disruptive change. “Opinion programming, for example,” says Leah, “is sold as news. Opinion programming is problematic because it is sold as a fact when it is someone’s opinion.” Find out why we gravitate toward subjective outlets like social media and opinion programming.  

Denial vs. Prolonged Extreme Polarization and Extreme Tribalism

Are damages to our democracy reparable? What if they are not repairable? Then what? We begin to answer those questions.

World Health Organization (W.H.O.) declared an “infodemic” of misinformation affecting public health: 

• Cognitive biases like jumping to conclusions because it confirms our bias before having all the facts.
• Confirmation bias: attitude polarization, belief perseverance, and illusory correlation (falsely believing there is an association between two events or situations). Leah has an easy example of which colors in a room are comforting to you. What is that comfort doing for you? Better to question that than grilling people about their beliefs.
  • Recognize the purpose for what the bias is serving, not always necessarily bad. Please find out more in our conversation.
  • Question the belief – what is the meaning behind the belief? Why is this belief so important to me? Is it part of my identity or connections or essential to my community?
  • Leah gives insight into cognitive bias and confirmation bias.

NEXT STEP after listening: Challenge yourself and do the Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring (C.A.L.M.) Activities below.