Ask A Pro Live: Life after Social Isolation
It's safe to say that 2020 has been a weird year. It has been a lot and going into social isolation has weighed really heavy on people. Now most of us are at a stage where restrictions are lifting, which brings a whole new set of concerns and challenges for many people.
This chat will most likely be quite broad as COVID-19 and social isolation has impacted people in different ways. Whether it's difficulty getting back into routine, social anxiety, weight gain, depression, study stress or work - we got you.
This month we are inviting our special guest Dr Joe to the forum to chat about how to stay well post social isolation. Read on to learn a little bit about our guest:
''Dr Joe is a psychologist who has worked for many years with young people in Australia doing face to face counselling.
He is passionate about the strengths of young people and working with them to get through tough times.
Though he ran with bulls for fun and nearly died in Spain, being European he has a very real and rational fear of sharks''
It's going to be a great conversation and I'm sure we will all walk away from it feeling better equipped to cope. We'll be chatting live on the 23rd of July so put it into your calendar and we'll see you there!
Join us live on the 23rd of July from 7:00pm - 9:00 pm (AEDT).
This is such a fantastic idea and resource! Thanks for sharing during these difficult times.
Thank you for your comments. To be honest, I'm desperate and I don't have the resources to get back to normal after the pandemic. Everything I read here is a huge support for me, thank you. What really depresses me is the daily news about the coronavirus and the death statistics. I try to keep my distance and follow all security rules to protect myself from the virus. Moreover, I decided that medical masks are not as high quality, so I ordered several N95 masks to feel safe. I also try not to read the news about the pandemic, but when I ride the subway or bus or buy groceries at the store, I hear this news everywhere. I have a feeling that we live in a time of war, so I feel miserable.
Welcome to the forum. We're glad you found this thread helpful. You mentioned feeling desperate and lacking resources. Just letting you know that we're always here for a chat if you ever need some support. You are always more than welcome to create your own thread! Also, I'm not sure if you're aware, but there are always helplines available should you ever need support with something. 
@Maddy-RO wrote:Welcome to the forum. We're glad you found this thread helpful. You mentioned feeling desperate and lacking resources. Just letting you know that we're always here for a chat if you ever need some support. You are always more than welcome to create your own thread! Also, I'm not sure if you're aware, but there are always helplines available should you ever need support with something.
You are very kind, thank you for your warm welcome!
Heya community! Just wanted to pop a quick message in here about this upcoming chat.
As most of us would know, Victoria has been required to go back into lock down as cases start to peak again. We realize this chat is about coping with life after social iso but we also want to acknowledge that part of adapting to the current situation, is finding some kind of acceptance that things may be up and down for awhile. It isn't easy but we will continue to get through this together.
Hey everyone, I may be in and out but good to be here anyway
good to have you - I'm logging on from Gadigal country - saltwater country - Eastern Sydney
Aw @Tay100 sending you lots of strength to get through this hard time!! Feel free to send through some questions about having to go back into lockdown etc
Also, just had to make a little edit to your post for safety! 🙂
@Bre-RO I'm ok, I'd just like to hear what a professional has to say. And thanks, I appreciate it!
It is really helpful hearing from a professional with things like this @Tay100 If you pop your questions in the form in the post, he will be able to give some insights/tips I'm sure 🙂
Welcome, everyone! We are so excited to welcome Dr Joe @GuestPsychologist tonight, to chat all things about life after social isolation, quarantine, and these weird times we find ourselves in.
To start off Joe, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?
Sure! thank you Reachout for having me - I love your work. I would like to acknowledge I'm logging on from Gadigal country in Sydney.
I’ve been a psychologist for about 10 years – before that I worked an IT Programmer mainly web stuff but just kept studying on the side. Psychology interested me more – there’s always something to learn and no-one has all the answers - especially me. During this convo I’ll be spelling covid in small letters – it reminds me that I have choice and power over it, and reminds me it doesn’t control my life and there is still so much I can do and be grateful for. I expect I and everyone on this forum will be here long after covid has become an old annoying memory.
My favorite therapy to use with most clients is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It is powerful and acceptance itself is hugely powerful. If we are struggling with something it is often because there is something we need to accept.
Hey @GuestPsychologist! So keen for the chat! 
So true about the 'covid' thing with the lowercase, haha, small actions like that can be so meaningful sometimes. It reminds me how sometimes if I'm just hanging out with friends or don't want my message to sound so serious, I purposefully turn off capitalization and type in all lower-case. Love how the internet has it's own 'body language' in that way 
@GuestPsychologist I like ACT too! I find it helpful when I have issues such as chronic pain or need to relax. I know it doesn't help everyone but I like doing those kinds of exercises when changing my thoughts about something won't make me feel better.
I used to do a bit of IT stuff too as a hobby and through courses. Some of my family members have an IT background, but I didn't want to pursue it as a career and have just kept doing it as a hobby and as odd things for people here and there.
sweet yeah its hard to avoid IT - were on it now! -
and IT has power - look at us connecting now - so cool.
ACT is a great therapy - but its takes practise to live in the now - im not great at it yet
@GuestPsychologist it totally is! I must admit sometimes the word 'mindfulness' has a strong negative effect on me because a lot of people misunderstand and misuse it! It's not about eliminating the stress/anxiety/etc, it's about acknowledging it (and everything else!).
That's so true @Hozzles. Some people think of people who practice mindfulness as zombie-like but I personally don't think that's the case. I did an online mindfulness course recently and a lot of the meditations were focused on sitting with adversity and negative feelings and acknowledging them rather than trying to change them. I've heard that some people try to imagine their negative feeling as like a wave that will carry them to shore rather than trying to fight against it.
great advice - waves carrying you to shore or shit feelings that just splash off you like a wave but don't stay there. ACT is full of little anecdotes / analogies like that
absolutely! - often we run away from shitty scary feelings....but they dont go away - so with ACT and other therapies we try to learn - hey stop fighting these shit feelings - just feel them - they will not kills us - they will go away - they are just feeling and just thoughts - feel them ..name them..then watch them drift off...give up that battle of pushing them away
I absolutely love the choice to spell covid in small letters @GuestPsychologist , so simple but really powerful!
