COVID-19 Update

Narcissistic abuse/codependency
Written By Alyssa Bishop

We are living in a strange new reality in the COVID-19 pandemic. Seemingly overnight, many abrupt changes have happened. People are coping with all kinds of new realities: Sheltering in place, losing work, working from home, trying to stay healthy, taking precautions, fighting illness, experiencing all kinds of loss, homeschooling kids, going through economic uncertainty, observing political unrest, feeling social upheaval... When navigating this much loss, trauma, change, and uncertainty, it can certainly feel like we’re in a collective dark night of the soul.

Have you experienced a dark night of the soul before—a period when you felt like your life was upended? What helped you get through that time? What did you learn? Was there anything you gleaned from that time that could serve you now?

Every person has their own way of navigating this time and processing what’s going on. For some, it is a time to go inward and reassess. For others, it is a time to connect more deeply to others, even if it’s through a video chat. Some people may find some solace in simple pleasures like kneading bread dough, doing yoga, reading poetry, or planting parsley. Others may need to step away from any pressures to be “productive” and simply rest. I encourage you to tune into yourself and ask yourself what you need right now without judgment. Then, as much as you are able, I invite you to respect your needs.

Right now, I think of our grandparents and great-grandparents who lived through world wars and the Great Depression. And the grandparents and great-great-grandparents before them who lived through other severe pandemics and trials. I try to imagine and tune into their strength and ancestral wisdom about how to manage times like these. And how we each can do our part to mend our corner of the fabric of humanity (aka tikkun olam, or repairing the world soul, as it’s known in Judaism).

In alignment with the current San Francisco shelter-in-place (SIP) order, I am now providing psychotherapy online. I will provide updates on my website regarding returning to in-person sessions as more information becomes available. In the meantime, my video sessions use a secure platform built for therapists. I incorporate all of the same modalities that I use for in-person sessions, including talk therapy, expressive arts, somatics, and mindfulness. If you’re feeling the need for support right now, with personal or pandemic-related issues (or both), please contact me to set up a complimentary 20-minute phone consultation and we can talk about how we might work together to help you navigate this time.

I feel particularly blessed that my Bay Area therapist colleagues have shared many wonderful resources in the past few months. Here are some of my top picks that address everything from dealing with loneliness and anxiety, to getting support for work-related issues and questions, to practicing simple self-care:

 
Alyssa Bishop
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