248 646 6659
[email protected]
2075 West Big Beaver Road Suite 520, Troy, MI 48084

Extraordinary Times

Not everyone will get Coronavirus, but everyone will be experiencing heightened anxiety and stress. Birmingham Maple Clinic is fully devoted to helping our patients and our community survive during these Extraordinary Times with tips for managing our mental health and helping those we love. When this is over, we will emerge with lots of questions, different fears and concerns, and hopefully, with energy and motivation to live a healthier, more meaningful life. It is our hope that this video service will help you navigate your way through the quarantine and then back into the world.

Extraordinary Times 41: The Silver Lining

While we have all seen and repeated the many serious inconveniences and losses of this overwhelming experience, we may fail to notice that there have been some poignant truths and private times of joy and satisfaction. Make sure not to overlook the things you have gained during these difficult times.

  • We have come to know our internal strengths and resilience
  • We have to learn to appreciate the strength and resilience in others
  • Do not take your life for granted

Extraordinary Times 40: Controlling When and What We Can

There is so much we cannot control about coronavirus and all that it has impacted, how can we find any ability to experience some peace and calm?  Studies show that our central nervous system reacts positively when we are able to exert control over our lives and our circumstances and it reacts negatively when we feel out of control.

Some ways to control aspects of your life now:

  • Decide how you will spend each day and plan your week
  • Plan some time alone several times each week to do something for yourself
  • Decide who to socialize with by phone or video and make plans for social dates
  • Create a plan to get outside for specific amounts of time each day or each week

Extraordinary Times 39: Will Divorce Rates Go Up or Down After Coronavirus?

Many are predicting that divorce rates will skyrocket once we are no longer mitigating with social distance, but might this be a major miscalculation?  During the pandemic we don’t have much choice about where we live or whether we prefer living elsewhere.  This may just force couples to “work it out.”

When it is easier to leave, many do.  Now we may just be forced to do the hard work of communicating, compromising, figuring out a way to meet the others needs while meeting our own, and basically finding ways to coexist and keep it going.  

It will be interesting to see what happens when the stay-at-home mandate is lifted and whether couples separate or stay together in statistically different numbers than pre-coronavirus numbers.  It would certainly be a testament to our internal strength and commitments if we learned how to “work it out” versus choosing to divorce.

Extraordinary Times 38: What Does It Mean to be a “White Ally”?

It is the responsibility of white people to teach our children that we need to be aware and sensitive when people of color are not being treated fairly.  

We need to teach our white children how to use their privilege to stand up and speak out to defend what is right.

We must teach our children that we respect and encourage them when they support people of color; especially when they notice unfair behavior and then to DO something productive and supportive to help.

Extraordinary Times 37: What is Color Blindness?

“Color-blindness” was a notion embraced by liberals in the 1960’s and 1970’s that was an expression of open-mindedness and considering more than ‘color’ to understand others who look different from you.  While the intention was ‘acceptance,’ it also encouraged silence about the differences between racial and ethnic groups.

This silence may actually prevent educational opportunities for discussion, education, and sensitivity about our differences.  Instead, we now emphasize the importance of talking openly about cultural and racial differences so that we can learn more about each other, rather than remain silent and only presuming to know about our differences.

Extraordinary Times 36: Parents Role in Teaching Their Kids to be More Inclusive

Parents have many important duties of parenthood; modeling and valuing moral and ethical behavior, valuing and pursuing education, developing empathy, importance of community.  Included in these responsibilities, we need to add the importance of teaching our children about racism and diversity to help instill a new level of consciousness in the next generations.

Include books, toys, movies, videos that represent the spectrum of color and ethnic diversity in the larger world.

Birmingham Maple Clinic | Michigan Mental Health