Balancing Awareness and Anxiety: Finding Our New Norm Post-Lockdown - Hope 103.2

Balancing Awareness and Anxiety: Finding Our New Norm Post-Lockdown

A senior counsellor and psychologist shared how to navigate some of the anxieties we’re all feeling in the midst of a pandemic.

Listen: Ally Barnes chats with Jane Thomas from Anglicare about adjusting to a new normal post-lockdown

By Ally BarnesThursday 21 Oct 2021Hope BreakfastChristian LivingReading Time: 1 minute

As life returns to normal, and as we gather again, we know our freedoms are likely to lead to more COVID cases, which will inevitably mean more deaths. It’s not something we’ve really navigated as a nation.

Jane Thomas, a senior counsellor and psychologist at Anglicare, shared on Hope Breakfast how to navigate some of the anxieties we’re all feeling.

“Anxiety is not only normal but inevitable to a certain degree. We’re still in the middle of a pandemic,” Jane said.

“I don’t think God calls us to be comfortable. A little bit of stress or fear is OK. Feel that, and acknowledge it. ”

“I don’t think God calls us to be comfortable [in COVID]… Maintaining compassion for others is what’s needed in this time.” – Anglicare senior counsellor and psychologist Jane Thomas

Jane said we need to find the middle ground on being overwhelmed and in denial of reality.

“We need to maintain compassion for others,” she said.

“There’s a lot of people who have lost loved ones. There’s a lot of exhaustion in the community. Maintaining compassion for others is what’s needed in this time.”

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Listen to the full conversation with Jane Thomas in the player above.