Coping Tips for Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

It is important for parents to find healthy coping mechanisms to help themselves. This will allow them in turn to support their families. Yudelki Firpo-Perretti, PhD, and Brittany Jordan-Arthur, PhD, offer assistance to parents and caregivers who are searching for beneficial ways to address the complex challenges of parenting during the coronavirus pandemic.

About This Video

Families are facing new challenges with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents find themselves taking on multiple roles as they try to fulfill their responsibilities as workers, educators, caretakers, and childcare providers. While juggling these increasing demands, often with insufficient emotional and material resources, parents are having a hard time coping with their newly imposed reality. Many are anxious and are experiencing feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy. They are burdened with excessive worries and feel out of control. Incorporating practices to help recognize and deal with these invalidating thoughts and emotions can improve parents’ responses to the challenges they face and help them feel safer and more at ease.

Drs. Firpo-Perretti and Jordan-Arthur provide tips to help parents and caregivers effectively cope during COVID-19. Practices such as self-compassion and self-validation can help parents to be kinder to and gentler with themselves. They address the importance of feeling and validating one’s own emotions and those of others. They also emphasize the need for parents to shift their attention away from what is out of their control and instead focus on things that they can influence.