COVID-19 

Federal, State, and local governments in the United States have used health recommendations to implement strict regulations in order to mitigate, slow down, and contain the rapid increase of infected persons, and to be able to better treat the alarming number of patients. These efforts have included social distancing, self-quarantine, isolation, and restrictions on travel, business, and social activities. Near total lockdown and shelter-in-place requirements have been mandated across most of the country. Much of the population has been restricted to remaining in homes or locations where persons can be physically separated and in small groups. Churches, social events, and non-essential businesses have been closed. With so many workplaces shut down, millions of employees have been left without financial support, and frequently without health benefits.
This financial uncertainty, social and physical separation, accompanied by the extreme difficulty in obtaining our most basic needs for sustenance, has impacted all of us. Much of our daily routines have changed dramatically. Life as we’ve known it will never quite be the same. And regardless of how long these new life situations and patterns continue, it is more important than ever that we have access to the information and resources necessary for our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health, enabling us to maximize our positive behavioral functioning during these stressful times.
It is our hope that this book will provide you with the information and resources you will need as we collectively navigate this new, COVID-19 world. Much of the approaches, information, and recommendations contained herein are based on the underlying framework and paradigm of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). We can use Cognitive Behavior Therapy as a tool to regain control over our changing life, and in the process, change our feelings and thinking, reduce fears, manage stress-related anxiety and depression, and find new ways to cope with the challenges of this new life.