Free and Confidential B-CALM Help Line Introduced
Contact: Joan Hermes
Feeling isolated, without purpose? Miss your friends? Fearful of the future? Just want to hear some encouraging words?
Starting June 1, call the new confidential B-CALM help line - 888/33B-CALM or 888/332-2256 - for a positive spin on how to deal with the stress you are experiencing and chat with someone who is trained in coping and self-care. The B-CALM help line is available from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday and is sponsored as a free service in partnership with the CGH Health Foundation and Sinnissippi Centers.
(Click here to watch Amy Downs of Sterling High School and Sarah Peltier from Sinnissippi Centers talk about the B-CALM line.)
“The new B-CALM line is a safe and secure resource for youth and families who might need a boost in finding positive ways to respond to the anxiety we are all experiencing,” said Gloria Martin, director of Child and Adolescent Services at Sinnissippi Centers. “We know kids and parents are missing their friends, and so many of what used to be ‘normal’ activities. Our trained counselors are familiar with child and family issues and want to be a source of support as we come together to manage these challenges. This isn’t therapy, but just a way to reach out to a safe person for chat and support.”
Talking to people you trust is one way to decrease the stress you are feeling from being cooped up with the shelter-in-place mandate. Kids and adults alike are all impacted, but in different ways. Changing how you react to these unprecedented times can make a difference.
“A common trigger of stress is some kind of loss,” continued Ms. Martin, “the loss of, or change in a relationship, the loss of another person, or the loss of stability associated with change, such as the total upheaval caused by COVID-19. One of the best ways to cope with your feelings is to communicate with another person…Sometimes it helps to just talk, vent and problem-solve with someone safe. There are simple ways each of us can change how we feel. Get more sleep, exercise more, eat healthy food, laugh more, use positive self-talk and positive attitudes, make an effort to relax and, of course, talk to people you trust.”
Call the B-CALM help line - 888/33B-CALM or 888/332-2256 - and start feeling better. Go to www.cghmc.com/foundation or www.sinnissippi.org for more healthy resources on emotional well-being, nutrition and physical activity.