Expert psychologist to give tips on COVID-19 recovery

Published on 07 October 2020

Do you feel weird, invisible, forgotten, or like you’re living in Groundhog Day? That’s OK. It’s not just you.

Psychologist and disaster recovery expert Rob Gordon said emergencies like the Coronavirus pandemic put most people “in a very unusual state”.

“The moment they hear other people are in the same state they feel better about it,” he said.

Dr Gordon said one of the most important things after a natural disaster was to create opportunities for communities to meet, talk about their experiences, and process it together.

“We process information in social networks, by comparing what we think with what other people think. We hear things and take them in and understand them by talking about them,” he said.

Dr Gordon said community leaders are the essence of the recovery process.

“The better connected a community is, the more those organisations will be a network that can come into the recovery system.”

Corangamite Shire Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason encouraged residents to tune in to Facebook Live when Dr Gordon shares his expert tips on the psychology behind community recovery.

“Dr Gordon has been helping communities recover from floods, fires, cyclones and other tragedies since the early 1980s,” Mr Mason said.

“COVID-19 is a different kind of emergency than we’re used to. With a fire or flood there is something to focus and act on. The invisible nature of the virus can leave some people uncertain and anxious.

“Dr Gordon has some great observations about how to deal with that uncertainty and ways we can work together to speed up the recovery process.”

Dr Gordon’s presentation will be on Council’s Facebook page on Wednesday 21 October, from 2-3:30 pm.