Tidewell Presents Stress First Aid Webinar to Support Community During COVID-19

September 18 – Sarasota— The COVID-19 pandemic has added a layer of stress and negative impacts for those who work in high-stress jobs. To address the stress many are feeling during this time, Tidewell Hospice and Tidewell Foundation, Inc., are offering a free Stress First Aid webinar to community members and colleagues as part of the yearlong celebration of the organization’s 40th anniversary.

The webinar, presented by world-renowned traumatic stress psychologist Patricia Watson, PhD, is scheduled from 1-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2. Stress First Aid is a self-care and peer support model designed to help those who are under extreme stress better care for themselves and assist each other in reducing the impacts of stress.

“Recognizing that all of us are feeling the need for psychological first aid, this course will provide evidenced-based suggestions to address the stress we’ve all been enduring as part of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tidewell President and CEO Jonathan Fleece said. “Tidewell Hospice and our foundation are pleased to bring Dr. Patricia Watson to teach this course in celebration of our 40th anniversary of service in southwest Florida.”

Dr. Watson is a psychologist at the National Center for PTSD. She has co-authored the Psychological First Aid (PFA) Field Guide and the Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) Manual, the Combat Operational Stress First Aid (COSFA) Field Guide, and Curbside Manner and Stress First Aid for Firefighters and Emergency Services Personnel, as well as co-edited three books on disaster behavioral health interventions, and numerous articles, guidance documents, and chapters on disaster mental health, combat and operational stress, early intervention, and resilience.

Those who would like to take part in the webinar may register at https://tidewell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_y_O3N5d7TVKLQKN5hJ6QxA. For more information, contact Mary Alderson at malderson@tidewell.org.