CBU webinar explores living life after COVID-19 lockdown

Riverside, Calif. (June 5, 2020) – Psychological Services of Riverside, a California Baptist University-run community clinic, hosted a webinar titled “Thriving in an Uncertain World” on June 4.  The webinar focused on helping participants move forward in a post COVID-19 reality.

The webinar, hosted online through WebEx, featured Dr. Timothy Sisemore, CBU professor of psychology, director of Psychological Services of Riverside and an expert in anxiety disorders.

Stress, anxiety and fear can affect people as they begin to go out more after the pandemic shutdown, Sisemore, professor of psychology, told the listeners.

“If we wait until we’re 100 percent certain before we get back to our lives, there is a toll to be taken there. Our quality of life suffers,” Sisemore said.  

There are still a lot of unknowns and questions with COVID-19, Sisemore acknowledge.

“It’s important to remember first that we’re not going to know the answers to most of these questions, “Sisemore said. “But secondly, we need to add this to the fact that we have in the past learned to cope with uncertainties every single day.”

Other uncertainties range from the flu and other contagious diseases to the risk when driving, Sisemore said.  

Although every person has to determine what risks are reasonable to take, living in fear has its own detriment, he said.

“It can also affect mental health, when we live in so much fear we can’t get back to our lives,” Sisemore said. “The way we don’t let uncertainty overcome us is by pivoting toward the things that are uncertain, that you don’t run from it, you face it.”

There are ways to deal with uncertainty, Sisemore said. They include acknowledging that you can handle feeling anxious; embracing the present; focusing on the things that you are grateful for; and finding meaning in situations.

“The more we get afraid of doing things that we probably are safe doing, the more it deprives us of living the lives we want to live, to pursue the things that matter to us,” Sisemore said. “As you move toward things, you have to take some type of risk.”