Dear business associates,
In this difficult time of uncertainty, many people in Brunei are experiencing high degrees of anxiety, worry and stress. Plans for weddings, holidays, family visits and other important events have had to change. Daily life has had to change. Work life has shifted dramatically. This is having a significant impact on employees across the nation and is, therefore, affecting organisations throughout Brunei.
Clarity Sdn Bhd wants you to know that we are still operating as usual to provide assistance to those in Brunei who are seeking ways to overcome worry, anxiety, fear or depression. At the moment, we are still able to meet clients for face-to-face counselling appointments. We have ensured the counselling offices are set up to maintain personal safety. For those who are not comfortable with face-to-face meetings, we can offer online appointments via Skype, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger or Zoom. These platforms are highly effective and we can provide the highest quality therapeutic services through them.
We have two requests for you:
- Please forward the message below to your employees to inform them that help is available if they or their family members need of support or strategies.
- Consider whether your organisation will support your employees by paying the full or partial fees for counselling services. Communicating this to employees will help to ensure that they get support and do not get overwhelmed by the issues they face, leaving them unable to work effectively. Please get in touch with me to discuss this further if this a support you’re willing to offer your employees.
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Dear Employees,
It is understandable and expected if you are experiencing higher than normal levels of stress, anxiety, worry or fear while the world is coping with managing a pandemic. Sometimes these emotions and their associated thoughts feel overwhelming and can interfere with your effective functioning at work or at home. Please seek help before getting overwhelmed or if you’re struggling.
Clarity Sdn Bhd is a local company that offers confidential and solution-focused counselling/therapy professional psychologists trained in Canada and Australia. Please contact them if you or family members would benefit from expressing yourselves and finding solutions for improving your current mental or emotional state. Face-to-face counselling appointments are available as usual, or you can arrange online appointments with FaceTime, Skype, WhatsApp or Zoom.
You can reach them at:
or WhatsApp (+673)8637750
With regards to managing stress and anxiety during this period of uncertainty and rapidly changing expectations, here are some tips:
- Be sure to look after your physical health. Mental wellbeing is more easily managed when physical wellbeing is optimised.
- Get adequate sleep and maintain a healthy sleep/wake schedule (don’t stay up all night bingeing on Netflix).
- Eat healthy food and don’t eat or snack out of boredom.
- Be sure to get outdoors and get fresh air, sunshine and some exercise. Spending time outdoors in nature has positive psychological benefits. Enjoy gardening, yard work, the beaches, forests and walking trails.
- Physical exercise is important. Be sure to get some brisk exercise every day.
- Stay informed about the current Coronavirus situation and follow the advice of government and medical professionals. Be sure that you’re doing the best you can to maintain your own health and that of others too.
- Limit the amount of time that you spend reading news, following the latest updates and researching. It’s strongly suggested that you set strict limits with yourself, such as checking the news for 10-20 minutes in morning and evening. Constantly checking your phone/computer tends to be unhealthy.
- Limit your time on social media. While it’s great to connect with people, we can be overwhelmed with negativity and false information. Consider muting some groups and notifications. Perhaps block or unfollow those things that might trigger stress or anxiety.
- When stress or anxiety feels excessive, practice managing your thinking. If you keep thinking and thinking about things you cannot control, you’ll only increase your feeling of stress. Be sure that you’re spending your time thinking about what you can control (how you spend your time, whether you practice social distancing, how you eat, if you exercise, etc). When thoughts of things outside your control come to your mind, let them pass without giving them your attention. You can practice the APPLE method:
- Acknowledge: Notice and acknowledge that there are worrying thoughts (“What if someone I love gets sick?” for example).
- Pause: Don’t engage with the thought as you normally do. Pause and breathe.
- Pull back: Remind yourself that this is out of your control and worrying is not helpful or necessary. Don’t believe everything you think. Thoughts are not facts.
- Let go: If you let go of the thought or feeling, it will pass. Imagine thoughts are like trains at a station. They come and they go. You can let them pass. If you board a negative one, it will take you far away from where you want to be, leaving you stressed and anxious. Let those negative thoughts pass.
- Explore: Explore the present moment and what is happening around you at that moment, because at this moment everything is alright. Some people like to ground themselves by paying attention to their senses – “What are five things I can see, four things I can hear, three things I can feel, two things I can smell, one thing I can taste?” Other people find that fully paying attention to what they’re doing at the moment is useful – “As I drive I am aware of my speed, of the three cars ahead of me and fact that I’m approaching a curve…”
I hope this will be helpful.
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It is our hope that we can all work through this uncertain period with the greatest levels of support, understanding, compassion and care for one another. We will do what we can to support individuals and organisations in Brunei.
Best wishes,
The Clarity Team
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