Stress First Aid: Caring for yourself and others during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dr. Patricia Watson

smiling woman with woman with long dark hair

Dr. Watson is the second speaker in our series on Stress Resilience in the Pandemic with a presentation on how we can care for ourselves and others during these trying times. The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous stress to every sector of the upstate community. You may be an essential healthcare worker on the front lines of the pandemic. You may have lost your job from budget cuts or business failure. Or you may be a caregiver isolated at home with a seriously ill loved one. Exceptional times deserve and require exceptional approaches to caring for yourself and others. Dr. Patricia Watson will share a model of self-care and peer support that she helped develop for the US Navy and Marines, and that she has adapted to help you navigate these unprecedented times.

Recording of February 10, 2021 talk coming soon

Patricia Watson, Ph.D. has been a psychologist for the National Center for PTSD since 1998.  Prior to that, she was an active duty Navy psychologist working with adults and children/families for eight years.  Her education includes a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, and a postgraduate fellowship in pediatric psychology. She has been involved in extensive science-into-practice translation, intervention development, and program implementation, including:

  • Co-authoring the Psychological First Aid (PFA) Field Guide and the Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) Manual, designed to intervene in the immediate and intermediate phases after disasters and terrorism. 
  • Co-authoring versions of Stress First Aid self-care/coworker support models for military, law enforcement, forest firefighters, nurses, probation officers, and rail workers, as well as public-facing versions for patients, clients, and families.
  • Co-edited three books on disaster behavioral health interventions, and numerous publications and courses on disaster mental health, combat and operational stress, military culture, early intervention, and resilience. 

To learn more about Dr. Watson and the work she does click here

The FLGEC Website and Stress First Aid Toolkit can be accessed here