We are all in this together. The coronavirus pandemic has now touched nearly every corner of the Collaborative world, although we are all differently affected, and our geographic communities are on different timelines. Our hearts are breaking over the loss of life, and we worry about the health of our families and neighbors, and how this will impact our health care systems, our communities, and the most vulnerable among us. We all feel the stress of this global event.
For most of us, it also means a sudden and dramatic shift in working conditions, and real concerns about how our work will continue, what the coming months will bring, and our clients who need us. Our instinct as Collaborative professionals and peacebuilders is to turn to community in these moments. We are a remarkably resilient group, and IACP is working hard to keep our members connected and supported as we all figure out our next steps. Just in the last two weeks, we have held videoconferences for our Global Partners and for practice group leaders, along with a webinar open to the whole community – members and nonmembers – to discuss the use of technology and other tips for adapting to the current situation. In these meetings, I have been grateful to hear much in the way of wise advice and useful tips from our professionals around the world, and I wanted to share some of that here: · Make room for the grieving that we must do. It may come in waves, and may affect our colleagues and clients in different ways than it affects us.
· Consider taking the opportunity of “downtime” to strengthen your practice, so you will be in a stronger position when the world returns to normalcy. Get organized, take care of languishing projects, build your skills.
· Unfortunately, family disputes do not pause for this kind of event. Members who have worked in the divorce field through the SARS epidemic in Hong Kong and the 2008 financial crash in the United States report that while there is an immediate slow-down in work, there is likely to be a crush of people needing our services in a few months.
· This is an especially important time to develop your computer skills, get involved with social media, and learn how to move your practice online. Already the necessity of social distancing is motivating many of our members to build these skills, and more and more are experimenting with team meetings and even full cases via videoconference. This development will strengthen the Collaborative community for the future, as we will be able to offer services in remote areas and streamline our practice by reducing travel time for in-person meetings.
· Stay connected! We may be practicing social distancing, but our communities are still there for us. There are other professionals who are dealing with the same challenges you are. Reach out to them, and you will find a wealth of support, information, and good ideas. Many colleagues on our videoconferences have expressed what a relief it is just to see and speak to each other in this difficult time. We have a Collaborative Practice Slack channel (#collaborativepractice) that is open to all members to ask questions and share information with your peers, and another just for practice group leaders. For access to this channel, please email info@collaborativepractice.com.
Together, we find we have the strength, courage, and resilience that we need now.
In community,
Anne Tamar-Mattis
Executive Director, IACP |
