Meet Laurel.
Laurel is a 35-year-old woman who lives in Sarnia, Ontario. Laurel had been working in the banking industry since she was 18 years old. She loved her job and her daily social interactions with customers and coworkers. About three months ago, Laurel lost her job, as her position was being outsourced. Laurel was devastated, and she experienced a significant decline in her mood due to a lack of a daily routine and reduced social interactions. She also experienced trouble sleeping at night over guilt of losing her job and thoughts that it was somehow her fault.
Laurel comes into the BounceBack program feeling anxious about having to re-enter the workforce, and uncertain about what steps to take moving forward.
With the help of her coach, Laurel learns a number of practical skills to help her alter her thinking and behaviours to overcome her anxiety and improve her mood.
She learns how to:
- Identify and target her negative and unhelpful thoughts. Through the program, Laurel realized that while she could not change the fact that she had lost her job, she could change the way she thought about the situation. She found it very helpful thinking about what she would tell coworkers who were in a similar position and then applying that advice to herself.
- Use the planner sheets in the program to get herself back into a daily routine like she had before she lost her job, such as waking up and going to bed at the same time, doing housework, participating in yoga and dance classes, and scheduling time to reconnect with old coworkers.
- Overcome her sleep problems by creating a “to-do list” before bed in order to limit the amount of times she would wake up in the middle of the night worrying about the next day. She also incorporated downtime (drinking tea or reading a book) so she could relax prior to going to bed.
