Orange County Clerk of Courts to host Thursday mental-health webinar to help with your pandemic stress

Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased anxiety, stress and uncertainty, the Orange County Clerk of Courts’ Office will be hosting an informational webinar about mental health on Thursday afternoon.

The webinar titled “My Health Matters: Mental Health Awareness During COVID-19” is meant to raise awareness and help to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, and members of the public are invited to join and ask questions. Clerk Tiffany Moore Russell will host the event from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

Mental health experts will be on hand to present available resources  and answer questions during a Q&A. The Clerk’s office’s Mental Health Division manager, Lisa Donnelly, will present and answer questions alongside a wellness presenter from Peer Support Spaces, Telecounseling information from ASPIRE Health Partners, and insight from Dr. David Cavalleri, a mental health counselor who will provide information on how to deal with trauma surrounding COVID-19.

“You don’t have to have it all together, and it’s okay if you don’t.”

“This month is devoted to understanding the importance of our individual health with a primary focus on mental health,” wrote Russell in an announcement for the event. She says she built the #MyHealthMatters initiative as a collective partnership “to inform the community about valuable resources available to help them.”

Russell knows the pandemic has “impacted people as far as how to manage unknown fears,” compounding an already stressful time. She emphasized how parents have had to step up and teach their children at home, for example, and how extroverted people have had to stay indoors and apart from others.

As a mother, Russell says she faced her own insecurity when she was tasked with homeschooling and that she beat herself up for the first couple of weeks because she felt lost.

“I was stressed out,” Russel said. “One day, I decided to let myself be imperfect and just say, ‘It’s OK, I don’t have it, and if it doesn’t get done today, it will get done tomorrow.'”

“You don’t have to have it all together, and it’s OK if you don’t.”

Those wishing to attend the Zoom webinar need to register in advance via the Clerk’s website.

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This article appears in May 20-26, 2020.