Notes from the Counseling Department

It's been quite a fall for all of us here at Bigelow, the Newton Public Schools, and, really across the U.S. and beyond.  As we move toward the Winter Solstice, it feels like we are entering a dark tunnel, one in which we can just barely make out a light at the other end.  It's hard to imagine what the world will look like in the Spring and how the vaccine might impact that.    Many of us are experiencing what experts are calling "Pandemic Fatigue."  That feeling of being "done" with the restrictions, the isolation, the fear and anxiety.  It's an exhausted, hopeless kind of feeling and when we feel that way, we aren't in the best mind to make wise choices.  It's this kind of feeling that allows us to let down our guard and make rationalizations and excuses for our behavior, whatever it may be.  This is what makes us watch just one more episode, play just one more round of a game, or stay up just a few more minutes later.  We find reasons to make