SPRINGFIELD – Mercy Health has launched a series of video podcasts focused on helping teachers, parents and students navigate the “new normal” during this uncertain time.

In this four-episode series, behavioral health professionals offer insight and guidance and share their own stories about sending students back to school. The podcasts aim to give parents, teachers and administrators tools to help them and their students adjust to returning to the classroom during a pandemic.

The podcasts feature Dr. Carson Felkel, director of Behavioral Health for Bon Secours Mercy Health, and Dr. Aimee Drescher, a clinical psychologist with Mercy Health. The episodes focus on normalizing anxiety, working with children, CDC guideline reminders, tips on talking with children and when to contact a professional.

“This year has been brought challenges unlike any we have ever experienced into our homes and schools. We want to make sure our communities know that they are not alone and that Mercy Health is here to help,” Dr. Felkel said. “Our mission is to care for the whole person – mind, body, and spirit – and through conversation and guidance, we hope to ease our communities back into school.”

Mercy Health is making the podcasts available to area school districts for distribution and also posting them on the Mercy Health blog at blog.mercy.com/ for use by all. The first video is available at blog.mercy.com/coronavirus-covid-19-school-stress-video/. It covers stress and normalizing anxiety during this back-to-school season and also provides tips on how to implement self-care into your routine and different ways to help your family cope during this time.

“Our communities and our schools have shown a strength while working through what it means to send our children – who which we hold most dear – back to school,” Dr. Drescher said. “It is our hope to let our school leaders, parents and teachers know that the anxiety they feel is normal and offer tips on how to adjust.”