Intersecting losses and integrative practices: Work and mental health during the COVID-19 era and beyond.

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has resulted in unimaginable loss of life coupled with the loss of livelihoods for millions of people across the globe. In this article, we discuss the unique challenges of this crisis with a particular focus on how the pandemic has led to intersecting losses that have been exacerbated by ongoing social marginalization and inequities. An integrative treatment model informed by psychology of loss theories is presented for understanding the intersecting losses evoked by the pandemicincluding the loss of work and financial security, relationships and collective rituals, routines and work-life boundaries, and physical and psychological health. Innovative features of this integrative perspective include a focus on enhancing critical consciousness, the use of integrative mental health and work-based interventions, and trauma-informed care. A case example and an integrative, prevention-based intervention that focuses on both work and mental health issues conclude the article. Public Significance StatementThis article examines the intersecting nature of losses that have been evoked by COVID-19, which encompass work and financial security, relationships and collective rituals, routines and work-life boundaries, and physical and psychological health. These losses, which have taken place amidst the continuing struggle of marginalization and social inequity, call for a concerted effort by psychology, writ large, to innovate and integrate practices and prevention efforts. New directions for integrative practices and prevention are presented in conjunction with a conceptual model that can inform future efforts to support people and communities during and after the pandemic.

Using an Intersectional Lens on Vulnerability and Resilience in Minority and/or Marginalized Groups During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

“…Barriers to participation and collective and self-efficacy of communities and individuals were not only present at individual levels but also related to systemic challenges. In this sense, understanding systemic constraints was important to implement interventions and increase resilience and mitigate adversity as discussed in the United States ( Blustein et al, 2021 ).…”

“Like a tsunami coming in fast”: A critical qualitative study of precarity and resistance during the pandemic.

“…Taken together, the themes presented in this study reflect the diverse nature of the participants’ struggles, which encompassed work, relationships, financial issues, social and racial challenges, and inner psychological conflicts. As a response to the intersecting losses in the face of precarity, Blustein et al (2021) proposed an integrative approach to counseling practice that is rooted in the unique challenges of the pandemic, encompassing work, nonwork, and social issues presented in a trauma-informed framework. The findings from this study affirm the importance of counseling interventions that validate the structural roots of intersecting losses and provide effective therapy that integrates work and nonwork issues.…”

“…Our rationale for this decision is based on the social and economic contexts of these life spaces, which are particularly vulnerable to precarity. Work-related disruptions have included unemployment, underemployment, increased remote work, and dangerous work conditions (Blustein et al, 2021). In the midst of instability, a unique challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic has been maintaining healthy, close relationships with others.…”

Critical Consciousness in Vocational Psychology: A Vision for the Next Decade and Beyond

“…A critical vocational psychology is attuned to intersectionality (Crenshaw, 2017), which posits that social systems of race, gender, class (among others) combine and merge to compound experiences of marginalization and oppression (e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism and economic marginalization, anti-immigrant attitudes, ableism). Last, a critical vocational psychology expands its vision and impact beyond individual and small group-level counseling and intervention, and it engages meaningfully with macro-level and multi-level factors in research, practice, and policy, as these factors are essential in changing marginalizing conditions (Blustein et al, 2021; Gutowski et al, 2021; Hooley et al, 2018).…”

“…Precarious work, defined as “work that is unstable and insecure in the continuity and quantity of work, restricts the power of workers to advocate for change, and does not provide protections from workplace abuses and unsafe working conditions” (Allan et al, 2021, p. 2) is an increasingly pervasive dimension of oppression salient to vocational psychology. Scholars recently have described the way that the COVID-19 pandemic and pre-existing health disparities have impacted the work and mental health of workers (Autin et al, 2020; Blustein et al, 2021).…”