Matthew Cohen, MSW

Matthew Cohen, MSW

Social Justice Solutions | Staff Writer
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Give Your Self Permission To Be Sad

There are dozens of ways to cope with tragedy, but I want to share what I believe to be the most powerful. When sad, just give yourself permission to remain so. This is contrary to what we normally do; we are always trying to get our mind of things, trying to talk ourselves out of it, or ignore it all together. Sadness is part of healing, it is the bodies natural reaction. There is nothing wrong with being sad and there should not be a timetable  to it. All things are transient, even sadness; no matter how tragic, a people have an innate ability toward resiliency and healing. A social workers main goal should be helping them tap into it.

I understand that sadness can have, long term, detrimental effects to a person life, and I believe treatment should always be sought. I am not saying that person should ignore treatment options. My larger point is that the treatment should not be some attempt to talk a person out of their feelings. Doing so might do them more harm then good. If anything we should teach a person that one can be sad and still go about their life; teaching them how and helping them to build that skill set is of the utmost importance. It is an important lesson that I do not hear much about, it is OK to be sad. I think we all should give ourselves permission today.

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