SOCIAL WORK week of June 7th - June 13th: Goodbyes and Staying Connected

Goodbyes and Staying Connected

It's that time of the year again when some of us say goodbye for the summer, some of us move on to middle school, and some of us may transfer to other schools.

Goodbyes can make us feel sad, angry, excited and many other feelings.  However you feel about a goodbye, is ok.

While we sometimes think about goodbyes as "forever," but they aren't.  Every relationship you have becomes part of you.  It changes the wiring in your brain.  So one of the tricks to help with goodbyes, is to find ways to stay connected with that relationship.  Here are some ways that may help!

When connecting with people from a distance (e.g. over the summer, or if someone moves to a different school etc.) you can (with parent permission):

• Ask for their email address to write them an email
• Ask for their home address to send them letters or cards
• Ask for their username on a video chat app
• Ask for a parent phone number to talk to them on the phone

For people who you may not be able to see or talk to again, you can stay connected to that relationship by:

• Telling stories and memories about that person
• Looking at pictures of that person
• Writing a letter or make a card to that person and put it in a special place (e.g. a special memory box)
• Having conversations out loud to that person (and maybe even responding to yourself in that person's "voice"--saying what you'd think they would say)

I hope that you all have a great summer, and I hope to connect with all of you again soon!