Become a bit of a hermit during the COVID-19 lockdowns?

 Spring and the easing of restrictions is the perfect time to rediscover your old social self, Suzanne Francis believes.

 A life-skills coach, Suzanne teaches interactive skills at which many over-40 locals may have become a bit rusty over the past 18-months.

 With social isolation and loneliness often described as the “new smoking” due to its deleterious impacts on individual’s mental and physical well-being, Suzanne believes it’s never too late to learn new skills.

 Suzanne has also created a handy list of tips for alleviating social isolation during the current lockdown which has only exacerbated increasing issues of loneliness in modern Australia.

 Many of her clients, she explains are women who have found themselves at a loose-end in their lives.

 “These are women in their forties and fifties who are the ‘new poor’. They’re women going through divorces, their children have grown-up, their partner has passed, they’ve cared for elderly parents,” Suzanne said.

 “These things have all impacted on those areas of their lives. That’s where I come in and help them reconnect again,” Suzanne explained.

 Social media and the new technologies, she believes, have reduced the opportunities that we have for “normal” in-person social interactions.

 Because of the development of technology, these events simply aren’t as readily-available. In the past, people went-out more to events like dances, dinner parties, church groups, which are not so much a thing in our society now.”

 The seemingly-interminable pandemic quarantines, restrictions, and lockdowns have probably-exacerbated these issues, she adds.

 “With COVID, I would say that, unless you’re a person who goes out looking for solutions, it can be quite daunting, with the tendency to simply isolate at home.”

 Registered Nurse for many years in Melbourne, it was while working with the elderly and through her own life that she saw how isolated many people had become.

 “As well as being employed in the aged care sector, I was divorced about 15-year’s ago and I found that I had to re-establish social networks.

 “Coming to Orange, I had to re-do the same thing again,” she said. “I’ve also been co-running the Over-40s Social Club for the last two years as well.”  

 These were factors that all fed into her change of career, Suzanne said.

 “I was looking for a different direction and life-coaching appealed to me and, then someone said, ‘why don’t you concentrate on re-establishing connections?’, and I thought this would be perfect for women in their 40s, empty-nesters and those having a change of circumstances.”

 She said that the impact of social isolation includes both on their emotional and mental health well-being with studies showing that loneliness also impacts on our physical health as well.

 Suzanne’s work involves initial one-on-one sessions where she explores the interests, personality, and opportunities for meaningful engagement for those whose social skills are perhaps out-of-practice.

 She emphasises though, that her work is not that of a so-called “dating coach” aimed at improving single’s chances of finding the right partner, but more improving the learned skills of engaging generally with people that we share interests.

 “It’s techniques to meet strangers and to participate in conversations. It’s teaching them about looking at people and understanding group dynamics and where you would fit-in.

 “Sometimes, it’s just role-playing, just how to approach someone and start a conversation, it’s not looking at partners or dating; it’s more to do with friendships, social circles and activities,” Suzanne emphasised.

 Her system is designed to be flexible and open-ended with clients able to book as many or as few seasons as they like with follow-up events for those in in need of a bit of debrief or refresher session.

 “But to succeed, I’ve really got to know the client, and that often takes a number of sessions, because everyone is different, everyone is special.”

 “Many of us coming out if this will be tentative for a time, so it’s about reigniting those social skills and reconnecting with others because, in the end, we are all social beings,” Suzanne concluded.

 To contact Suzanne, call 0472 589 890, email chinatravels38@hotmail.com