Uncertainty in Bloom: Thriving Through Spring Transitions

By Melea Johnson, MA, LGPC, Staff Clinician, GW Resiliency & Well-being Center

With the transition into spring comes a period of growth and change, from the end of the academic year and graduation ceremonies to longer days, more time outdoors, or shifting roles. While these changes can feel exciting, they can also bring stress as we adjust to the unknown. Periods of transition often create a sense of uncertainty and disruption to our usual routines, which can lead to a natural stress response. It can feel especially difficult to cope when your sense of control is challenged and unexpected events arise. Navigating uncertainty can impact your daily life, including your behaviors, social interactions, and relationships. So, how can we manage uncertainty and embrace changes?

Strategies than can help you manage uncertainty:

Focus on what you can control and ask yourself, “Is this something I can directly change or influence right now?” If your answer is “no” then shift your focus to something that you can directly change.
Avoid making assumptions about the future. When social media or news outlets increase feelings of worry or fear, consider limiting social media and news to help you reconnect with the present moment. Ground yourself by noticing what is happening right now and engaging fully with your surroundings.
Question your negative thinking patterns. Our minds typically jump to the worst case scenario when we feel dysregulated or out of our routines. Having a journal or safe space to process your thoughts can help reduce those negative thoughts and you can engage in these questions to help get you started:
What can I control about the situation?
Is this likely to be as terrible as my fear is telling me?
What can I shift my focus to instead?
Stay social and seek support when stress may tempt you to isolate yourself. Reaching out to friends and family to talk about what’s going on can help you cope and remind you that you’re not alone.

Putting these strategies into practice:

Over the next few weeks, challenge yourself to do at least one small thing each day to help manage and accept uncertainty while reducing stress. Keep track of the day, the activity, and how you felt afterward as this can help you discover which strategies work best for you and when to use them most effectively.

photo of spring flowers - cherry blossoms

Tools to Help You Navigate Transitions

The well-being of GW Medical Enterprise students, trainees, faculty, and staff matters to us. The GW Resiliency & Well-being Center is here so you don’t have to navigate the challenges you face alone. Given the diversity of our community, we recognize that while some resources will well-serve all, while others are most beneficial when tailored to you. Please explore our existing resources on everything from how to manage burnout, anxiety, and stress. Contact us if you want to meet one-on-one, in a group, or just to make a suggestion!

Many of the resources below are specifically for healthcare providers and students in the health professions:

Headspace (Free to GW faculty, students, trainees, and staff)
How To Use 1 to 3-minute Micro-Meditations
Physician Support Line
Lerner Health and Wellness Center
Lifestyle, Sport and Physical Activity Courses (LSPA)
Gratitude Circle Hotline (Hear messages of gratitude from the public)
Curated Wellness Resources (Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library)
Campus Life 101: Managing Stress (Resources compiled by GW Today)
UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (Meditation/breathing exercises in English and 20 different languages, including ASL)
UCLA Mindful: Meditation for Well-being (App)
The Loveland Foundation (Resources for African-American women, girls, and gender nonbinary)
National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course (Masterclass with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, developer of MBSR))
NAMI Frontline Wellness Program
Mindfulness for Healthcare Professionals
Voices of Academia (Podcast focused on the mental health and well-being of academics and researchers)
American Medical Association Resources
AMA STEPS Forward®
Calming Breath (Mindfulness practices from the GW Office of Integrative Medicine & Health)
A Mindfulness Experience (Free, weekly, mindfulness event from the GW Resiliency & Well-being Center and Office of Integrative Medicine & Health)

Free Webinar | Oral Health in Women on April 3rd

Join the GW Resiliency and Well-being Center for a Women's Well-being Lecture Series talk at 12 p.m. ET on Friday, April 3, 2026, on “Oral Health in Women” with Kimberly Baer, DDS, AIAOMT, founder and principal dentist, Natural Dentist Associates in Rockville, MD.

Dr. Baer is a pioneer and expert in biological and holistic dentistry in Maryland. As a biological dentist, she views oral health as deeply connected to overall body health, focusing on biocompatible materials, minimally invasive techniques, and whole-person wellness, often addressing diet, inflammation, and lifestyle alongside standard care like fillings and cleanings.

The R&W Center educates providers on evidence-based strategies that can be translated to patient care. This lecture series has a special focus on issues related to women’s well-being and is supported by the Rosemary Bowes, PhD, Women's Mental Health Fund. Learn more about the center's Women's Well-being Initiative and watch videos of previous lectures on YouTube!

Upcoming Women's Well-being Webinars

Our Women's Well-being Lecture Series is scheduled to take a hiatus from May through August, but we will be back in September! Join us this fall for more free lectures on different aspects of Women's Health!

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for the Real World
- Date/Time: Thursday, September 17, 2026, 12 – 1 p.m. ET
- Speaker: Michelle Clausen PhD, MSN, CNM, Postdoctoral Primary Care Research Training (P-CART) Program Fellow and researcher, GW Resiliency & Well-being Center
- Where: Zoom
- Register
Spirituality & Women's Health
- Date/Time: Thursday, November 5, 2026, 12 – 1 p.m. ET
- Speaker: Christina Puchalski, MD, MS, FACP, FAAHPM, founder and director of the GW Institute for Spirituality & Health (GWish)
- Where: Zoom
- Register

Housed in the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences, the Resiliency & Well-being Center (R&WC) takes an evidence-based, whole person approach to the health and wellness (well-being) services it provides to the GW medical enterprise community. The R&WC provides services at the individual, departmental, and institutional levels. For more information about us, please go to our website or contact Janette Rodrigues, the R&WC's administrative director, at jrodrigues@gwu.edu.

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