But one Ballarat counselling psychologist believes we could get through this challenging time if we work as a community to support everyone's well-being.

"I have a real sense that we are all in this together and that people are becoming more community minded," Sam Luxemburg said.

"Most of the time I think people want to cooperate, want to be helpful, want to get through this and have a community."

Mr Luxemburg presented advice to look after our mental health and cope with the profound changes caused by COVID-19 during a Compassionate Ballarat webinar on Wednesday.

He said the first step was to understand the emotional reactions to profound changes to everyday life.

"It is easy to criticise the panic buying of toilet rolls, but it is the inbuilt survival mechanism we have that is called fear," he said.

"Without fear we wouldn't survive as a human race... But fear can be debilitating and not very helpful in every day lives."

Mr Luxemburg said to manage or reduce fear it was important to talk to someone who was a good listener.

"We are social animals, we like to talk and gather together, if you are an extrovert, that is your way of charging your battery... Keep reaching out," he said.

Mr Luxemburg said lsitening could help others feel understood and validated. He provided advice on how to be a good listener.

"It is challenging because when we listen to someone who is in an emotional state we want to help them feel better," he said.

"It doesn't help an emotional person if you say 'calm down and relax, it will soon be better' or 'it is not really as bad as all that'. Those approaches fall into the trap of trying to get an emotional person to think rationally, but they can't when they are emotional.

"The best way to listen is to reflect what you hear is going on. For example, 'I can hear you are really worried right now. What do you think might happen?' If you want to really help, ask them for guidance, 'is there something you would like me to do?'."

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Mr Luxemburg said sometimes it can be supportive to be with a person on the phone, and say nothing.

"Emotions are pretty hard to deal with. It is almost impossible to stop a feeling. But by speaking your fears they tend to diminish, especially if you can speak to someone who listens to you and understands what you are saying," he said.

"Sometimes, by reaching out and helping others we surprisingly help ourselves, because most human beings want to care for others and support others. What doesn't work is sitting alone and not sharing our experience."

Almost 70 people joined Mr Luxemburg's presentation, the first of a weekly 12 week series from Compassionate Ballarat.

Some listeners raised questions about how to connect with children during this time.

Mr Luxemburg said it was important to explain the situation to children and how we could make the best of it, and also providing truthful answers when they ask questions.

"What you don't want to do is start an interrogation. Be willing to listen to your kids and answer truthfully to what they say," he said.

"Most kids are very good at saying what they want to say and being judged or feeling they shouldn't say that is what shuts them up. If you listen to kids, they will tell you what they want to."

While it appears Ballarat is working to support community members during this time, Mr Luxemburg said the real test will be when restrictions are lifted.

"In many ways life might not be quite the same, we don't know yet," he said.

"For example, if a large number of jobs do not get reinstated we might have a high unemployment rate ongoing. How will we deal with that."

Information on the weekly Webinar series is available on the Compassionate Ballarat Facebook page.

Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 for support.

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