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Tween & Teens | Work Burnout
Learning about the lizard brain can help you and the child in your life deescalate during heated moments. As parents, caregivers, and teachers we can wonder why children have a difficult time managing emotions. However, we often forget that they need to be taught. Just as we have taught them to brush their teeth, ride a bike, and conquer new math problems, we also have to teach them strategies to sit with their emotions and use coping strategies when possible.
Read MoreI want to let every parent know that these times are hard and to be okay if your day doesn’t go smoothly. Kids are bored, parents are overwhelmed, and everyone is stressed. I wanted to create a list of things to do with your children to help ease some of the stress, but please know it’s okay if you just make it through the day with love, screen time, and survival.
Read MoreNow being in almost week seven of quarantine, who wishes there was a book on parenting during a pandemic?? This is all not normal, but it is our new normal for now. I know limiting screen time has gone out the window in many households, so parents can have a break or work from home.
Read MoreRecently, a lot of parents have shared with me that they feel they should be a “do as I say, because I said so” parent, also known as an authoritarian parent. This is what parents often turn to because they were raised like this, and it might feel like it is the only way to maintain authority.
Read MoreImpulse control is an essential skill for completing daily tasks. Impulse control takes place in our prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that manages executive functions. Children’s brains are continually growing and certain activities can help facilitate growth.
Read More“Challenging kids are lacking the skills of flexibility, adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem solving” – Dr. Ross Greene
Read MoreChildren experience periods of rapid growth in areas of the brain associated with self-regulation. Piggy- backing off of the toddler years, it is important to continue to reinforce emotion identification, perspective-taking, calm down strategies, and problem-solving. I can not express enough how important it is to model the behavior and skills you are teaching your children.
Read MoreSelf- regulation is foundational in fostering wellbeing across the lifespan and it begins with childhood. Have you ever witnessed an adult who “blows up” or becomes mute when adverse situations occur? Me too. Adults who exhibit these behaviors were once children who were never taught emotion regulation skills. So, one may be asking, “how do I teach my children self-regulation”? It begins with co-regulation.
Read MoreImagine you are getting ready to leave when grandma reaches down and kisses their grandchild. Your child accepts the kiss but as soon as they get in the car, they express their strong dislike for grandma’s kisses. You feel conflicted on what to say. You don’t want to hurt grandmas feelings, but you also want to make your kid feel comfortable. This is a common situation and a perfect open door to begin talking to your child about their body boundaries and consent.
Read MoreI am big on family systems therapy, even when working with individuals. This means that when I work with an individual client I keep in mind the dynamics of the entire family.
Read MoreLast week, you read about how to tame a tantrum. This week, I want to provide you with further information on how to identify and help your child cope with a meltdown. Remember, tantrums often are a result of a trigger that a child can recognize. A meltdown is usually a result of overstimulation. For example, a child may have a tantrum if they do not get a toy at the store. A child may have a meltdown if they are surrounded by too many people in their class room.
Read MoreSensory processing occurs when our nervous system integrates information from our senses and organizes it in to appropriate behavioral responses, according to the situations we are in (Bennie, 2010). Sensory Processing Disorder or SPD occurs when, “sensory signals are either not detected or don’t get organized into appropriate responses” (“About SPD,” 2018).
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