CBT Spotlight: Teaching Kids How Emotions Impact Our Choices
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on the interactions between our emotions, our thoughts, and our behaviors. These can seem like complex concepts when working with children and teens, but this strategy that I’ll be describing can help even those young minds begin to build their awareness of what is happening inside their brain and how they can help regulate it.
Teaching Kids What Emotional Regulation Is- Dr. Siegel’s Hand-Brain Model & Upstairs/Downstairs Model
Dr. Daniel Siegel, a renowned neuroscientist, developed two models to help explain how our brain engages with our emotions and our Fight-or-Flight Stress Response and how we can engage in regulation strategies to help regain control over our brain’s response. These models not only make it easier for us as adults to understand, but also provide a great way to explain these natural responsesin our brains and bodies to kids.
No Parents, You Don’t Always Have To Play Too- The Power Of Free Play On Your Child’s Brain
This blog is about the research behind free play, or nondirected play, and the positive impacts it has on your child’s brain development. Let it help you find balance between one-on-one attention and autonomy for you and your child.
What’s Feeding Your Kid’s Bad Behaviors?
Are you struggling with a constantly irritable, anxious, lethargic, or depressed mood-set or behaviors in your school age children or teens? Your child’s diet can be affecting their behaviors and mood. Whether you are seeing mild behavioral and mood changes or more moderate to severe ones, addressing what your family is eating can be an major step to improvement.
Night Terrors vs Nightmares & How To Help
Many children occasionally suffer from nightmares, especially when their body may be overstressed or overtired. Night terrors, though, are different from nightmares. They can be biological in nature or result from particularly stressful periods in a child’s life. This blog will help you identify them and discuss commonly practiced tips for addressing night terrors. There is also a link for help with nightmares at the end.
My 3 Favorite Tools for Helping With Meltdowns
Helping children build an awareness of their big emotions and learn strategies to regulate their big reactions can start at an early age and lead to benefits well into old age- here’s my favorite strategies, step by step, to begin. The tools can be modified for children as young as 3 with parental modeling and can grow with us well into adulthood
Building Listening and Communication Skills With LEGO
learn a fun strategy to not only help your child build their listening and communication skills, but also to build a better sense of understanding between the two of you- this is also great for clinicians and to use between siblings too
Get Better Sleep for Better Mental Health
Sleep is a major foundation for mental wellness. Here are some strategies if you or your children sometimes struggle with sleep
The Unexpected Benefits of Journaling
Why journaling is so beneficial and how it can help the most even when you have no idea what to write