Transitioning Back to School Post COVID
TRANSITIONING BACK TO SCHOOL POST COVID Children who have headed back to school this fall are facing unusual challenges. One of them is anxiety about being separated from their families after months and years of togetherness. In many children, this can trigger separation anxiety, in addition to the anxiety of leaving their safe place. They
Read moreMarital Communication Tool
An issue that comes up often in counseling is communication. Misunderstandings and misperceptions, without checking for accuracy, can quickly cause a minor disagreement to escalate to a full-blown argument. To further cloud things, very often one partner or the other will make assumptions about how their partner will react and proceed as if this assumption
Read moreParenting Your Toddler Through the “No” Years
Example A: A while back, I was sitting on the floor at a local children’s music class with my then two year old toddler, having a bit of a hard time persuading him to stay put and sing along with his maracas. He was distracted by three other toddlers who were running around outside the
Read moreHow to Help Your Child with COVID-19 Anxiety
Many families are facing major changes in their daily routines due to COVID 19. With all the unknowns that come with a new virus, it’s normal to feel anxious about the “what if’s” and the future. Any time a child faces significant change, it can cause fear and anxiety. When anxiety is not managed, it
Read moreCaregiving Tips
Caregivers Bill of Rights: 1. I have the right to take care of myself. This is not an act of selfishness. It will give me the capability of taking better care of my relative. 2. I have the right to seek help from others even though my relatives object. I recognize the limits of my
Read moreEye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EDMR is a form of psychotherapy that was developed to resolve symptoms from disturbing and unresolved life experiences. It uses a structured approach to address past, present, and future aspects of disturbing memories. The approach was developed to resolve the development of trauma-related disorders including depression, anxiety and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. When a traumatic or
Read moreTips for Parenting Adolescents
Raising teenagers today is truly a challenge. Technology, for all its conveniences, has enabled today’s teenagers to seemingly tune out even further from their families. We can wage a war against texting, Facebook and the like or we can embrace it and use it to our advantage. Communicating well with your teen need not be
Read morePositive Reinforcement
Praising a child sounds so easy. Don’t we all tell our children how wonderful they are? How well they did on a test or accomplished a task? Don’t all parents constantly praise their children? Why read up about positive reinforcements? Isn’t verbal praise a natural occurrence for all mom’s and dad’s? The answer, sadly, is
Read moreSandplay
Sandplay is a non-directive yet powerful therapeutic modality that allows the client to go beyond the limits of the conscious mind and work though issues in a safe, non-verbal way. Sandplay was developed by the Swiss psychotherapist Dora Kalff and is based on the Jungian concept that the psyche has the wisdom and desire to
Read moreThe Five Stages of Grief
Sadly, grief is something that everyone has to go through during his or her lifetime. However, grieving does not only apply to the loss of a loved one. One can grieve over the loss of a job, a marriage, or a friendship. Below, are the five stages of grief. There is no right or wrong
Read moreActive Listening Skills
Acknowledging Person– Provide verbal or non-verbal awareness of the other person, eye contact. Restating, paraphrasing– Respond to person by repeating their feelings. Summarize the persons thoughts– Provide a focus of information by summing-up their feelings. Probing– ask questions in a supportive way that requires more information or that attempts to clear up misunderstanding. Perceptions– Check
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