Category Archives: Families

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Helpful Holiday Links from Therapists (Part 2): Family, Relationships & The Holidays

Children, Families, Parents, Stressors

Holidays are often a time when we reflect on our families and relationships.    Depending on your unique experiences and relationships, the opportunity or lack of opportunity to connect with family members during the holidays may trigger a variety of emotions including; joy, anxiety, frustration, disappointment, sadness, confusion and so much more.

Therapists across the country have been blogging about relationship dynamics that can play out during the holidays.   I am sharing links that I think provide helpful information and represent a variety of relationship themes that can emerge during the holidays. Although I can’t share links to cover every situation, I am hopeful that you will find a post that speaks to you or a loved one this holiday season. Continue reading Helpful Holiday Links from Therapists (Part 2): Family, Relationships & The Holidays →

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Helpful Holiday Links from Therapists: Surviving the Holidays (Part 1)

Families, Parents, Self Care, Stressors

Over the years that I have been practicing therapy, I have had the honor of witnessing the variety of ways in which people experience the holiday season.  Some clients have shared excitement and joy about the holidays, while others report feeling that the holidays amplify their existing struggles.

Based on similar experiences in their work, many of my therapist colleagues across the country have written powerful and helpful posts about navigating the holiday season.   Because there is so much great content that I wanted to share with you, I obtained permission from some my colleagues to compile their links into this series of posts on my blog. Continue reading Helpful Holiday Links from Therapists: Surviving the Holidays (Part 1) →

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Giving the Gift of Self Care

Families, Parents, Self Care

Have you ever considered giving the gift of self care?    The gift of self care is a gift that encourages someone to prioritize his or her self care.  Self care is purposeful action that an individual takes to ensure their well-being.   Well-being can include; emotional health, mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.     Given this definition of self care and a little creativity, there are many possibilities for how we can give someone the gift of self care. Continue reading Giving the Gift of Self Care →

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Stressors & Children: Holidays

Children, Families, Parents, Stressors

Holidays can be very exciting  for children, but also very overwhelming.    Holidays are often accompanied by many things that are new or different for a child.   New activities.  New food.  Spending time with less familiar people.  New schedules.  Travel or spending time in less familiar places.   Unclear or different expectations.  If you think of everything that may be new for a child, it makes sense why a child may become stressed or overwhelmed during a holiday.   The good news is that by being aware of the potential stresses, we can help children manage and respond in a way that helps them enjoy the holiday as much as possible.  So, how do we do that? Continue reading Stressors & Children: Holidays →

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Stressors and Children: Social Interactions

Children, Families, Parents, Stressors

Over the past few weeks, many children have headed back to school. In my Eagan therapy practice, one of the biggest school-related stressors that I hear about is related to social interactions. This is something children and their parents talk about year round, but especially at the beginning of the school year. Kids often worry about making friends and being liked. Parents often wonder how their child’s social skills compare to other children and worry about their children developing healthy relationships with their peers. In this post, I will explore how we can help our children identify and cope with the emotions they have about interacting with their peers and develop healthy social skills. Continue reading Stressors and Children: Social Interactions →

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Stressors & Children: Travel

Children, Families, Parents

Travel can be incredibly stressful because there are many changes to our routines and things can feel unpredictable.   Many parents find traveling with children to be stressful, but it is also important to remember that children may experience traveling to be stressful, too.   If you haven’t already done so, you may want to check out my previous post about Stressors & Children.

Reflection: Preparing to Help Children Manage Stress While Traveling

Each travel experience is unique, so I encourage you to think through your upcoming travel plans and anticipate which elements may be most stressful for your child.    As I am writing this, I am reminded of a Daniel Tiger song that my own children often sing, “When we do something new, Lets talk about what we’ll do.”  Doing this type of reflection now can help you prepare your child for what to expect while traveling and help reduce the stress that can accompany encountering new situations.  This reflection also allows you the opportunity to consider how you can help your child manage stress while away from home.    Things to consider include: Continue reading Stressors & Children: Travel →

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Stressors & Children

Children, Families, Parents, Reflection Questions, Stressors

How is your stress level right now?  How is your child’s stress level?   We all experience stress at times, including children.    Yes, it is true that children don’t have the same responsibilities as adults, but there are certainly areas of their lives that can cause them stress as well.

Sometimes, as adults, we are not as good about recognizing when the children in our life are experiencing stress.  Some of the areas of life that cause adults stress (ex: relationship difficulties) also cause children stress, but there may be things that cause stress for our children that we as adults don’t even recognize as a stressor.

Continue reading Stressors & Children →

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Self Care For Children

Children, Families, Parents, Self Care

If you’ve been following my series on self care, you already know that I believe self care is really important!   Lately, I’ve been thinking about how we can teach children about the benefits of self care from an early age and set a strong foundation that will help them prioritize self care as they get older.

Self care is defined as purposeful action that an individual takes to ensure their well-being.   Well-being can include; emotional health, mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.  When our children are young, we support our children in achieving well-being in each of these areas, but as our children get older they will become more independent and need to have the skills to ensure their own well being.

Continue reading Self Care For Children →

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Effective Coping Strategies for Children & Teens

Children, Counseling, Families, Parents

In previous posts, I have written about helping children build their feelings vocabulary and express their emotions.    Today, I address coping strategies for children and teens.   The coping strategies that we find effective as adults may not be as helpful for children or teens.

What is a coping strategy?

A coping strategy is any strategy that helps us tolerate intense emotion, stressful situations or conflict   The types of coping strategies we utilize can be healthy or unhealthy (think overeating, excess drinking and more).   It is important to help children develop a foundation of utilizing healthy coping strategies when they are young.

Coping strategies are not one size fits all.   The type of strategies that may be effective and acceptable vary based on the child’s needs, the family’s expectations, the setting, the type of emotion being experienced, the intensity of the emotion and available resources. Continue reading Effective Coping Strategies for Children & Teens →

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Thinking Outside of the Box: Creative Ways to Help Children Express Their Emotions (Part 2)

Children, Families, Parents

In my last post, I asked you to start considering ways in which children may express their emotions in ways other than directly talking about their own emotions.   I promised a follow up post sharing some specific ideas and here it is!

The dictionary defines express as:

  • to put (thought) into words; utter or state
  • to show, manifest, or reveal
  • to set forth the opinions, feelings, etc., of (oneself), as in speaking, writing, or painting
  • to represent by a symbol, character, figure, or formula

The ideas that I share in this post could be used as ways to help children express their emotions, but can also be very helpful in processing and coping with emotions.   For the purposes of this post, I consider an idea creative or “outside of the box” if it goes beyond just expecting children to verbally share their emotions with us.  If you observe your children, you may realize that they are already using some of the techniques described below to process their emotions or situations that they have encountered.   Other children may benefit from being given permission to use one of the following techniques to share their emotions.

Continue reading Thinking Outside of the Box: Creative Ways to Help Children Express Their Emotions (Part 2) →