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Sleep is such a critical part of a young child’s growth and development. Problems with achieving restful and high-quality sleep can impact many areas of a child’s life, including learning, attention, and emotion regulation (Kim et al., 2017). Unfortunately, sleep difficulties can be quite common in children and adolescents. In fact, anywhere between 5-40% of children and adolescents can struggle with sleep-related diseases (Kim et al., 2017). These difficulties can…

If you are a caregiver of a child or teen with a history of anxiety, you’ve probably experienced times in which you felt torn about how to handle feared situations.  You may have thought to yourself… This is terrifying for them.  Should I protect them from their fears? But their peers can do it.  So, should I push them to face this fear? If either of these thoughts resonate with…

March is Self-Harm Awareness Month, so we thought we’d share what we know about this important topic. What exactly is self-harm? Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) is defined as any deliberate act of harm to one’s body without suicidal intent (Nock, 2009). It can include behaviors like burning or picking at wounds, but hitting oneself on purpose and cutting with sharp objects have been found to be the most common methods of…

Knowing how to respond to your child's Big Emotion can be tough. One way to begin tackling this intimidating task is by first offering validation. It is important to remember that children are still learning about their emotions and developing their ability to regulate them in the moment, making it particularly impactful to foster this growth through the use of validation. Validating your child allows them to feel heard, acknowledged,…

CBT is a common form of therapy short for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. CBT focuses on the interconnection between thoughts, emotions and behavior. People participating in CBT learn to identify the thoughts that trigger their feelings and reactions. Oftentimes the thinking can be flawed, meaning inaccurate or unhelpful. Thinking errors can lead to or exacerbate anxiety and depression. One goal of CBT is to improve happiness and overall functioning by helping…

Eating is one of the most basic daily functions that children engage in, and yet, it can be a source of great stress for parents. Parents often want their children to develop healthy eating patterns and make more desirable choices when it comes to food, but often times are unsure of the best ways to go about it. It can seem like despite best efforts, instilling healthy patterns of eating…

Many of the families we work with are often at a loss as to what questions to ask their children’s teachers to better understand whether anxiety is impacting them in the classroom and school setting.  Parents are frequently receiving comments from the teachers like the ones listed below. “She’s participating” “He is still coming out of his shell, but it is clear he’s more comfortable” “They volunteer in front of…

The holidays are upon us! The holidays can be a joyous time and present some serious challenges. Many of us will be traveling and spending time with extended family (or making the decision not to attend family gatherings due to Omicron and the rising number of break-through COVID-19 cases), which can be both stressful and disappointing for a variety of reasons. Our kids are home for winter break without the much-needed structure of school, which…

From as early as age 2, children begin to notice similarities and differences between themselves and those around them. In the classroom setting, children are exposed to a diversity of identities, personalities, family structures, and learning styles. As educators, it is our role to encourage their curiosity regarding our differences and provide accurate and developmentally appropriate information within the classroom setting. School age children also experience diverse mental health issues…

Body safety has to do with teaching children about their bodies, private sexual body parts, and healthy boundaries to prevent them from falling vulnerable to child sexual abuse. Every parent’s comfort level talking about these topics varies based on so many factors- personal experiences, culture, family values, and fears to name a few. Conversations about body safety can feel overwhelming and awkward for some parents to navigate and it can…