Supporting children and teens with mental health concerns can feel like a tremendously daunting task. Nothing is quite like the sense of powerlessness that comes with watching your child struggle and not having a road map for what supporting them should look like. There’s no question that children and teens today are facing new challenges […]
Re-dos Did your mother have a phrase she used when you were a kid that has become engrained in you? The phrase that comes to my mind literally makes my skin crawl. “I don’t know who you think you’re talking to…”. I just shivered. While maybe I wouldn’t go with the same phrasing, I do […]
Let’s get ready to rumble!!!!! Play is powerful! It’s good for babies, tots, teens, and adults. We all need play in our lives! And there are many different types of play: structured play, therapeutic play, FREE play, and rough and tumble play! It’s all important. Some play, like coloring or making jewelry, teaches fine motor […]
To all the parents who think their teen has absolutely lost it, Before we go on, I NEVER want to minimize the struggles teens are going through these days. The fact is they live in a very different world than any generation that came before them. I think there are a lot of factors contributing […]
Being a parent goes beyond all preconceived expectations. And it is far more than just “parenting”. It is a relationship. When we are able to look at this as a two sided relationship, it takes off a little pressure. About a year ago, I went to a training on attachment in play therapy – I […]
To all the tired and weary ones, Sometimes life can become so overwhelming, you just go numb. Those sunny, warm spring days with the windows down, music on, and the mountains in sight don’t do anything for you anymore. You sit—blank faced. Not happy, not sad, not mad. Numb. It’s not depression because it’s not […]
30%. That’s it. That’s the rate for accurately attuned mother’s and infants with a secure attachment style. There’s a really important concept in attachment theory—it’s called attunement. It’s when a mother sees distress in her baby and knows if it’s an angry cry, a hungry cry, or a “pay attention to me, I’m lonely” cry. […]
You know what makes me crazy? (Can I work in mental health and use the word “crazy”? Doing it anyway.) The phrase “attention-seeking behavior”. Are you familiar with that song “Kill a Word”? Well, if I could kill a word, it would be this particular combination of them. We all know what people are talking […]