Whether your child was already dealing with the effects of trauma long before the pandemic, your child is experiencing trauma related to sheltering at home, of you’re just concerned about what may come up this school year, it is helpful to understand the key principles of providing a trauma-informed environment: Predictability, Flexibility, Connection, and Empowerment.…
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No matter how old you are, we are all doing it. We get on our phones to check Facebook or our news sites and we just keep scrolling though each post, reading each article until we realized a couple of hours has passed. There is a term for this and it’s called “doomscrolling” and our…
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COVID-19 has and continues to affect us on a daily basis and in various ways, including our mental health. Most of our children may not have experienced the serious physical effects of the disease itself, however, their emotional and behavioral development has been greatly impacted since the beginning of the pandemic. So what are the…
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Motivational interviewing is a patient-centered, communication technique that is commonly used by counselors to help motivate clients change behaviors and to help them explore and resolve conflicts. Motivation interviewing is backed by research, showing its effectiveness to increase motivation in individuals who may have been unwilling to change in the first place. Motivational interviewing is…
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Did you know that approximately 75% of people with a mental illness report that they have experienced stigma? When someone is confronted with mental health stigma, they often feel experience feelings of shame, hopelessness, and may be reluctant to seek help. Here is a short video that you can share with family and friends on…
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Being able to acknowledge multiple truths in a situation can be powerful and healthy. This is especially true when it comes to our emotions because it helps us to practice self-awareness and self-acceptance. The power of “yes and…” versus “either or” thinking can also be healthy when it comes to social issues because it can…
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We probably all have our “go-to” coping skills that we use in time of need, but what do we do when our trusty skills aren’t working? For many this is a time of unprecedented stress be it prolonged isolation, prolonged anxiety about health and safety, systemic racism, and more. Yes, there is much to be…
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Did you know that July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month? The goal of this campaign is to educate our community about the importance of mental health and treatment and to help break down barriers so that racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. have access to services and higher quality of care.…
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If you, your child, or another loved one has PTSD, then you probably already know that symptoms of PTSD can be unpredictable in which that they can happen at any moment. Some PTSD symptoms to look out for are avoidance, negative thoughts, and emotional distress. And because it is PTSD Awareness Month and National Safety…
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Did you know June is also PTSD Awareness Month? PTSD, or posttraumatic stress disorder, is a mental health disorder that can be developed after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event such as a natural disaster, car accident, being a victim or witness to violence, or death of a close family member or friend. Research has…
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