This blog is written by the clinicians at Jonah Green and Associates, a mental health practice based in Kensington, MD that provides quality services for children, teens, families, and adults. It is intended as a resource for families who are seeking to expand their knowledge about mental health and mental health services, and also as a resource for families who are seeking quality mental health services, especially in the mid-Atlantic region. Please feel free to post questions and comments on any of the entries as well as on any topics or articles from our companion web site www.childandfamilymentalhealth.com.
Anxiety is a feeling that most of us have experienced at one time or another. Anxiety serves a practical purpose: to warn us of potential dangers. Unfortunately, in modern life, the “warning” is often outsized or simply irrational compared to the size or likelihood of the perceived threat. Whether the worry is about tests at school, weather forecasts, fear of being judged by others, or worry about feeling worried, anxiety can be frustrating at best and downright debilitating at worst.
Ecotherapy, sometimes called Nature Therapy, is a mental health treatment that focuses on interactions between humans and the natural world. Specifically, Ecotherapy focuses on the Earth as a living system and emphasizes how all living things on Earth are interconnected. The concept is familiar to many indigenous people, and many non-Western cultures have recognized it.
We have all been there. Putting off a significant project or work task or homework assignment that we don’t want to do. Foolishly ignoring an upcoming deadline as if that will somehow make it disappear, when in fact, time still marches ahead. And then, the overwhelming dread and panic as our deadline loom larger and closer, we stay up late, or worse, pull a dreaded “all-nighter” to get the item off the do list, all the while telling ourselves we will never procrastinate again!
There’s no escaping change. Change can pop up in any realm of our life. At work, it can be new directives coming from a boss. At home, it can be children going off to college. In current events, as vaccination numbers increase and COVID cases decrease, many people are faced with having to leave what has become their haven at home and return to life pre-Covid. For many of us, change can be challenging and unwelcome.
After almost a year of virtual learning, children are starting their return to in-person school. There are many ways children may respond to this transition, and it can help connect with them to understand how they are feeling leading up to their first day back and as they continue to move into this new stage of “normal.” Children are astute at picking up their caregiver’s emotions, so chances are if you are excited or anxious, they may be feeling similarly. Some children will be more forthright with sharing their worries, and others may need you to initiate the conversation. Here are some ideas for starting and navigating the conversation.
