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.
Your child is sitting down to take an exam. His teacher or professor walks by, drops the test on his desk, and he immediately starts to panic. His palms are sweaty, and he cannot seem to remember any of the content he studied. His heart is beating quickly, and he’s starting to feel light-headed. He cannot seem to figure out why this always happens when he sits down to take a test. Does this sound like a familiar scenario for your child? If the answer is yes, the cause might be test anxiety.
Every year my in-laws, the Gundersons, host the Gundy Undie Run. The premise is that friends and family who are brave enough run a race in the dark, cold night on Christmas Eve… wearing only their underwear. It’s a tradition that brings some fun and humor to the holidays. The holidays are supposed to be filled with joy and celebration, right? However, for people who have lost loved ones, the excitement of the holidays can often be accompanied by feelings of sadness and loneliness.
What are the first associations that pop into your mind when you think of the traditional American Thanksgiving holiday? Turkey and pumpkin pie? Football? The long and tedious hours of travel that you are about to endure? The family arguments about politics you are about to suffer through? While many things come to mind for most of us, the ideas of “thankfulness” or “gratefulness”, which are inherent in the Thanksgiving holiday, can often seem to be mostly forgotten.
Impulse control and self-regulation are a large part of many therapies with young children who have difficulty with waiting, stopping, following directions, and accepting limits. These skills are part of a larger set of abilities called the “executive functions,” which include emotion regulation, organization, attention, inhibiting one’s actions, and time management. Research shows that the area of the brain responsible for these complex tasks, the pre-frontal cortex, continues to develop into one’s mid-twenties. No wonder our little ones are still learning and growing and in these areas! With practice and persistence, we can help our little ones gain connections and strengthen executive functions. The games below are used to do just that.
This is a very common and appropriate question that parents ask me when scheduling the first session for their child. They might state concerns such as “I don’t want him/her to feel like something is wrong with him/her.” While this is understandable, therapy is usually a lot more anxiety-producing for parents than it is for their child. In fact, most children who come to see me appear relieved to be in my office, and quickly understand my role in helping him/her/their family feel better about whatever it is they are struggling with. Nonetheless, at times children and teens may resist therapy, and these suggestions for how to talk to children about starting therapy can be helpful:
