Prevent anxiety disorders in children
Anxiety has outpaced depression as the number one mental illness in this country. But feeling anxious is not a mental illness. It's an inevitability. Our goal, however, is to prevent anxiety disorders in children. How does anxiety shift from an emotion to a disorder?...
Trainings for every need!
I custom design trainings to meet your needs. I will create a training of your choosing if you do not find a topic here that suits your needs. Please email me at laura@laurafishtherapy.com to get started. I have trainings designed for educators, parents, coaches, and...
Want to prevent Trauma?
Yes, you do. If you want to prevent trauma, then you must promote relational health! When asked about trauma in children, Bruce Perry has said, "It isn't about our history of adversity, it's about our history of connectedness." Turns out quality relationships can...
Practicing inclusion: see the child
Teachers tell me all the time, “Laura, I believe in full inclusion, but how do we do it?” I'm happy to help. My training, Practicing inclusion: see the child, means committing to attuning to each child's interior landscape to create a deep understanding of that...
The Power of Attention
Want to feel less stressed? Use the power of attention to create choice and change! Human beings are wired to scan for what is missing or what is wrong. A feature of the brain intended to keep us safe. It's called the "negativity bias," but according to Dr. Rick...
Teaching with the Brain in Mind
Teachers: want to work smarter not harder? You can, when you are teaching with the brain in mind! With a little working knowledge of the brain, adults empower themselves to update their teaching practices based on each child's unique developmental needs. When...
Build Resilience and Manage Stress
Adults are experiencing more stress than ever before. The demands placed upon us are manifold, and yet very little is provided to help build protective factors that build resilience and manage stress. Parents and Teachers tell me, "I can't do anything else. I'm tapped...
Conflict Resolution with children
Conflict Resolution with children remains challenging for most adults. We tend to swoop in as the judge, referee, or umpire with, "Who had it first? Put that back. Give her a turn," or other "helpful" solutions. But how does that TEACH children to resolve problems or...
Emotional Intelligence in Children
Most parents and teachers ask for help managing children's challenging behavior. This makes sense. Out of control behavior disrupts both the classroom and home environment. Such behavior might compromising both learning and overall well-being. With this, adults spend...
21st Century Teaching
Despite the plethora of information available to the public via the web and numerous professional development opportunities, many adults still implement outdated practices. Unfortunately, access to information doesn't always translate to change. In this training,...
Mindfulness for children and adults
Stress. Burnout. Challenges. Overwhelm. Suffering from any of this? Mindfulness for children and adults offers simple strategies to use your mind to change your brain. The result? More balance, health, and well-being. Participants explore what mindfulness means for...
The Power of Attuned Engagement
Most teachers have confidence in their ability to form relationships with the children or students in their classroom. When asked to articulate how they do so, however, can they describe the specifics of attuned interactions through contingent communication and how...
Developing the child, not fixing!
In this training, Laura emphasizes the importance of developing the child, not fixing! Why? Because when challenges arise, adults tend to shift into shame, blame, punish, and "fix" mode. It's understandable. The behavior creates overwhelm for both children and adults....
Executive Function Skills
What are Executive Function Skills? The ability to plan, initiate, organize, and carry out tasks while regulating emotions, focusing attention, controlling impulses, resolving conflicts, shifting gears when necessary and monitoring one’s efforts to do so. Wow. Quite...
Mindful Learning and Critical Thinking
Working with children presents challenges. Resources devoted to address these challenges tend to focus on strategies. But what about understanding the "why" behind the challenges? More specifically, why this challenges comes for this particular child. This type of...