Every once in a while I feel compelled to clear up some “misinformation” ubiquitously shared. Today, the focus is understanding gaslighting. Gaslighting is when someone questions another’s perception of their reality. In the broadest terms, they try to tell you that...
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...
People regularly seek therapy to get rid of, stop, or eliminate something in their lives: intrusive thoughts, challenging emotions, and habits/behaviors. Just stop the pain. I get it. When we perceive something is getting in our way from wholehearted living, we want...
How do children learn appropriate behaviors? We teach them! Going further, we prevent challenges by involving children. We may need to make some updates to our approach, however, to teach with the brain in mind. 21st century teaching and parenting recommendations have...
During a counseling session, an overwhelmed parent worriedly shared her approach to protecting her six-year-old son from the challenges that were coming with the uncertainty of the pandemic and the struggles of lock down. She told me, “I try to just stay positive,...
Does it feel like you mostly notice the things children are doing wrong? Do you tend to focus on challenges in your life in general more than what is going well? If so, you want to check out these articles. Because the negativity bias shapes behavior. This can lead to...
Looking to strengthen your understanding of children’s development, learning, and behavior? Start by “seeing” the child behind the behavior. What does that mean? Separate the child and the behavior. See both. The child’s behavior communicates something important...
In recent years, mindfulness seems to have garnered quite a bit of interest in the West. People regularly talk about being mindful, but what does that mean? And, in particular, how might mindfulness be taught to young children? Promoting mindfulness in the classroom...
Want to prevent challenging behavior and promote social, emotional, and relational skills? Replace praise with positive, descriptive, acknowledgment. What’s that? I’m glad you asked! Positive, descriptive, acknowledgment explains itself: you acknowledge...
In this article, Laura demonstrates how Executive Functioning (EF) in young children impacts learning and development. Specifically, how a lack of skill in this area leads to challenges for the child and challenging behaviors. This article provides four key pieces of...
