Do you know any adults that lose it easily or really struggle emotionally when they are faced with challenges?  I don’t know about you but I’ve met my fair share!  Knowing what I know now, I do my best to be empathetic because chances are high that they simply weren’t taught how to cope as children.

This is an area that I work on with parents often because it’s common for children to...

We are hearing the terms “emotional regulation”, and “co-regulation” more often in child development, parenting circles, and from pediatricians — but do you really know what they mean and why they’re important?  

According to Psychology Today, emotional regulation is the ability to exert control over one’s own emotional state. This can include rethinking a challenging...

As a parent, when your child is being unkind or exhibiting other unwanted behaviors is your first instinct to correct their behavior?  Big feelings can bring about a host of unwanted behaviors in our kids and trigger a number of responses from us.  As parents we want our kids to be kind and happy — and when they’re not, we can think that something has gone wrong or that we’ve done something...

Does your child struggle with BIG feelings and are their emotions all-consuming?   Are your child's emotions unpredictable, keeping you on edge because you're not sure how to parent through it or what to do? You are not alone.  Parenting kids through big feelings can be hard and scary.  Many parents find it either maddening or anxiety-provoking — and some parents find it a mixture of both and...

As parents we all know that reading to our children is important, but did you know that you can help your child develop empathy for others and learn other lessons through reading?  Studies have been done with children as young as 18-24 months, finding that parents were able to help teach their children about helping and sharing through reading.  To teach your kids to help and share through reading, the key...

I connected with two of my child therapist friends this past week, and I took the opportunity to ask them what they want parents to know right now.  They both had similar answers but one rose to the top.  As child therapists, they wish parents would relax and stop catastrophizing.

Phones are ringing off the hook for child therapists everywhere — my friends included.  Parents are anxious and scared,...

As a parent, do you feel like your emotions can sometimes drive you to react in a way that you later regret?  When your kids are fighting and emotions are high, do you get sucked into their emotional vortex?  Alternatively, if they are super excited or happy, can they help lift your mood too?  This is no surprise — because as it turns out, emotions are more contagious than a cold or the flu....

When you make a mistake are you the first person to beat yourself up?  If you’re like most of my clients (and many friends), you likely berate yourself for your mistake. Most parents want their children to develop positive self-talk and be kind to themselves, but that’s not what we model for them when we beat ourselves up. I have to teach my clients the power of having their own back, especially when...

Are you concerned about the emotional health of your kids?  This week my daughter shared that over 100 students have been hospitalized at her high school for mental health this year.  That’s just one school.  I can’t even fathom what that means on a nationwide basis.

Hearing about this mental health crisis with our kids, have you ever wondered if there is anything that you can do to help...

Are your kids struggling with anxiety?  With everything that’s going on in the world, many people are experiencing heightened emotions.  Our kids easily pick up on the emotions around them, so it’s not surprising that your kids might be experiencing more anxiety right now too.

And, you might be finding that it’s coming up in completely unexpected areas — which is completely normal...

As parents, we typically have an expectation of how things will go for our kids.  But what happens when they don’t turn out as we expected?  When this happens, do you think that something has gone wrong?  

I invite you to take a minute and think about how you react and how you parent from a place of “something has gone wrong”.  For most of my clients, when they believe...

When was the last time you got or gave a big bear hug, and you were really present for it?  Hugs make us feel good.  When someone hugs us it’s comforting, and we give hugs as a way to comfort others.  We usually don’t give much thought to it, but there is so much research on the impact of hugs on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.  Hugs are very powerful from a parenting...