Resilience, or the capacity to recover or adjust from difficulties, is a vital characteristic to nurture for coping in our complex, ever-changing world. Children can experience stressors at school with teachers, academics, and peers, with extra-curricular activities such as sports, and within the family with parents and siblings. The newest research on resilience indicates that … Read more
The term “executive functioning skills” is a stand-in for a range of thinking and problem-solving skills that help us to manage our day-to-day lives. They are mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Executive functioning skills can be broken down into 3 inter-related cognitive processes: 1. … Read more
You are not your thoughts. Thoughts are just electrical impulses that are rapidly transmitted between neurons in the brain. It is our actions, not our thoughts, that define us. That being said, the way we think has an enormous impact on how we feel; this can have both positive and negative implications. Before our brains … Read more
Hopefully this holiday season was filled with fun, laughter, downtime, and served as a mini break from the daily routine of running and stress. With the winter holiday coming to an end, many parents and their children have mixed emotions about school starting again. While getting back to a routine is healthy, having enjoyed a … Read more
Holiday season is just about here. While most of us look forward to this festive and sparkly time of year, many of us experience complicated feelings during the winter holidays. It’s a time we reflect back on the year…and the years. For some folks, this inevitably means reflecting on loss of loved ones. With that … Read more
Research continues to indicate the multiple benefits of mindfulness and meditation practices for reducing stress, increasing resilience, improving emotional regulation, strengthen the immune system, fostering a greater sense of connection, and other health benefits. Mindfulness refers to an intentional and effortful awareness and focus on the present moment without judgment. Adding brief mindful moments to … Read more
*Note: This blog is based on the ideas and research of Daniel Siegel, M.D. and his book Brainstorm. The teenage years often get a bad reputation. Adolescents are typically described as hormonal, argumentative, reckless, selfish, and a host of other unpleasant labels. Parents of adolescents are often left feeling frustrated by their teen’s emotional outbursts … Read more
Self-soothing involves learning how to comfort ourselves when we are upset. While we, as social creatures, often turn to others for support when we are hurt, upset, angry, and/or scared, it also is important to be able to help ourselves become more calm and relaxed in response to upsetting events. Self-soothing skills typically start developing … Read more
The originator of the phrase “trust your gut” may have been onto something, after all. While we typically think of emotional states like anxiety, stress, and anger as originating exclusively from our minds or social environments, studies on humans and animals have indicated that they may also stem from a very unlikely source: The gut. … Read more
In these tense political times, an increasing number of people admit to getting much of their news from Facebook and Twitter. One of the problems with using these social media platforms as one’s primary news source relates to the danger of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is a concept from psychological theory referring to our tendency … Read more
