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.
The therapeutic power of playing with your kids—and how to get started Play is children’s primary language and the foundation of effective mental health treatments for kids. As a child and family therapist, I rely on the magic of play to treat kids with a wide range of difficulties, such as anxiety, depression, behavioral issues,
Learning to de-escalate our emotions alongside our children’s escalating feelings is the most essential parenting skill we can learn. Dysregulation calls for connection, and when kids dysregulate, we naturally correct them, thereby disconnecting. We may cultivate short-term compliance but also disrupt our relationship with them and lose the opportunity to foster self-regulation skills. When fear
Anxiety is a feeling that most of us have experienced at one time or another. Anxiety serves a practical purpose: to warn us of potential dangers. Unfortunately, in modern life, the “warning” is often outsized or simply irrational compared to the size or likelihood of the perceived threat. Whether the worry is about tests at
There’s no escaping change. Change can pop up in any realm of our life. At work, it can be new directives coming from a boss. At home, it can be children going off to college. In current events, as vaccination numbers increase and COVID cases decrease, many people are faced with having to leave what
For many children, moving from one activity to another can be a great challenge. Managing expectations during transitions and using specific strategies can decrease battles and increase harmony when moving shifting tasks. Below are several ways to ease transition time both inside and outside of the home. Set Expectations First, it is important that your