When your child begins therapy, you might be seeking a diagnosis for them, or you might want to go through the process without one, or you may be unsure if you want to have your child receive a diagnosis. There are ways in which a diagnosis can provide support to your child and family, and there are also ways that it can be a hindrance. 

In Austin, we go back to school in about a month which means a change in routine. As you start to prepare for this transition, it can be helpful to consider how your child’s routine impacts them.

Here are some questions to consider when thinking about your child’s schedule.

A few years ago, Lynn Louise Wonders, MA, LPC, CPCS, RPT-S shared an open letter to parents going through a divorce. In this letter, she shares things that help make the divorce process go smoothly for every member of the family. One of her points is to gather your adult-helpers and know what purpose each person’s job serves. Today, I want to dive a little deeper into helping you understand each of these roles.

With summer break around the corner, I know that many caregivers become worried about their child using screens even more often. Children are no longer at school for a good portion of the day and it can sometimes be just too hot in Austin to stay outside for too long. However, I think the transition into summer makes a great time to implement a new media plan if you’re concerned about your child’s screen time since children understand this to be a time of new routines anyway.

Play therapy can seem like magic at times. Your child comes to our office for 45 minutes once a week to play and after an average of five months, they’ve completed their therapeutic goals! Their emotional regulation has improved, their anxiety has decreased, or maybe their self-esteem is higher.

During the holiday season, we often find that children have more difficulty with emotional regulation. Excitement is abundant and routine falls to the wayside: two things that shrink the level of tolerance children have for dysregulating stimuli.

Searching for a therapist and beginning the process of therapy is understandably overwhelming. You’re worried about how your child is doing and in the process of finding a therapist that will be a good fit for them, you might be wondering if you’ve checked all the boxes and asked all the right questions. In this blog, I want to provide some insight into what the first steps of your therapy journey at Ensemble will look like to help relieve any anxiety you’re feeling about the process.

In our last two blogs, we’ve been discussing how to talk to your child about refugees and how you can begin exploring more through conversations and learning in your home. While discussing topics such as that of immigration are important in creating good, global citizens and increasing empathy, they are especially important and relevant to our community. For many caregivers, it may be easy to assume that their children have not been exposed to immigration or refugees. However, the reality is that as of 2019, Austin has approximately 12,000 refugees, and therefore, it’s likely that many children have classmates who are refugees or immigrants and/or have a loved one close to them who is. 

As a parent, my hope is to raise caring, strong, and compassionate children that become good global citizens. And yet as an adult, I’m aware that many subjects, such as that of refugees, can be a complicated topic in today’s world. Not only does it often bring political debate, but also the complexity of understanding the various terms when people speak about refugees.

At Ensemble Therapy, we understand the importance of healing and we want to foster growth throughout our community, so we prioritize partnering with local organizations and volunteering in our community. We recognize that currently, the system our community has for supporting refugees is in need of volunteers, resources, and assistance. We know that as we practice acceptance and inclusion and honor diverse identities the healing benefits ripple through the community at large, so we want to share with our closest community (you!) why you should explore immigration with your children and how to do so.

Playing with your child provides an opportunity to connect emotionally and co-regulate your nervous systems. However, many adults don’t know how to play. Some of us didn’t learn when we were little because our parents didn’t play with us, or sometimes we grow up and forget what it’s like to be a child. We know how daunting of a task playing with your child can be when you have no experience and no idea where to start, so today we’ll go over some starting points.

In the hectic world we live in, we often find that we have to remind ourselves to take a breather, and finding time to do so can be challenging. We know that it can be overwhelming to be a caregiver because it might feel like you’re constantly wanting to take a break, but never being able to find the time for now. So how can you take on our daily challenges without feeling quite as overwhelmed? You can integrate mindfulness into your life.

As a caregiver, you pay close attention to your child’s developmental milestones. You have frequent check-ins with their pediatrician to make sure they’re growing. You get excited when they take their first step. You might be worried if they’re not saying as many words as you think they should be by a certain age. But what about their emotional development milestones?

Just like cognitive, physical, and emotional development, sexual development starts when a child is born. While we encourage you to discuss sexual development with your child at every age, we know that the language used can become trickier as your little one becomes a teenager, so today I’ll be sharing some things to consider as you prepare for these conversations with your teen.

As humans, we have various forms of development: cognitive, physical, emotional, and sexual. While it seems like cognitive and physical development have been areas of focus for a long time, and our society has recently come around to putting more focus on emotional development and has begun to emphasize mental health, sexual development is still a taboo topic. This leaves caregivers with a lot of questions about if their child’s sexual development is normal. Without anything to compare one child’s behavior to, panic can ensue as caregivers ask themselves, “Should I be worried?”

In the hectic world we live in, we often find that we have to remind ourselves to take a breather, and finding time to do so can be challenging. From all of the regular challenges we’ve always taken on to the challenges the pandemic has brought us, it might feel like you’re constantly wanting to take a break, and your child might feel this way too. From “regular” challenges like working to improve academic performance or decrease anxiety to pandemic-related challenges, like school transitions, children can feel more overwhelmed than ever.

Divorce can be one of the most stressful times in a person’s life, and adding in the stress of learning how to successfully co-parent can make the situation even more overwhelming. However, understanding ways you can support your child, and knowing when your child might need professional help, can take away some of those worries.