The Start of Your Ensemble Journey: Intake Call v.s. Initial Consultation
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.
The Psychology Behind Your Child’s Vying for Power and Control
During your formative years, you may or may not have been exposed to the developmental work of Erik Erikson. He was a developmental psychologist in the early 20th century who organized human development into eight stages with specific developmental tasks from birth to death. The idea of human and child development can be tricky because development is never a clear or linear path. Each child is unique and worthy and is growing at their own pace. Healthy development cannot be rushed but it can certainly be slowed. Children develop best in an environment of physical and emotional safety. We can embrace our children as humans who strive to be fulfilled, contributory, and in relationship with others. And they will struggle with this, will need guidance, and may look like they aren’t striving for these things but I promise, they are. In their own way. They will, by virtue of being human, encounter obstacles, challenges, and emotional struggles, but they are always developing and evolving. Even if it’s not on our schedule.
How to Talk to Your Child About Refugees: Expanding into the Community
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.
How to Talk to Your Child About Refugees: Starting in Your Home
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.
How to Talk to Your Child 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.
Embracing Playtime: Deepen Connection as the Primary Caregiver
Does this happen in your house? When the caregiver who works more outside of the home – the one who doesn’t typically pick up from school, the one who still goes to work even when the kids are sick – comes home from work and the kids run to them, play with them, seem to have really sweet connected time with them? But then you’re the one enforcing all the tough transitions. Time to finish playing and eat, or do homework, or get in the bath, or whatever less preferred activity is necessary.
Advanced Limit Setting
Now you’ve learned the ACT method of limit setting (Landreth, 2012) and you may find yourself asking - what do I do if my child won’t make a choice? That’s called advanced limit setting. Let’s get into it!
What is Self-Care Really?
The way self-care is portrayed in the media today is a double-edged sword; I am glad that the idea is widespread, but I’m afraid the way self-care is presented to folks these days is lacking substance. We hear things like “love yourself” but honestly, that’s pretty vague! What does that actually mean, and how do we go about doing that?
The Power of Inclusive Play
All children deserve the right to play. And furthermore, to play in a space that meets their needs and allows them to experience a feeling of safety to express themselves and grow.
Finding a Good Therapist
A relationship with a therapist is unlike any relationship that you have with anyone else in your life. Therapy is a place in which you, at regular intervals, go to be with an individual sworn to confidentiality in order to examine your struggles, your life, yourself in a way that is productive and actionable. You go to therapy to dig into the deepest, scariest parts of your mind! You confront trauma, fears, doubts, and thoughts that are holding you back; you dive into them, look around, think about them in a few dimensions, then you decide what you’re going to do about them.
Rock Climbing is Therapeutic?
You’re darn right it is! How do I know? Because I am a rock climber. I have been actively climbing rocks and rock-like features since 1999. I consider myself a lifetime beneficiary of the therapeutic properties of rock climbing. Through the sport of rock-climbing, I have developed self-confidence, mindfulness, resilience, and an ability to conquer many of my fears on the wall and off. All of which are tools that I use daily, to ensure a lifetime of positive growth, stability, and intrapersonal success.
Understanding Your Child's Behavior
Caregivers often come to us because they are struggling with their kiddos’ “bad” behaviors. This is an area many caregivers struggle with and certainly need help during those trying moments.
Exercise and ADHD
Exercise is good for everyone. In a world racked with uncertainty, this statement holds truer than most. Exercise looks different for everyone; you could be training for a marathon, or training to walk a 5k. You could play a few holes of golf on the weekend, or you could be doing a mile run followed by 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 200 squats, followed by another mile run. But no matter what and how much you are doing, you will very likely benefit from it.
OCD & Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders are common mental health conditions that often manifest in childhood and adolescence. While it can be alarming to see your child struggle with anxiety, it's important to know that anxiety disorders can be well-managed with the right treatment and allow your child to live a full life. This guide is meant to be informative, answer common questions about anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, and provide resources for parents and families.
Using Play to Strengthen the Child-Caregiver Relationship
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.
Mindfulness for Caregivers
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.
Bids for Connection
We all need connection. In fact, Maslow states that love and belonging is a need that must be met in the hierarchy of needs for an individual to reach self-actualization. Throughout the day we are presented with opportunities to connect with friends and loved ones, but we often miss the signs.
Emotional Development Milestones
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?
Limit Setting
It’s the morning before school, you're getting ready for work, your first grader is watching a tv show, you’ve told them at least 27 times to put their shoes on, you're ready to walk out the door… and somehow the shoes are still not on. Sound familiar? Situations like these are something that child therapists hear about regularly. We see it happen in our waiting room and in our play rooms. Luckily, some pretty great counselors have developed ways to handle these situations so that everyone involved can feel calmer. It’s called Limit Setting. I’ll walk you through how it works, why it works, and how to use it at home!
