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It can be difficult as a parent when you can’t find answers to what is happening for your child. Your child may be struggling with stomach aches, shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, or pain in joint/muscles. When there is no medical explanation, it is considered to be emotional distress manifesting as physical symptoms. That emotional distress may be anxiety, stress, or another mental health concern, and some children are more sensitive to this than others. For some children difficult experiences roll off their back, while for other kids no matter how hard they try they stick and it is harder to “shake them off”. Parents often wonder, what can I do to help my child? Here I share a few recommendations of where to start. 
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Do you ever feel like you were reliving something from the past? Feel like your emotions are more intense than the situation calls for? Experience somatic symptoms with no known medical reason? EMDR may be able to help. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, it helps process high stress or traumatic events that get “locked” in the body and mind and are often re-triggered in present day experiences. For example, a previously negatively charged presentation experience can create intense anxiety even panic attack symptoms when presenting current day, a challenging past relationship can make it difficult to trust in the present, and a stressful health experience that started with headache can put you on high alert each time your head starts to hurt in the present.  Are you anxious of others’ opinions of you? Are you accommodating the needs of others to the detriment of your own well-being? Does this leave you feeling burnt out and resentful? These are many symptoms’ people experience when trapped in the cycle of people pleasing. People pleasing has strong links with anxiety, as it often comes from a place of constantly thinking what is best for others, and over giving in order to “keep the peace”. Below are 3 ways to disrupt the people pleaser cycle:  Do you have exceedingly high expectations of yourself? High levels of self-doubt? Are your high standards of yourself causing you to burnout? These are many symptoms’ people experience when facing perfectionism. Perfectionism can have strong links with anxiety, as it often comes from a strong desire to be enough, thus people continuously do more to try to feel enough. The only concern there is that to feel like enough it is more about being than about doing, giving yourself permission to exist. This doesn’t mean you stop taking action and moving forward, it means that you use taking action as a tool for continuous self-growth not to establish your worth or value. Below are 3 keys to begin diffusing perfectionism:  Art therapy uses art as a means of expression, externalizing and releasing emotions and experiences. For example, for a child who has been bullied at school they may be experiencing tummy issues, difficulty trusting others, withdrawal, trouble sleeping, aggression, or heightened anxiety. They may have difficulty verbally expressing what is happening to them or the full impact of the bullying, how art therapy helps is it allows other means of expressing what may be too difficult to with words. Below I speak to 5 benefits of art therapy for kids.  Dealing with a child's sleep issues can be a challenging aspect of parenting. Creating a conducive sleep environment, establishing a consistent routine, and understanding the underlying causes are pivotal. Here's how you can approach these challenges in a structured manner:  Struggling with sleepless nights? Art therapy might be the palette you need to color your way to better sleep. Here's a concise exploration of how this form of therapy can be a transformative approach to combating insomnia.  Good nutrition is the cornerstone of a child's physical and mental development. With it being preventative health month, this is third in a series of blog articles this month speaking to approaches in supporting wellbeing, and maintaining health as a preventative strategy! Here are three structured strategies to support your child's dietary needs:  With it being preventative health month, this is second in a series of blog articles this month speaking to holistic approaches in supporting wellbeing, and maintaining health as a preventative strategy! This article focuses on ways art therapy supports physical health when mental health is nurtured.  With it being preventative health month, this is one in a series of blog articles this month speaking to holistic approaches to supporting wellbeing, and maintaining physical and mental health as a preventative strategy! This article focuses on nutrition and mental health specifically ways that nutrition can support anxiety, depression and insomnia.  |
AuthorI am a Registered Psychotherapist and Art Therapist. And I have been writing this blog since May 2021 about various topics including parenting, supporting adult and child mental health, and holistic approaches. The intention of this blog is to provide resources and information to others, however it is not intended to take the place of therapy. If you have any questions about anything written please reach out to me. Archives
June 2024
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