At Nexus Family Healing, we know that how we treat those who are different from us is incredibly important. When diversity is valued, our uniqueness is recognized, including differences in our gender identities and sexual orientation. These play an important role in everyone’s lives, and those who identify as LGBTQ face unique challenges regarding mental health.
Talking about our own feelings, and in particular suicide, can be uncomfortable and overwhelming. Learn how to engage teens in a valuable, yet difficult conversation.
Are you a planner? As a parent or caregiver, what if there was a way to plan for more than just the monumental moments in life? However, there may be unforeseen moments throughout our children’s lives that lead up to these milestones, and we want to ensure that your child reaches these milestones safely. It is important to help your child develop a crisis safety plan for moments when life may feel a bit too heavy to handle on their own.
Trauma is pervasive and has a broad and diverse impact, and deeply affects how the youth we serve approach the services we provide. If done incorrectly, social services can re-traumatize or further harm those they are trying to help, which is why being trauma-informed is so crucial in every part of social services.
There are many ways children tell us how they feel and it is not always through words. As we enter another school year, parents, caregivers, teachers, and others need to be aware of the different ways children communicate. One way to “hear” what a child is nonverbally communicating is by analyzing the five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.
For parents of school-aged children, the phrase “I’m bored” can crop up in the middle of summer. Trying to fill your child’s time may add stress or anxiety to your already busy schedule. Check out these four tips on how to help bridge your child's boredom.
At Nexus Family Healing, we know that how we treat those who are different from us is incredibly important. When diversity is valued, our uniqueness is recognized, including differences in our gender identities and sexual orientation. These play an important role in everyone’s lives, and those who identify as LGBTQ face unique challenges regarding mental health.
Research shows that fathers play a critical role in their children's lives. Strong father involvement increases academic performance, social competence, and better peer relationships. Men and fathers are not immune from their own challenges, including high rates of depression, suicide, and chemical abuse as they age. And men are far less likely to seek mental health services than women. As we strive to be good fathers and positive role models to our children, remember that what we do matters as our children look to us to determine their own sense of self.
When trying to work out a summer schedule that also helps maintain your child’s mental health, remember that less is often more. It’s important to find a balance between providing some structure to children’s time, but not making it so structured that they can’t properly rest and find themselves more stressed.
Use this Tic-Tac-Toe game sheet to help your child identify the many feelings they may experience, how those emotions feel in their own brain and body, and recall a time when they felt that emotion.