Parenting

Getting ready for the first day of school

Posted on 02/10/2015 in Children, Family Issues, Parenting

Another big milestone has arrived…your child is ready for their first day of school. You have introduced the idea of your child being able to go to school all summer long. You have bought all their school supplies and a cool new backpack. Your child is excited, you are excited, so everyone must be ready! However, it is important to recognize that going into any new environment with unfamiliar faces can cause anxiety for many children. Do not be surprised if you find yourself feeling a little bit anxious as well. Starting something new, like going to school for the… Read More Here!

 

Get The Kids Off the Couch!

Posted on 05/05/2015 in Anxiety, Children, Depression, Parenting

Over the last two decades childhood has moved indoors. The average child now spends as few as 30 minutes in unstructured outdoor play each day and more than six hours each day in front of an electronic screen. What is even more alarming, according to the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), is the prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 has more than doubled in the past 20 years, to 17 percent of children in this age group. The rate of clinically obese adolescents (aged 12-19) more than tripled, to 17.6 percent. The CDC concludes that a… Read More Here!

 

Healthy Sleep Routines For Children

Posted on 30/09/2014 in Children, Parenting

While growing up, most of us were probably told to get a good night’s sleep, and with good reason. In fact, Dr. Wayne H. Giles of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has said, “...Sufficient sleep is not a luxury—it is a necessity—and should be thought of as a vital sign of good health.” Sleep is a powerful restorative process. It helps us function better physically, emotionally, and metabolically. It helps us consolidate and form our memories, and has a direct effect on our attention and behavior. The need for adequate sleep is present throughout our… Read More Here!

 

Building Resilience in Children – Raising Emotionally Resilient Kids

Posted on 16/09/2013 in Children, Family Issues, Parenting

What do most parents want for their children? High on their list are happiness, success in school, satisfaction with their lives, and solid friendships. In order to reach these goals, our children need inner strength to deal competently with the many challenges and demands they encounter. We call this capacity to cope and feel competent resilience. Although the word resilience is typically applied to youngsters who have overcome stress and hardship, it is a vital quality for every child. Even children fortunate enough not to face significant adversity or trauma experience the pressures around them and the expectations placed on… Read More Here!

 

The role of play therapy in children’s counselling

Posted on 21/11/2011 in Children, Parenting, Tips for Therapy

Insights therapists in Red Deer use play therapy during children's counseling to facilitate communication and access to raw emotions that young children frequently are unable to verbalize. Play therapy involves such items as dolls, drawing utensils, crayons, paints and clay. Children readily use these items to tell stories which a therapist then interprets and applies to the child's particular situation. Therapists also gain insight into the child's emotional state by using play therapy because children easily transfer the difficult emotions they are experiencing to deliberately staged scenes in pictures or making dolls act out what they are feeling. Will play… Read More Here!