Building Secure Attachment Through Play: A Guide for Parents
Attachment is the emotional bond that forms between a child and their caregiver. When that bondfeels safe, consistent, and loving, it helps children build secure attachment. Children with secureattachment know they can turn to their caregiver for comfort, safety, and connection—especiallywhen they’re upset, unsure, or overwhelmed. This sense of security becomes the foundation foremotional regulation, […]
How Play Therapy Helps Children Heal and Grow
If you’ve ever watched your child build an elaborate story with toys, draw a picture out of nowhere, or act out a dramatic scene with dolls or action figures, you’ve witnessed something powerful: a child making sense of their world through play. In play therapy, this natural way of expressing emotions becomes a path toward […]
Navigating the Back-to-School Transition: Supporting Students with Autism
As the summer break winds down and the school bells ring in a new academic year, students across the country face the challenge of transitioning back into their school routines. For many, this shift is simply a matter of adjusting to new schedules and re-establishing daily habits. However, for students with autism, this transition can […]
Tips for Finding a Therapist
Tips for Finding a Therapist If you are considering therapy, finding a therapist can often feel like an overwhelming task. Therapy is such an intimate and personal experience, so it is important to find a therapist who can help you achieve your goals. Here are some tips that can help you navigate the process of […]
What is Intergenerational Trauma?
Intergenerational trauma is broadly defined as the trauma that gets passed down from a trauma survivor and affects the well-being of subsequent generations. Intergenerational trauma is also referred to as transgenerational trauma or multigenerational trauma. Traumatic experiences can be systemic (e.g., war, genocide, poverty, natural disasters, etc.) and can also occur on a micro-scale (e.g., […]
What is Social Skills Training?
Challenges with social communication are a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For example, people with ASD may experience difficulty making eye contact, interpreting non-verbal cues, initiating interactions, engaging in back-and-forth conversation, and understanding what others are thinking or feeling. These difficulties can inhibit the ability to form relationships with peers, which can contribute […]
Suicide Prevention Awareness
Suicide is a complex, but preventable public health issue with significant personal and societal consequences. Suicide constitutes a global disease burden and is currently the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. For youth and young adults between the ages of 10 to 24 years, suicide is the second leading cause of death. […]
What is Meditation, and Why Does It Help?
We are currently in a highly stressed time, with disruptions to our expectations and routines, a future full of uncertainty, and genuine fear for our physical and economic well being. It can feel almost silly to think that quiet reflective listening and sitting could be helpful right now, when it feels like there are so […]
Parenting and Mental Health During COVID19
It’s easy to get caught up in the “magic” you see on Facebook that other families are creating. These families are eating dinner at the table together, baking 42 cakes, helping their child with homework with beautiful Pinterest-worthy set ups, and art projects to put in the windows for walkers in the neighborhood. Then, there […]
The Mental Health Connection Between Parents and Children
The old saying goes that apples do not fall far from their tree, and we see this idiom play out in the traits and features of our children. Some of this is due to the environment we share with our children, or the “nurture” part of nature and nurture, and part is due to genetics. […]