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Anxiety, Back To School, Mental Health, Natural Strength Parenting™, Parenting Tips, Parents

How To Talk To Your Kids About Mental Health; Tips For Talking To Your Preschooler

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How To Talk To Your Kids About Mental Health 1 in 5 children lives with a serious, diagnosable mental illness. 1 in 5. Think about your child’s friends, their class, their school. That’s a lot of kids. It’s never been more important to be able to speak openly and honestly about mental health with your children. Fortunately, today’s parents are more open to discussing these important issues that previous generations. So, you’re open to discussing mental health with your child, but how do you do it? Where do you start? As with most essential topics, start at the beginning. Talk with your children about their feelings, focus on their strengths, and most importantly listen to what they have to say. Here are some tips from our parenting experts to get the conversation started with your preschooler. We’ll also share how to keep the conversation going with tips on speaking to your child in elementary school and into junior high and high school. Preschool It’s never too early to begin talking to your child about mental health. For your younger children, keep it simple and speak in terms and contexts that they will be able to understand. Preschool-age children are likely not just going to tell you how they feel, but they may express their feelings in a variety of ways. Look for their clues and engage them when you see them expressing different emotions. Use these clues as an opportunity for you to help them understand their feelings as they are first experiencing them and help them navigate their reactions to those emotions. What to ask. And what to say to your preschooler. What causes you to have butterflies in your stomach? This feeling of anxiety or nervousness is an easy one for children to recognize as it manifests itself physically. Help them identify what causes these feelings and help them cope with it by facing their feelings head-on. Where do your feelings come from? Helping your children understand where their feelings come from, how and why they react to certain experiences and stimuli, can help them begin to work out what to do with those emotions. Who can you talk to if your feelings get to be too much? Let your children know that you are there for them always. But also teach them to establish trust with other key adults in their lives. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, mentors, close friends, and doctors and therapists should be recognized as trusted people that they can turn to discuss their feelings. What are some ways you can calm down/relax/feel better/control your feelings? However, you phrase it, making sure that your children understand basic coping techniques at an early age is important. It may be quiet time in their room, a certain song or playlist, drawing or coloring, or even snuggling with mom or dad. Once your children know they have a way to deal with their feelings, they are starting to build resilience. Use media and daily experiences to normalize conversations about reacting to specific emotions. After watching a movie, TV show, or YouTube video together discuss how the characters interacted with each other and dealt with their feelings. Talking with your children early, often, and continuously about their mental well-being is so essential. Share these tips with fellow parents and let us know which strategies worked best for your family. Check out our complete guide to talking to your child about mental health at any age. Learn more about discussing mental health with your preschooler. Learn more about discussing mental health with your child in elementary school. Learn more about discussing mental health with your teens and high schoolers. Looking to go further? Check out Natural Strength Parenting To Go! These text-based courses from our parenting experts help you get the most out of Natural Strength Parenting™ with easy-to-implement parenting strategies. Get started today!

Photo of a father hugging his son from the side with his hand on his head
Natural Strength Parenting™, Parent Connext™

One Dad’s Parent Connext™ Story

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Ben was a dad struggling with negativity following his recent divorce when he saw a Parent Connext™ flyer in his child’s pediatrician’s office. He was carrying with him a tremendous amount of anger, bitterness, and resentment. These emotions were having a negative impact on his relationship with his son. Divorce is one of the more common ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) that can have a significant impact on a child’s development. Meaningful cooperation between parents during a divorce is critical to mitigating the negative effects a child feels. But this can be difficult when there is ongoing turmoil between the parents. Ben was concerned with the negative messaging he believed his son was receiving from their mother about him. He was focused all of his energy on her, rather than on developing a solid relationship with his child. But Ben had a powerful motivation, a true desire to be a good father to his son. Ben engaged the Beech Acres Parenting Center Parenting Specialist through Parent Connext™ located in his pediatrician’s office. “Ben came in because he wanted to improve his parenting,” Mary, Ben’s Parent Connext™ Parenting Specialist, commented. “We focused on building his relationship with his son.” In the beginning, it was still difficult for Ben to set aside the bitterness and negativity, but soon he began to make progress.  Mary introduced Ben to Natural Strength Parenting™, Beech Acres Parenting Center’s unique strengths-based approach to parenting, through a variety of fun, easy to use tools that focused on intentionality, strengths, and mindfulness. Mary asked powerful questions to encourage Ben to open up to her in an authentic way. This helped him to focus on the positive outcome of building a strong relationship with his child. When Ben would speak about his son Mary used expansive listening, listening fully and engaging with what Ben was saying. This enabled true collaboration between the two on solutions for parenting strategies. Through effective use of Natural Strength Parenting™ Mary and Ben were able to focus on his kid and on a plan for the future. “His long-term goal is to have a healthy relationship with his child,” Mary said. Ben was empowered to be a good father. “That mindfulness stuff you taught me really works,” Ben told Mary after several sessions. “Ben had a ‘lightbulb’ moment,” Mary said. “He stated his intention to be 100% present and engaged when he was with his son.” Ben is focused on building long-lasting, positive relationships with his child. By being intentional, mindful, and focusing on his families’ strengths Ben is improving himself and his son. *Names and circumstances may be altered to protect the identity of our client

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Natural Strength Parenting™

Build Your Child’s Strengths with Natural Strength Parenting™

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Did you know building on your child’s innate strengths can help improve their overall well being? Natural Strength Parenting™ is Beech Acres Parenting Center’s unique approach to parenting. Natural Strength Parenting™ encourages parents to be intentional and mindful with their parenting while focusing on their child’s innate strengths. This approach equips parents with tools, strategies and understanding to make a positive influence on your child’s mental health. We promise these skills aren’t hard, and more of your conversations will be about what’s going right vs. what they did wrong! Learn more about Natural Strength Parenting™ by calling 513-231-6630 or by clicking here. Or get started today with this 7-day test course! 

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Beech Acres, Discipline, Natural Strength Parenting™

Discipline is Learning

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Discipline is Learning This month we focused on discipline here on Beech Roots. We hope that one thing you’ve taken away from this important, and complex topic is that discipline is about learning. We want to use strengths-based techniques with our children in order to achieve the outcomes and behaviors you desire. In case you missed anything we’ve collected everything below. What other topics would you like us to cover? Discipline Changing the Outcome of Conversations with Your Children What is Discipline, Really? How To Go From Power Struggles to Powerful Solutions Power Struggles to Powerful Solutions for Parents Downloadable PDF Facebook Live on Discipline with Senior Parenting Specialist Dave Brewer Dave’s Deep Dive on Discipline Blog Dave’s Deep Dive on Discipline Video      

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Beech Acres, Bullying, Natural Strength Parenting™, Parenting Tips, Parents

How You Can Help Your Highly Sensitive Child Manage the Strong Personalities of Others

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NEW! We offer a wide range of FREE text-based parenting courses. Get Natural Strength Parenting™ delivered straight to your phone. Get started today. Interacting with Children with Strong Personalities Playing on a team or interacting with a group of kids with strong personalities can be difficult and stressful for children of all ages. It can be particularly tricky for a highly sensitive child. Highly sensitive children may demonstrate some of these qualities: incredibly perceptive very inquisitive prefers quiet play over play with others often labeled ‘shy’ or ‘highly emotional’ quick to react feels their feelings deeply, especially rejection and criticism of others or of others being mistreated. becomes overwhelmed easily by new situations, crowds or noise has difficulty not thinking about others in need passionate about understanding the meaning of something Nearly one-quarter of children experience some or all of these symptoms. Highly Sensitive Children May Internalize Their Feelings A highly sensitive child internalizes and experiences feelings with more intensity, so what might bounce off of a less sensitive child can be very difficult for a highly sensitive child to let go or take less seriously. Their rich emotional lives can often create a challenge in that they can misinterpret the behaviors of others, especially those that have strong personalities, and display behaviors such as being loud, demonstrative, teasing, or wanting to be in charge. What Can Parents Do When a child reports to their parent that someone has mistreated them and he or she reports their reaction and feelings strongly, it is important to ask questions about the situation before jumping to the conclusion that bullying has taken place. While bullying always needs to be treated seriously by a parent or caregiver, understanding your child’s perspective of what happened is especially important for a child that takes everything to heart. You may start a conversation with: “You really felt bad that someone said things about your science project after you worked so hard on it. Laughing at your work really hurt”.  “It sounds like they were not acting in a way that you felt was kind. Can you share what happened?”  You might also inquire whether your child sees this same behavior with others and how they respond. Ask them, “How do your friends respond when others speak to them this way?” This can help them understand other children better. Parents find that acceptance, being nonjudgmental, and focusing on what their child does well and the gifts he or she brings as a result of being a highly sensitive child can create a stronger bond between parent-child and build confidence. It will also really help the child to manage difficult behaviors he or she encounters at school. You can use Natural Strength Parenting™ to help your child navigate these situations. STRENGTH SPOTTING Highly sensitive children need to see their sensitivity as a strength to feel empowered and recognize the positives of being sensitive such as being insightful, empathetic, and creative. Since many highly sensitive children are labeled negatively, this is especially important to their well-being. It is also an important reminder to parents as they manage their concerns and frustration with their ‘emotionally charged’ child. BE MINDFUL Learn their specific triggers and co-create solutions with them to manage those big emotions. Mindful techniques like breathing may help them to feel less overwhelmed and reactive. Tapping into their strength of creativity, you may visualize with them a different way of responding to stronger personalities and how different that can feel. Doing a mindful body scan to talk about where they are feeling their emotions or imagining their first reaction to floating away on a cloud can also be helpful. BE INTENTIONAL The more your child can visualize a different response to something that is being said that they do not, the greater the chance they will feel empowered and less at the whim of others. Work together to create a “slogan” or positive phrase for the week and say it together each morning before school. By gaining insight into your child’s experience of others, you are helping them navigate the strong personalities they will encounter throughout their lives. Consider the boisterous co-worker in every meeting or the vocal parent on the PTA. With Natural Strength Parenting™, highly sensitive children can develop powerful relationship skills and discover the good in how they perceive their world. Ready to go further? Sign up to get connected with a Parenting Specialist today! 

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Beech Acres, Natural Strength Parenting™

The Yes Brain Book Review

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Guest blogger, Nikki Zellen, Director of Marketing Beech Acres Parenting Center “There’s so much I want for my kids: happiness, emotional strength, academic success, social skills, a strong sense of self, and more.  It’s hard to know where to even start. What characteristics are important to focus on to help them live happy, meaningful lives?”  This is the opening line of The Yes Brain by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D. How do you NOT keep reading? Who doesn’t want those things? Heard in the Hallways The Yes Brain was mentioned by a few of our parenting specialists after they had met Dr. Siegel at a recent conference in California. As a working mom, but by no means an expert on parenting, my ears perked up. The Yes Brain is: Recommended by our team of parenting experts Aligned with Beech Acres Parenting Center’s Natural Strength Parenting™ Approachable & readable Written for parents, but includes 2 pages within each section with comics to share with kids; putting you LITERALLY on the same page as your child. Under 200 pages & a sunny, hopeful jacket cover (I know, I know… don’t judge a book by its cover.) What Did I Learn The Yes Brain combines brain science with realistic scenarios and simple tools to start to implement with your family. The four sections:  Balance, Resiliency, Insightful & Empathetic are like moons orbiting Natural Strength Parenting™; similar but bring their own spin to parenting. Few standouts included the consequences of overscheduling… which can happen so fast each season and understanding the power of play & boredom. My son and I are practicing the ‘power of the pause’ and feeling when we are moving from the green zone to the red zone. I emphasize practicing because right now we are raising our voices and saying ‘I’M PAUSING.’ And walking away to take a few deep breaths before moving forward.  And I loved the modeling ideas to teach empathy… so important and so easy to forget!  We will be making homemade cards vs. visiting Hallmark for my Mom’s upcoming birthday. Who knew that simple task teaches empathy?  (Aside from Dr. Siegel and Beech Acres Parenting Specialists.) Final thoughts I highly recommend The Yes Brain! I am always excited to hear things in the hallways at work that can make me a better parent and this was a great one. As always, if you don’t have time to sit down and focus on a book… we are right in your neighborhood. Schedule a parent coaching session to learn Natural Strength Parenting™. We believe in the framework so much, the first session is free! Get started by completing the VIA Character Strength Survey and discovering your top strengths as well as your child’s today!  

Photo of three young girls look menacingly at another young girl with her head down
Beech Acres, Bullying, Cyberbullying, Parenting Tips

My Kid May Be A Cyberbully! What Should I Do?

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You recently discovered some inappropriate, mean, or hurtful comments directed at other children on your child’s phone. What will you say? Cyberbullying, a form of bullying or harassment using digital contacts such as texts, email, or social media, is a growing concern for parents. The influence of technology on our culture has never been greater. Kids are using digital devices at an earlier age and are spending much more time in front of them. The ubiquitous use of digital technologies has made them an easy platform for bullying to thrive. According to Stopbullying.org, 15% of all U.S. high school students were cyberbullied last year. Sadly, that number is dramatically higher, a staggering 55%, among LGBTQ students. Last year we explored ways to address bullying when your child is the victim, but what if your child is the bully? First, take a few moments to collect your thoughts. Make sure you are prepared to intentionally approach the subject. When you are ready to address this issue here are some things to ask if you have discovered inappropriate treatment of other children on one of your child’s devices. Ask your child if she knows what can happen to kids that are cyberbullied. They can get depressed, become anxious, or worse. Ask your child what her intention was. What were they hoping to accomplish? Ask your child what the other child did to prompt their behavior.  Ask your child how else she can manage her feelings towards other children in acceptable ways. Listening to your child and understanding their behavior and their motivations are key to addressing this issue. Working through intention and consequences can lead to better decision making in the future.

Photo of three girls bullying another girl
Beech Acres, Bullying, Cyberbullying, Parenting Tips, Parents, Services

Help! My Kid is a Cyberbully!

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You’ve recently discovered inappropriate treatment directed at other children on your child’s phone. What will you say? Cyberbullying, a form of bullying or harassment using digital contacts such as texts, email, or social media, is a growing concern for parents. The influence of technology on our culture has never been greater. Kids are using digital devices at an earlier age and are spending much more time in front of them. The ubiquitous use of digital technologies has made them an easy platform for bullying to thrive. According to Stopbullying.org, 15% of all U.S. high school students were cyberbullied last year. Sadly, that number is dramatically higher, a staggering 55%, among LGBTQ students. We’ve recently explored ways to address bullying when your child is the victim, but what if your child is the bully? Here are some things to ask if you have discovered inappropriate treatment of other children on one of your child’s devices. Ask your child if she knows what can happen to kids that are cyberbullied. They can get depressed, become anxious, or worse. Ask your child what her intention was. What were they hoping to accomplish? Ask your child what the other child did to prompt their behavior.  Ask your child how else she can manage her feelings towards other children in acceptable ways. Listening to your child and understanding their behavior and their motivations are key to addressing this issue. Working through intention and consequences can lead to better decision making in the future.

White listen graphic with father and son smiling at each other
Bullying, Parenting Tips, Parents

Listening To Your Child Is An Important Step In Addressing and Preventing Bullying

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Listen. 28% of U.S. students in grades 6-12 experience bullying. Listening to your child is an important step in addressing and preventing bullying. Listen with empathy and give your child your undivided attention. Offer reassurance, acknowledge the situation and assure them you are taking them seriously. Ask your child how they see you helping the situation. This gives them some control over something they feel they have no control over. Try saying something like this: “I cannot imagine how difficult it is to worry about what they might say or do next. I have an idea about how I will take action, but I’d like to hear from you about what you would like for me to do”. By taking this approach you are modeling how to stand up for yourself in a proactive and confident way. Dealing with a bully is a delicate and difficult situation for your daughter or son. Simply listening to them is a great way to begin to empower them to address the problem.  

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Parenting Tips

October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month

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This month we will be recognizing National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. Bullying is a growing concern for children and parents everywhere. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1 in 4 students say they have been bullied in school. What will you say if your child tells you they are being bullied? All month long we will share tips from our experts on addressing bullying here on the blog and on Facebook and Twitter.

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