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Parent Tips for Reentry Anxiety

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Yes, reentry anxiety is a real phenomenon. After enduring 15 months of some form of lockdown, many of us are collectively attempting to shake off the trauma experienced from the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past year, contact with extended family and friends was limited, leaving many feeling disconnected from typical supports. Working parents experienced the stress of caring for children 24/7, while also juggling the demands of jobs. Many families faced employment loss and financial hardship. Children may have been anxious about the health and safety of parents or grandparents, and some did lose loved ones to illness or death.

Unfortunately, we may not be in the clear, yet. Masking and other restrictions have been lifted in California, but we have yet to understand the impact of the COVID variants, less than stellar vaccine rates and the possibility that even the vaccinated will need a booster shot. Some parents feel anxious about exposing their under-12 children who are not yet eligible for the vaccine.

Ironically, we are such creatures of habit, that, over time, many of us grew accustomed to hiding away at home and may feel unsafe or experience reentry anxiety as we move back to our pre-pandemic routines. Although often resilient, children are also vulnerable to reentry stress. They need adult guidance and support to help negotiate a return to community life. Here are 4 steps parents can take to ease the way for their children and themselves:

  1. Listen reflectively to your child’s concerns and fears, validating feelings rather than jumping to solutions. Try to contain your anxiety to serve as a calming presence for your child. Children look to parents to set the tone.
  2. Take it slowly, gradually resuming activities and helping your child identify what he is looking forward to. Be careful not to push your child too quickly, while at the same time supporting growth and change.
  3. Let children know about new plans. Keeping a family calendar that your child can see may help her visualize the upcoming weeks and ease her stress.
  4. Keep a resilient mindset. Talk about the new ways you learned to spend time together as a family during COVID and what new habits you’d like to keep. Demonstrate curiosity, rather than fear, about any societal changes your children observe post-lockdown.

If you are noticing any unusual behaviors in your child, such as withdrawal, sleep issues, stomach complaints or headaches, don’t hesitate to contact a mental health professional who can help you and your family through this adjustment period.

The Promise of Nutritional Psychiatry

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Nutritional Psychiatry is an emerging field exploring the link between diet, brain function, and mental health. In simpler terms, it looks at how the food we eat impacts our emotional state. Current research data points to a healthy diet (ie: lean protein, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and whole grains) as prevention and treatment for depression, as well as adjunctive treatment for ADHD. Conversely, unhealthy diets (processed, fatty and sugary foods) are associated with mental health problems in children and adults across nations and cultures.

By now you’ve probably heard of the term “gut-brain” connection. Our bodies house a miraculous, intricate community of different, beneficial bacteria called the human biome. Healthy gut bacteria are responsible for nutritional absorption, as well as immune system support and modulation of the nervous system. What we eat impacts the health of the human biome, and, therefore, the health of our bodies and minds.

Dietary interventions at this early state of nutritional psychiatry research are recommended as complementary treatments that may alleviate mild depression and anxiety or help with ADHD. At this point, diet is not recommended as the anecdote to suicidal ideation or extreme mood issues, but the field holds a lot of promise for breakthroughs to come.

Adolescence Defined

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Adolescence has historically been characterized as a period of great turbulence and change in the lives of teens and parents. Media images of high profile stars careening off the rails with their involvement in drugs, alcohol and reckless behavior seem to support this portrait and strike fear in the hearts of many parents. Nonetheless, I like to look at this phase of development as a time of essential, vibrant growth and change that, at its most successful, can meaningfully prepare a teen for a rich and varied adult life. Research proves that the majority of teens make it through high school, are attached to their families, and escape serious involvement with violence or drug abuse. This optimism is not an attempt to discount the real risks involved in the adolescent years or to ignore those teens who feel isolated, lost, or out of control, but rather to promote the sort of guidance and support parents, professionals, and mentors can offer teens to give them the best chance for positive development.

It is our job as adults to create opportunities for teens to be exposed to relationships and environments that promote growth and minimize risk. The starting point is to preemptively improve the one-to-one relationships that are integral to a youth’s happiness, success, independence and security. The hope is that these improvements will have a ripple effect on larger systems like the family system, the school system, the criminal justice system or the social welfare system. One way to make a powerful difference is for adults in a teen’s life to understand and empathize with the amazing changes, risks, joys, aggravations, excitement and growing pains that happen during the teen years and the purpose they serve in a child’s life. According to The John’s Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heath publication on Adolescent Development, research supports that (1) adolescence is a time of opportunity; (2) normal, healthy development is uneven; (3) young people develop positive attributes through learning and experience; (4) the larger community plays a fundamental and essential role in helping young people move successfully toward adulthood.  TO BE CONTINUED

The ABCs of Learning Challenges (Part 1)

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  • Most children with learning differences are affected by multiple challenges.
  • Learning challenges often surface when there is a mismatch between the child’s abilities and the demands of the environment. For example, an academic curriculum may be accelerated beyond the developmental level of the child (or many of the children) in a particular classroom.
  • People with verbal learning disabilities have difficulty with words, both spoken and written
  • People with non-verbal learning disabilities may have difficulty processing abstract concepts, abstract reasoning and conceptualizing concepts.
  • A visual processing or perceptual disorder refers to a hindered ability to make sense of information taken in through the eyes.
  • An auditory processing disorder interferes with a person’s ability to make sense of information taken in through the ears.

(To be continued)

Divorce Support Groups

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We’ve added Divorce Support Groups to our menu of services. Led by Tara Boerner, LMFT and Julia Murphy, LMFT.

1. Begin Again: A Healing Group for Women

This group will meet Wednesdays 1-2:30 pm in our Tarzana offices. An initial assessment is required for admission.

2. Helping Teens Cope with Divorce

These groups will meet 1x/week for 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon or early evening. Members will be grouped separately according to age: 13-14, 15-17, 18+.

Contact: Julia Murphy, LMFT 818-388-1526 or Email: Info@MurphyPsychologyGroup.com

tara_058           Julia

Tara Boerner, LMFT             Julia Murphy, LMFT

 

10-Week Workshop For Parents of Challenging Children

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Starting August 2014. Parents of Elementary and High School Students….Get a Head Start on the School Year!

Parenting children with learning differences is often stressful. We’re here to help. The purpose of this 10-week workshop is to provide parents with new insight into the lives of their children who have been diagnosed with learning differences. New concepts will help parents facilitate their children’s cognitive, emotional and social development. Our relationship-based approach emphasizes the importance of healthy parent/child relationships that evolve out of understanding, empathy, developmentally appropriate expectations, and the modeling of effective emotional-regulation and problem-solving skills. Please contact Julia Murphy, MA 818-388-1526 or Julia@MurphyPsychologyGroup.com                                                                                

Managing Homework Challenges Workshop

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November 6, 2013    Campbell Hall

Homework is an important topic on the minds of most parents today.  On November 6th,  I am looking forward to speaking to the parents of Campbell Hall, one of Los Angeles’ premier private, college preparatory schools for students K-12, located at 4533 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91607. I plan to share my insight and experience on the subject with more area schools.

Schools place a heavy emphasis on children completing homework independently.  While most of us would agree that this is a worthy objective, we might not all agree on just how to move children toward this goal.  Children have a natural drive for mastery over appropriate developmental tasks.  With mastery comes confidence that allows them to take on the next challenge.  However, when challenges confronting children exceed their developmental capacities, they become vulnerable to frustration, discouragement and potential failure, unless they receive some assistance to develop the skills they need to succeed.  Many kids experience these homework difficulties, especially when you consider the volume and complexity of the work they are expected to complete.

In this workshop, I will help parents:

  • understand the various reasons students struggle with homework
  • learn when and how to assist with homework
  • understand the difference between collaborating with a child and enabling him to be overly reliant on you
  • discuss strategies for setting up an effective homework structure
  • identify when tutoring support is needed