Slowing down is the most effective way to help yourself refuel. Because you can’t stop daily life, you can’t stop transitions. However, you can get intentional about slowing yourself and your family down. Keep reading for 20 Ways to slow down through life’s transitions.
The transition from summer back to school can often be a challenging time for children and teens, especially for youths on the autism spectrum. Because autism covers a large spectrum and presents differently in every person, there are several ideas for ways to help your teen or child with autism feel that they belong and have significance during this time of change. Keep reading for top 3 tips for helping your teen with autism get back to school.
Have you ever tried a walk and talk with your teen? This could be a walk for exercise, sure, and it can also be entirely leisurely. In either case, walk and talk is communication strategy, a tool to remember when you have a pressing idea to process with your teen or when you can tell they are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or frustrated. Being next to your teen, or "sideways talking," as opposed to face-to-face, can open the space for conversation-- literally and metaphorically. This orientation often feels less confrontational and more spacious for young people. For some teens, it can be safer to be next to adults when it comes to tough conversations and topics, or even asking for help.
Asking curiosity questions to the children and teens in your life will not only increase their engagement (which brings confidence, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and so much more along with it), but it will also give you, as the parent or caregiver, more room to breathe. Keep reading to learn how to use curiosity questions in a wide range of opportunities!
Get a “behind the scenes” look at the work of a coach and therapist that specialize in working with teens. Lindsay Camp LMFT of Austin Teen Therapy, joins us for a Q and A about coaching and therapy. We explore similarities and differences in our practices and share about our unique philosophies.
Parents, caregivers, and supporters, I invite you to give this practice a try. Become aware of how it changes your own mood and energy as you face challenges in your own life. Then, notice how your breath can change, impact, and support the environment you facilitate with and for the children and teens in your life. Breath can be a powerful tool for talking to teenagers about the tough stuff!
As humans, we all have a desire to belong and to be significant. Positive Discipline teaches that every behavior a child or teen exhibits is an attempt to confirm that they belong and are significant. Today, we focus on how YOU, as a parent or caregiver, can use this concept as a foundation for intentional living.
As the parent of a teen, it can be truly powerful to practice self-encouragement. This involves practicing self-compassion, acknowledging that you cannot control your teen, and giving attention to “successes.” Keep reading for a daily self-encouragement practice.
Summer can be your greatest asset in guiding hard-to-reach teens (so, yes, I mean all teens) toward a healthy and happy adulthood. As the parent, motivated to get our teens involved this summer, we might try to explain to our kids how they’ll be challenged and better off by participating in summer programs and learning experiences. We also have to understand the benefits from a teenager’s perspective and communicate in ways that bring connection and collaboration.
As the school year winds down, you’ve probably already thought about your big summer commitments: summer camps and trips and now the reality of a very different schedule and rhythm for the summer months may be at the forefront of your mind. Summer offers many organizational challenges: inconsistent schedules, summer trips, sunset at 9 p.m., camps, playdates, and more. It also gives us a chance to spend more time with our kids and teens, which we hope can be fun instead of a struggle. When you organize your summer together with a focus on connection, summer fun is more likely.