Mental Health
Teaching Our Child to Express their ‘Negative’ Emotions
The first step in taking responsibility for ourselves and coming to know and love ourselves, is identifying, understanding, feeling and expressing our ‘negative’ emotions; self-esteem is based on the acceptance of all thoughts and feelings as one’s own.
Read MoreThe Importance of Speaking Our Truth
There comes a time in every person’s life when we need to make a decision – a decision to stand up for who we are; a decision to stand up and say what we believe in; a decision to expose secrets about ourselves that we have kept hidden; a decision to speak our truth. That time has come for me.
Read MoreCauses and Help for Combatting Stress in Your Child
Witness the domino effect. High stress = weakened adrenal glands = increased cortisol levels = high inflammation in the body = increased reactions to food, all of which result in harm to the intestinal lining. In high-stress situations, it may only take a few foods to create a symptom.
Older children with multiple food sensitivities or allergies (over 30) often have weakened adrenal glands. The adrenal glands produce hormones such as cortisone and epinephrine, which help to prevent or decrease the intensity of reactions to food.
Our Children Are Our Mirrors
If we are still wounded (incomplete or hurt) from our childhood, we will wound our child, usually without being conscious of it. If we were not accepted by our parents for who we are, we, in turn, might not accept or value our child for who they are.
Read MoreLearning to Talk With Your Child Not at Them
A big part of a friendship is feeling safe with one another to express ourselves fully. This involves talking to our child about what they find to be important, whether they feel something is “good” or “bad”, and what they feel like doing. We can also ask our child how they feel in their bodies in various circumstances. We can ask them if their stomach feels relaxed or as though it is in knots. We can ask them if their heart is racing or if their neck feels tight. We can ask them what they think their body is trying to tell them.
Read MoreVitamin-Infused Popsicles Help Girl with Autism
This little girl started having the popsicles and within 4-5 days, I noticed dramatic improvements in her behaviour. She was able to maintain eye contact with me and hold a discussion, articulate her words much more clearly, did not have any random outbursts, and showed interest in exercise. The results were as incredible as the look of joy that I saw in her parents’ eyes; a perfect reminder as to why I love what I do.
Read MoreA Commentary on the “You Are Not Special” Commencement Speech
I don’t believe we need to criticize our children or ever point out that they didn’t do a good job at something. But when they do poorly, we cannot tell them they did great! I am never a proponent of lying about a child’s abilities or contribution and neither is our child. If they do know the truth or later find out the truth, our child will not view us in a favourable light. Even if they don’t find out the truth, we are not doing our child any service complimenting them when, instead, we could be helping them hone their skills, so that they can contribute their real talents to the world.
Read MoreThe Power of Affirmations
Affirmations are positive statements about our value or potential. They help us overcome our fear of change and help us take responsibility for ourselves. Affirmations foster self-control, self-confidence and inner peace. They connect us to our positive inner voice. They can help us break through our negative beliefs about ourselves, change our fearful thoughts and help us give ourselves the love we may not have received as children.
Read MoreTeaching Your Child to be the Master of Their Thoughts
Within half an hour or so, I was astonished to see that Paige was fine; she was just fine. On our way home, I asked her what she had done to turn her feelings around from pure devastation and sadness to feelings of contentment. She thought about her response and then she said “I remembered how well I had played all game and all season and felt proud of the job I had done.” That’s it. She could have taken her negative feelings about what happened and turned them into a belief that she wasn’t a good ball player – that she should have made it to third base faster; that the world was not fair. But no, this girl’s self-esteem was healthy.
Read More24 Negative Effects of Marijuana Use
With all of the people extolling the benefits of Marijuana and Oprah’s recent admission that she smoked Marijuana for the past thirty years plus, many are probably wondering, “How bad can this drug be?” I decided it was time to inform you of the adverse effects of the drug. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the North America. Since 2007, its use has increased among young people and today more teenagers smoke Marijuana than cigarettes, according to annual survey data. To make matters worse, the amount of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Marijuana samples, confiscated by police, has been increasing steadily over the past few decades. In 2009, THC concentrations in marijuana averaged close to 10 percent, compared to around 4 percent in the 1980s. Here are 24 negative effects of Marijuana use.
Read MoreMeeting Our Children's Needs Through the Lens of the Heart
I wanted to share samples of healthy chocolate bars, called Twilight, with the class. The boy asked me if he could distribute the chocolates to his classmates. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his teacher start walking towards him, as if to prevent this from happening. The boy knew she was coming and looked at me with fear in his eyes.
Read MoreAutism – A New Understanding
A woman brought her son into my office and within minutes, he started moving his hand, making waves in the air above his head. His mother saw this and said, “You see that is not normal. That is one of the reasons I had him assessed!” I asked the mother if I could talk to her four year old son. She gave me permission and I asked the boy if he was seeing numbers above his head. He said “Yes.” I asked if all the numbers went together. He said “Yes, big numbers, all fitting together.” I said to his mother “You see, children with autism don’t fit into our norm but that is only because they are way beyond us.” His mother was completely taken aback. The intelligence of children with autism is immeasurable; our usual tests cannot measure it. And unfortunately, our regular school systems often bore these children.
Read More