Parenting & mental health resources
Parenting & Mental Health Resources
Helpful Websites
Mental Health
https://mentalhealthresources.org/navajo-county-arizona/ (Specific to NE Arizona)
Parenting Support
https://www.nasponline.org/ (Suicide Prevention Tips for Parents)
Safe Entertainment for Kids
The Jason Foundation
The second leading cause of death for 14-22 year old persons is suicide.
It is totally preventable. The Jason Foundation has created a friendly App to assist in helping those feeling suicidal and those who have a friend thinking about suicide. This is an App that assists you in understanding and responding to suicide behavior.
Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on the button "A Friend Asks"
The link is right next to the Green "Donate Now" button
Download the app to your phone and use it to save a life. It might just be your own.
Take the Pledge to be a friend today!
Loveandlogic.com
Those familiar with Love and Logic hear a great deal about empathy and know that sincere empathy characterizes our approach. In fact, it’s the hub around which our entire approach revolves. In the home or classroom (real or remote), whenever we precede consequences with a sincere dose of compassion and concern, we increase the odds that the child will view their poor decision as the “bad guy” while continuing to perceive us as the “good guy.”
Consider the following empathetic statements:
“I love you. This is so sad. When you guys argue and fight in the car, it really drains my energy. One way you can replace this energy is by working together to clean the bathrooms. Will you have that completed by bedtime or by noon tomorrow?”
“I know you love to play videos games. The sad thing is that I don’t feel like I can trust you with the computer right now. What do you think you can do to rebuild this trust?”
When we can provide sincere empathy first, is it far more likely they’ll learn responsibility rather than resentment? Does this also affect our stress level, by enabling us to avoid toxic anger, lectures, threats, and frustration? Does it allow us to parent, or provide discipline in our classroom, without feeling guilty?
Sincere empathy opens the heart and mind to learning.
It enables us to lay our heads on our pillows each night
without harboring regret over how we treated others.
Although empathy is powerful, many of us struggle with applying it in consistent ways. Because I can relate to this personally, I’ve spent the last two decades grappling with deep questions over why this is the case. Might some of these challenges have to do with forgetting what empathy truly is and is not? Here are some contrasting examples of what empathy is and is not:
Empathy
is about a sincere desire to understand another’s feelings.
It is not a flippant, “I know how you feel” or “I’m so sorry.”
Empathy
is an honest message of caring.
It is not about manipulating or instilling guilt.
Empathy
is about maintaining emotional boundaries while showing concern.
It is not about making the other person’s problem our own.
Empathy
is about modeling confidence and strength.
It is not about demonstrating weakness.
Empathy
is about forgiving others as well as forgiving ourselves.
It is not about trying to be perfect.
The first and primary rule of Love and Logic involves taking good care of ourselves, especially in these challenging times, so we can remain positive role models. As we pursue our desire to become ever more loving and effective parents or educators, does it make sense that doing so involves extending empathy to ourselves?
Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible.
Dr. Charles Fay
Childmind.org
CASEL
Parents and Guardians:
We invite you to watch this short 8-minute video from The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
They offer a lot of great resources for you - including how to model Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) for your student.
Help your children learn how to make good decisions and to articulate their feelings.
Short on time? Skip ahead to minute marker 5:40 of the video to hear 5 examples of how-to incorporate SEL at home!
Visit their website for more information: casel.org