How Can Parents Help Support Their Children’s Mental Health This Spring?
Brittany Gentilcore, LMHC
The mental health of our children is important year-round, and it is especially important to recognize the mental health needs of children throughout different seasons of their lives. With different seasons come different vulnerabilities, stressors, and needs.
First, let’s take a look at what children may have on their plate come springtime.
As the school year winds down, many children of course will be looking forward to summer, but before that long-awaited summer break, end-of-the-year responsibilities can oftentimes be overwhelming for young people. These responsibilities may include increased testing which, in some cases, may be cumulative throughout the year, large projects, spring sports, burn-out from an already lengthy school year, pressure to be increasingly social due to the changing, nice weather, others’ expectations, and much more.
With keeping these vulnerabilities in mind, the question still stands, how do parents best support their children during this time?
Getting Involved While Promoting Autonomy
It is imperative for parents to be involved in their children’s lives to help provide support, motivation, structure, and advocacy. Parents can get involved by helping their children stay on top of responsibilities, such as creating a schedule, collaborating with the child’s teacher, or even just sitting down with their child while they complete assignments and providing moral support.
With this being said, it is also important for a child to be developing a sense of autonomy to assist with their confidence and to help promote independence as well. This means allowing your child to make mistakes, to take ownership of their assignments, their sports, ect. Balancing involvement and autonomy can be a difficult line to walk, but it is important to keep both in mind when thinking of our children’s mental health.
Encouraging Open Communication
We must remember that children are still learning to navigate their environments to the best of their ability. It is inevitable that children will sometimes need help, a shoulder to learn on, or simply just an ear to listen. Encouraging communication in the child-parent relationship is imperative. This is important so that the child feels safe to ask for help when it is needed and feels comfortable to speak about the many stressors that may be occurring in their life. Parents can support this communication by modeling it with their child, by asking open ended questions and prioritizing an empathetic and understanding stance.
Modeling a Healthy Lifestyle for Our Children
While no one is perfect and life comes with various challenges during all stages of life, one of the best ways for children to learn is through demonstration, and the best way for parents to support their children is to also be taking care of themselves. Modeling healthy ways to deal with stress such as taking breaks when needed, getting outside, practicing breathing techniques, connecting with loved ones, engaging in therapy if needed, getting exercise, eating healthy and so much more is a great way to support our children’s mental health while demonstrating that we need to prioritize ourselves first and foremost.
Start Working With a Child Therapist in Westchester County, FL
Working with a therapist can be a great way to cultivate stress management techniques for children and provide parents with tools to further support their families. Our team of caring therapists would be happy to offer support from our Westchester County-based practice. You can start your therapy journey by following these simple steps:
Meet with a caring therapist from our team
Start receiving the support you and your child deserve!
Other Services Offered with Lotus Psychotherapy
Therapy for teens and children isn’t the only service Louts Psychotherapy offers. You may experience more than one mental health concern, which is why we are happy to offer a variety of services including DBT group therapy, therapy for stress, anxiety therapy, trauma therapy, and therapy for depression. In addition, we are also happy to provide in-person therapy services from our White Plains, NY office and via online therapy. We also offer individual therapy, therapy for teens, therapy for new and expecting parents, and group therapy and workshops.