Seeing your child struggle may be one of the most difficult things to experience as a parent. Whether it’s watching them fall down at the playground or reading their rejection letter from their top choice college, it’s equally painful to witness. As a parent, your instinct is to fix your child’s problem or soothe their pain as quickly as possible. But what if the distress you’re feeling is more about your own discomfort than your child’s? The secret to being a supportive parent is helping your child without enabling them. Where do you draw the line between being there for your kid and doing the hard work for your kid? And how do you manage the stress that comes along with this? Here are some helpful tips…

Tips for Coping with Disappointment

Think back to the last time you were disappointed. Maybe it was when you didn’t do as well as you expected on a test, when your friend cancelled on you, or when things didn’t turn out as planned. Disappointment is a difficult feeling to grapple with. It’s not pleasant, but it’s certainly helpful if you can learn to recognize what it’s telling you. Disappointment can lead to difficult, yet important thoughts like “Am I not good enough?” “Why me?” and “How can this turn out better next time?” Not to mention, disappointment is inevitable; it will appear from time to time, whether we like it or not. Therefore, learning to cope with disappointment is a necessary skill to handle life’s ups and downs. Here are some tips to help you manage disappointment as it arises…

Three Ways to Cope with This Year’s Virtual Holiday Season

With the holiday season looming, it is becoming increasingly evident that this year’s festivities might not resemble years past. However, with a little extra effort and creativity, a merry holiday season can persevere. Here are three ways to cope with the virtual holiday season...

Action steps, Family, Tips for Your MindEmily HudakNovember 22, 2020holidays, coping, challenges, family, gratitude

Fostering Teens' Emotional Resilience

Does your teen have trouble adapting to change or bouncing back from challenges? Teenagers don’t have it easy during a pandemic. Their lives were already full of physical, social, and emotional changes every day. With the added stress of COVID-19, it’s understandable for teens to struggle with changes or setbacks. A mistake as small as spilling their glass of water or a problem as big as doing poorly on a math test could negatively impact their mood for the rest of the day. In today’s world, it’s more important than ever for teens to cultivate emotional resilience. It will help them deal with life’s changes and challenges without all of the emotional suffering. Share these helpful tips with your teen so that they can cope with adversity effectively…

Why It's Important to Accept Reality

Are you struggling with a problem that you just can’t solve? Do you want to make a change, but you don’t know how? When facing a challenge, there are are various ways to respond. You can figure out a solution to the problem, you can change how you feel about the issue, you can accept reality, you can stay miserable, or you can make things worse by acting out or using negative coping skills. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to come up with a solution or change how you feel about a problem. In those cases, try accepting reality by practicing radical acceptance. Let’s explore why it’s beneficial to accept reality and how radical acceptance works…

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