This episode features a timely and jam-packed conversation all about supporting our differently wired kids during this unusual holiday pandemic season. I know that so many parents, barely holding themselves and their kids together, are now staring down an upcoming holiday season that is going to look and feel very different and are wondering how they are going to make it through. My guest, school psychologist, speaker, and author, Dr Rebecca Branstetter, is here to help us flip the switch and instead think of this year as a “gift in a not so great package.”
Let me just say, Rebecca came well-prepared for this topic. As in, you might want to take notes. You will hear practical, helpful, and creative strategies for helping our differently wired kids deal with uncertainty, cancelled traditions, unstructured time, unrealized expectations, and yes, managing your own stress and anxiety as a parent. What I love about this conversation is encouragement to think of the challenges of this year as an opportunity for something different…something that it may turn out is just what your family needs. I feel so much more fortified for the upcoming holidays after talking with Rebecca and I hope you do too.
About Dr. Branstatter: Rebecca Branstetter, Ph.D., is the founder of The Thriving School Psychologist Collective, an online community dedicated to improving mental health and learning supports in public schools. a school psychologist, speaker, and author of several books including The Thriving School Psychologist, releasing this November. Branstetter is on a mission to help children be the best they can be in school and in life by supporting educators and families with the skills they need to communicate, connect, and cope. Check out Rebecca’s recent course for parents, Peace of Mind Parenting: Simple, Proven Strategies for Raising Calm Kids in a Crazy World.
THINGS YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:
- Rebecca’s assessment of how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting children during the 2020 holiday season, especially children with ADHD, anxiety, and Autism Spectrum Disorders
- How parents can view these challenges as an opportunity for learning and growth
- How understanding the “porcupine and turtle” concepts can help your child with emotional self-regulation over the holidays
- A simple art activity that can head off challenges over expectations before they arise
- How this holiday season is an opportunity for collaboration with your children to teach problem-solving skills
- Practical ways to infuse a gratitude practice in your family culture
- The importance not just of self-care, but self-compassion for parents
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
- Peace of Mind Parenting: Simple, Proven Strategies for Raising Calm Kids in a Crazy World (Rebecca’s online course)
- The Thriving School Psychologist: 4 Steps to Better Time Management, Lower Stress, and More Impact in Your School Community–Beyond Testing by Rebecca Bramstetter
- The Everything Parent’s Guide to Children with Executive Functioning Disorder: Strategies to help your child achieve the time-management skills, focus, organization needed to succeed in school and life by Rebecca Bramstetter
- Dr. Kristin Neff on the Proven Power of Self-Compassion (Tilt Podcast episode)
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