Stress...
Adults aren't the only ones to experience it.
Often times, children develop coping skills to manage stress that will follow them into adulthood. These skills may or may not have a healthy long term impact on general well-being.
Since children are most vulnerable to stress, it is imperative to teach them healthy ways to manage stress.
Teach Us How to Manage Stress!You've probably heard the phrase "kids are resilient".
The fact is, sometimes us adults take advantage of that and think our children don’t need the same tools as we do to manage stress. We have to intentionally raise our children to be resilient. And it all starts with recognizing you and your loved one’s stress.
But stress shows up in ways we can't always see.
The way stress can appear looks different for everyone. In children, some of the common symptoms of stress include:
- sleep disturbances such as insomnia, nightmares, or bed-wetting
- headaches
- unexplained aches and pains
- clinginess or restlessness
- an increase in crying or anger
- new or reocurring fears
- mood or behavioral changes (including regression)
With longterm effects such as:
- physical health
- mental health
- relationship with others
- emotional state
- and performance at work/school
If your child is showing signs of stress, you're in the right place.
“Your history of connectedness is a better predictor of your health than your history of adversity.”
- Dr. Bruce Perry
"Our kids have told us they really like having time to express themselves, it feels comforting and safe."
We are busy like most families. Until we started having family meetings, we never realized how much we were “catching up” in passing with our kids. Brief conversations were the norm. Now we look forward to our meetings, taking time to check-in and spending more time connecting. Our kids have told us they really like having time to express themselves, it feels comforting and safe.
There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to managing stress.
You know your family best, Strengthening Connections was designed with that in mind. This self-paced, digital course helps you harness the healing power of nurturing relationships to reduce the impacts of stress on the family and each of its members. It is intentionally designed for you to adapt the practices to find what works best for your family.
Stress is a part of life, and learning how to manage it is a skill that needs to be modeled, explicitly taught, and practiced often. But we don't expect you to figure this out alone. The foundation of our work with families is helping you create a “family meeting,” a meaningful time to connect and practice stress management skills. As experts in stress, we will help guide you in these discussions and fun ways to reduce stress as a family.
Meet Your Mentor
Lynn Jimenez is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She founded Connect.Flow.Grow. to help people manage stress so they can live happier, more harmonious lives.
CFG's approach is unique because it combines research, emotional awareness and an individualized action plan - moving clients from struggling to juggle the demands of life, to strategically managing stress.
