Blog
When Going Back to School Feels Like Grief
While the start of a new school year is often framed as a fresh beginning, for some children and parents, it can also stir up a quieter, more complicated feeling: grief. Beneath the surface of the typical nervousness and excitement, there may be a sense of loss that's...
Ways to Increase Connection with your Child When School Starts
Notice the Good and Encourage As you know, the weeks leading up to school and even after school starts can be a rough transition for both you and your kiddo. One way to increase connection with your child is to not only pay attention to the positive things that...
Saying “No” Is Incredibly Difficult
For some of you, saying “no” may be easy. In which case I hope you’re enjoying your beautifully boundary-ed life! (Maybe there’s some jealousy there…) For the rest of us, even when we know it’s in our best interest when saying “no,” we don’t. Recently I was...
Routine Charts for Getting Out the Door on Time
It’s back to school time! Soon families will be adjusting to a different schedule, and mornings can feel early, short, and frustrating to get everyone and all of their things packed up and out the door. Back to school can also serve as an excellent opportunity to...
Back to School with Austin Family Counseling
Reframing Common Conversations Woohoo it is time to go back to school! I am sure that many of you parents, guardians, and loved ones of school-aged children are experiencing a complex mix of emotions as the summer wraps up. It is perfectly natural to experience some...
Self-Care: What is it? Does my therapist do it?
I’ve been hearing a lot recently about “self-care,” and that we should all be “practicing more self-care.” But what if you don’t even know what “self-care” means? What if you keep hearing about “self-care” and all that comes to mind is bubble baths and retail therapy?...
Picture Books as Therapy
Understanding complex emotions and life events is difficult for anyone, but especially for children. When they don’t have the proper tools to express their inner turmoil and process their surroundings, this can often lead to frustrating interactions with parents and...
When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough – Self-Care in the Aftermath of Tragedy
A personal note from the author: As I was writing this piece in the aftermath of the school shooting in Uvalde, TX, the gravity of the situation at hand sat heavy on my soul. The weight of the tragedies that inspired this piece is not lost on me. Over 336,000 students...
Saying Goodbye: 3 Important Reasons for Closing Sessions in Therapy
Summer break is only a few weeks away! That means summer camps, traveling, and taking a much-needed break from the business of school is on the horizon for many students. In the therapy world there is a tendency for clients, and clients’ parents, to pause or stop...
Y’all, Please Stop Judging Your Emotions!
I want to first say that the title of this post might be slightly misleading. I don’t believe it’s actually possible to STOP judging all of your emotions. But you (and I) can work towards doing it less often. What does "judging emotions" mean? Before I get to the how,...
Building A Better Mental Health Future for Our Children
We are living in an unprecedented time - not only are we facing a global pandemic that is having a profound effect on millions of people around the world, but we are also simultaneously navigating difficult issues like climate change, natural disaster, racial...