Do any of these resonate with you?
Does Your Child Feel Worried, Irritated, Or Overwhelmed? Do You?
- Your child is either unusually withdrawn or unusually clingy.
- Your child is fighting more than usual with you and/or their siblings.
- Your child is testing the rules or ignoring directions, either newly or to new levels.
- Your child is now unusually prone to meltdowns.
If these sound true for you, I want you to know that your child’s behavioral and emotional responses to the current circumstances are natural and valid, and so are your responses to your child. We are all struggling right now, and we all need all the help we can get.
Friends From Home
Friends From Home is a social skills group created to help children ages 7 to 10 who are struggling with the isolation and unusual circumstances of the past year. We want to help your child come out of this experience better able to identify, share, and manage their emotions for improved behavior and relationships.
Learning to navigate the world and the various relationships in it is a challenging task for all people, especially children. In this time of quarantine, it has become even more difficult.
Many children right now feel trapped in an incomprehensible situation, unable to even fully name their discomfort. Perhaps you can relate, both as a person and a parent. Maybe your child has started to get angry, upset, or hurt over seemingly small things, and struggles with paying attention, following directions, or completing tasks.
As a parent you may feel stuck, confused, frustrated, and concerned. You may already feel like life is overwhelming right now, and you may not know how to best help your child continue to grow under such restricted access to their normal sources of crucial social support and social skill-building
Friends From Home Can Help You Help Your Child Flourish
It’s possible for things to be better. Imagine a life where, even in the face of uncertainty and adversity, your child could…
- Have improved relationships with family and friends.
- Be able to focus on tasks for home and for school.
- Be more respectful and in control of themself.
- Find more joy in life.
- Be more confident as they move forward, wherever life takes them.
Research shows that group therapy can improve empathy and communication as well as self-awareness, self-control, and self-confidence.
Friends From Home helps your child uncover the strengths they already have and get the basic skills they need to find their way through difficult feelings and situations. In turn, this lets your family begin to rise above your challenges and start moving towards your ideal life with one with less conflict and more connection.
I’ve heard parents say “I don’t know what’s gotten into them lately!” and I’ve helped their children both learn the vocabulary to share their feelings and the tools to manage them. When needs can be expressed they can be met, and when needs are met attitude and behavior improve.
My name is Heather Kramer and I am a child and adolescent therapist who is here to help.
How Friends From Home Works
Friends From Home consists of 50-minute group sessions with up to seven other children, which will help your child build skills and practice them in real time. In addition to listening to your child, I will engage with them through stories, art, music, and games. While one of the major benefits of a group is the interpersonal learning and support between the participants, I still play an active role. Here’s how it will work step-by-step:
- First, I provide a safe, fun space so that your child will feel comfortable sharing with me and with their peers.
- Through building relationships and hearing the experiences of others, your child will start to feel less alone.
- As a group we will listen to each other to normalize difficult emotions and challenging life situations, and learn together how to cope with them.
- We will also build friendships to feel connected and practice communicating with and caring for one another.
- Keeping your child’s unique needs in mind, we’ll figure out what’s needed to meet them.
- Over the course of our sessions, your child will begin to build healthier, happier relationships with you and with their friends, both new and old.
You may be worried that by letting your child join this group you are somehow rewarding “bad behavior.” Our behaviors, positive or not, reflect our needs- for companionship, for safety, for love, for expressing creativity. Meeting a need, whether your child’s or your own, is not indulgent. It’s necessary for healthy growth.
Let’s Get Started Today
If you think your child’s unusual or negative behaviors might actually be expressions of anxiety, frustration, and loneliness, Social Skills Group could help. Start now and help your child become better able to manage and express their emotions, both during quarantine and beyond.
Give us a call at 301-661-3481 to ensure the group is a good fit for your child. You will have a brief phone call with our Director of Client Care. If the group is a good fit then you will have a 30-minute consultation with your child’s therapist prior to beginning the group.