What is perspective taking? It’s the ability to take another person’s point of view. This is a building block towards empathy. There are lots of different teachable moments that can happen in day to day life where you can talk about different perspectives people have on the same situation. There are also several games and activities you can play with children and teens to help them practice the art of walking in someone else’s shoes.

What is perspective taking? It’s the ability to take another person’s point of view. This is a building block towards empathy. There are lots of different teachable moments that can happen in day to day life where you can talk about different perspectives people have on the same situation. There are also several games and activities you can play with children and teens to help them practice the art of walking in someone else’s shoes.

What is perspective taking? It’s the ability to take another person’s point of view. This is a building block towards empathy. There are lots of different teachable moments that can happen in day to day life where you can talk about different perspectives people have on the same situation. There are also several games and activities you can play with children and teens to help them practice the art of walking in someone else’s shoes.

Chances are, if you're listening to this podcast, you know a worried child. Maybe it’s a kid in your class, in your home, or your therapy office. Here are the top books I use with kids who worry:

Wilma Jean the Worry Machine by Julia Cook

David and the Worry Beast by Anne Marie Guanci

When My Worries Get Too Big by Kari Dunn Buron.

What To Do When You Worry Too Much by Dawn Huebner, Ph.D.

And of course, there is always the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, to help those kids who need a little support figuring out their coping strategies.

On this episode of the podcast, I share a bit about my experiences growing up playing video games with my siblings, continuing to play as an adult, and now as a parent. Digital play is a part of our day to day lives - it has been acknowledged as a type of play. There are social skills you get a chance to practice when you play certain games, including working together, practicing conversations, and even executive functioning skills.

I discuss my thoughts on video games, as well as the importance of finding balance. You can play on a screen, but then you can also do other things together too as a family. To hear my thoughts, take a listen!

Coloring is one of my favorite distraction skills. Research studies are happening now investigating the impact of coloring on anxiety, depression, or stress levels in different age groups. While the studies are small, it seems like they are finding that coloring does make a difference. To hear more about why coloring is awesome, take a listen!

This podcast episode is all about turning negative self-talk into positive self-talk. I discuss two of my go-to strategies when working with clients to help manage the negative things they say to themselves. When we let those negative thoughts fester, it can impact how we see ourselves and interact with the world. We want to focus on resilience and the positive aspects of who we are, so it makes sense to focus on positive self-talk. Take a listen to the podcast to hear a couple of ideas:

Playing board games is a fantastic way to work on social skills for kids. As a therapist, I play a lot of games both in individual and group therapy. As a mom, I also enjoy playing games with my kids. During this podcast episode, I talk about four games I love:

Hedbanz

Q’s Race to the Top

PeaceMakers

Story Cubes®

I share a bit about what social skills these games work on, too. Take a listen!

On today’s episode, I talk about one of my favorite ways to pull together thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and coping strategies with a child - the feelings thermometer. I give a quick overview of how to use it, and explain the benefits of this useful resource. Listen for more:

I've been doing a lot of reading and watching about creativity and imagination recently. I watched Sir Ken Robinson's ted talk about creativity and schools. He identifies creativity as an essential skill for children. He said that "creativity is as important now in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status."