Parent and Child Psychological Services of Sarasota
  • Home
  • About Our Team
  • General Therapy Info
  • Anxiety
  • Behavior Problems/PCIT
  • OCD, PANS/PANDAS & BFRBs
  • Selective Mutism
  • Trauma
  • Testing
  • Resources & Events
  • FAQs
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Notice of Privacy Practices
  • No Surprise Act
  • Employment/Training Opportunities
Parent and Child Psychological Services PLLC 
941.357.4090 (Office)/ 727.304.3619 (Fax)
​Instagram: @childtherapysrq

Teaching Self Love to Children through a Growth Mindset By Izzy Devorkin, NCC, RMHCI

2/24/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
For children, February often revolves around classroom Valentine’s Day parties, making Valentine cards for friends and family, and eating endless candy and chocolate hearts. It’s amazing to see children so excited to craft valentine cards and gifts for their loved ones, but how can we encourage them to show this same kindness and love to themselves?

The development of self love in a child has significant positive impacts. We often think that a child will inherently grow to love themselves, but it’s important to teach children about self-love just as we would teach them about anything else. Benefits to self love include increased strength and resilience, increased productivity, and decreased stress. 

It’s important to note the difference between self love and self esteem. Self esteem is the confidence in abilities and seeing oneself as being “good” at something. A person may have high self esteem when it comes to academics, but low self esteem when it comes to sports. Self love is an overall acceptance, understanding and appreciation of oneself. The difference is necessary to note as a child may seem to have high self esteem, but may be unaware of the importance of self love or how to incorporate it into their acceptance of themselves. 

One of the most important ways to encourage self love in a child is to help promote a growth mindset. The term growth mindset was developed by Stanford University Psychology Professor Carol Dweck. Carol Dweck stated, “If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.”

It’s important to note that there are two main types of mindsets; a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is the belief that through effort and practice, a person is able to change their abilities. People with a growth mindset are often inspired by other people’s successes, see challenges as opportunities to grow and learn, understand the process is more important than the outcome, and learn from feedback. People with a fixed mindset are often threatened by other people’s successes, believe intelligence cannot be changed, avoid challenges, and give up easily due to obstacles. 

A growth mindset and self love go hand-in-hand. When a child has a growth mindset, they learn to accept mistakes and see themselves as being capable of trying new things and overcoming challenges. With a growth mindset, a child understands that their achievements came from hard work. So how can you help facilitate a growth mindset in your child?

Praise the process

It’s important to focus more on the process and effort that goes into something versus the outcome. It’s crucial to be genuine and specific with your praise. Instead of saying “good job!” it’s significantly more beneficial to say “good job trying to use another strategy to figure out that math problem.” Being specific lets your child know exactly what they did that you are praising, which is more likely to increase that behavior moving forward. 

Talk about and accept mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow

Model talking about your own mistakes and how you used them as opportunities to learn and grow. Explain to your child that the brain is a muscle, and just like any other muscle in the body, exercise helps it grow! When your child overcomes challenges and continues to put in effort despite difficulties, they are exercising their brain and helping it grow. 

Model resilience, self love and positive self talk

In addition to modeling the importance of accepting mistakes as opportunities to grow, it’s crucial to model resilience and positive self talk. You play a huge role in influencing your children’s mindset. It’s necessary to show your child that you are excited by challenges, see mistakes as learning opportunities, and understand the value of practice and overcoming difficulties. Using positive self talk will help you develop your own growth mindset as well!

Understand the role of emotions in learning

Express to your child that feeling frustrated is a natural part of overcoming challenges. It’s important that instead of giving up, a child has the tools to help themselves self regulate and handle the frustration without giving up on a challenge. Belly breathing is one of the most beneficial tools a person can use to help themselves feel regulated. This video does a fantastic job of explaining belly breathing to a child. Encourage your child to take a brain break and belly breathe when feeling frustrated. 

This month, praise the effort and process when your child is working hard to make Valentine cards for their loved ones. Encourage your child to make a Valentine card for themselves with a little self love letter. This activity will help your child engage in positive self-talk, and reflect on all the things they truly love about themselves. It’s the perfect way to practice having a growth mindset!


Resources:
https://www.thesocialemotionalteacher.com/self-love-for-kids/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/feeling-it/201211/3-powerful-science-based-benefits-little-self-love

https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/knox/growth-mindset-in-early-learners/

https://www.mindsetworks.com/parents/growth-mindset-parenting
​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiMb2Bw4Ae8


​

0 Comments

Play Therapy By Tara Motzenbecker, NCSP, LMHC

2/5/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
Ever wonder what play therapy is or why kids need it? Click the link to watch the video “Introducing Andrew” before reading more!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=reJpo-GaopM&t=1s

This lovely video is so accurate when we think about the difference between talk therapy for adults and play therapy for children.  Children do not have the language or maturity to express themselves fully with words.  (Actually, many adults do not yet either.) Therefore, toys are a child’s words and play is their language. Play therapy is an effective, creative approach that meets the child where he or she is, and utilizes
their language, play! 


When placed in the right therapeutic environment, with a good therapeutic relationship, a child will gravitate towards acting and working out tough problems that cannot be verbally expressed. Therapeutic play is very different from regular play. A trained play therapist recognizes themes in play, promotes emotion regulation, self-control and confidence. A trained play therapist also will use evidence-based interventions shown to be effective for treating the presenting issue. 

You can read more about play therapy and search for a Registered Play Therapist in your area at www.A4PT.org.   ​

0 Comments

    Author

    Parent and Child Psychological Services is a private practice serving children and families in the Sarasota, Florida area. The practice is owned and operated by Dr. Gibson, a Licensed Psychologist who is Board Certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. ​

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Parent and Child Psychological Services PLLC 
info@childtherapysrq.com
941.357.4090 (Office)
727.304.3619 (Fax)                                                                                                                                                               
4071 Bee Ridge Road, Suite 204                                                                                                              
Sarasota, FL 34233                                                                                                                                   
Proudly powered by Weebly