Coping Skills, Podcast
Janine Halloran
Ways to Connect with Kids and Teens

Building a strong connection with our children is really important and taking the time to invest in our relationships with them at each stage of childhood and into the teenage years. Today Janine considers the opportunities we create for them to share what they like and what you enjoy also in day to day life. How can we connect with our kids well so that when they face challenges or difficulties they feel like they can come speak with you, the parent? 

Here’s what Janine discusses in today’s episode:

Ways to Connect with Kids and Teens
Coping Skills, Podcast
Janine Halloran
Coping Skills for Teens Who Are Angry

Has your child hit their teenage years and puberty has started? Have you noticed their emotions are changing? What about their most extreme emotions? Do you find that your teenager can feel really angry at times?

In today’s episode, Janine unpacks some strategies to help you as parents support your teenager and how to develop that connection between yourself as the parent and them. 

Here’s what Janine discusses in today’s episode:

Coping Skills for Teens Who Are Angry
Coping Skills, Podcast
Janine Halloran
Books to Help Kids with OCD: An Interview with ...

OCD can manifest itself in different ways with different obsessions and focus that are going on in your life. Children’s author, Marin Canaday describes OCD feeling like a monster devouring your emotions and feelings, where you could get to the point where you feel out of control and you begin to believe the lies the OCD obsessions tell you about yourself…

Coping Skills, Podcast
Janine Halloran
Seven Coping Skills to Use at an Elementary ...

A child at Elementary School will be learning and figuring out what emotions are and what’s going on in their bodies when their ‘big feelings’ appear. They’ll be learning to put names to their emotions and trying figuring out why they’re feeling what they are. 

In the moments when they feel upset, overwhelmed and unable to put words to their emotions, there are some straightforward strategies we can have in our toolkit ready to use and support this age group with. 

Here are some some of the strategies discussed in today’s episode:

Seven Coping Skills to Use at an Elementary School
Coping Skills, Podcast
Janine Halloran
Create a Coping Skills Toolkit to Use On The Go

It’s wonderful having a home set up where you have a reset or safe space where your kids can use strategies and process their emotions. But what happens when we go out? Having coping strategies ready is just as important. Whether that’s at school, traveling, out with friends, before a medical appointment or at parties knowing what you can do outside of the comfort of your own home is really helpful. 

The topics I cover in this episode are:

Create a Coping Skills Toolkit to Use On The Go

Coping Skills for Kids

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Book Review: Bloom

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Book Review: Bloom

Before I had children, I thought I would be pretty well equipped to deal with any issue that came my way. I was a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and had some experience working with some pretty challenging students.

 

Then I had my daughter, followed two years later by my son. And I realized just how incredibly challenging parenting is. Parenting is HARD work. It’s stressful and overwhelming. Some days you want to quit, but you can’t. And you don’t always know which way to go. It can feel lonely and you can feel like a failure.

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Coping Skill Spotlight: Using a Worry Box

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Coping Skill Spotlight: Using a Worry Box

Sometimes, to really help deal with stress, you need to take some focused time to think and talk about your worries. However, it’s helpful to limit the amount of time that you are dwelling on these thoughts. You don’t want to be thinking about it constantly. Using a worry box is a good way to help manage stressful feelings.

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Homemade Stress Balls

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Homemade Stress Balls

Did you know that you can make your own stress balls? There are 3 different ways I’ve made stress balls. All of them use balloons, but I used 3 different materials to see how each one would feel: flour, rice and play dough. Each of them feels different and you can have your children try them all to see which one they like the most.

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Coping Skill Spotlight: Imagine Your Favorite Place

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Coping Skill Spotlight: Imagine Your Favorite Place

Sometimes all you want to do is run away when you’re faced with a tough or stressful situation. However, you can’t really run away and escape. What you can do is pretend. Your imagination is a powerful tool you can use anywhere to help you calm down and relax.

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10 Coping Skills to Help Kids Calm Down

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10 Coping Skills to Help Kids Calm Down

As a school counselor, I often had kids come into my office in a heightened state, and it was my job to be able to help them calm down and get back to work in class. I had lots of items in my room to help achieve that. It’s always easier for kids to talk about what’s bothering them when they’re doing another activity or playing a game. As a mom, I know that there are lots of things that can help my kids reset when they are having a hard time, or getting into arguments or just have on their cranky pants. Here are some of my favorite items to help kids calm down.

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Using Music as a Coping Skill

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Using Music as a Coping Skill

Has a song ever filled you with happiness and joy so that you can’t help but sing and dance?

Have you ever had strong memories come flooding back when you hear a certain song?

Have you ever cried when listening to a piece of music?

You have experienced the power of music.

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The Value of Movement

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The Value of Movement

Have you ever been at a busy playground surrounded by children moving in all sorts of different directions? As a mom of two, I often find myself there. And every time, it always strikes me as beautiful chaos. The cacophony of voices and the constant movement. All you see is children running, almost in a blur.

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Coping Skill Spotlight: Take a Mindful Walk

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Coping Skill Spotlight: Take a Mindful Walk

Mindfulness can be a helpful tool if you have a hard time managing your thoughts and emotions or if you want to improve your concentration. Mindfulness is being aware of what’s happening in the present moment. It’s not about trying to clear your mind, but allowing thoughts and emotions to come and go without judgment and familiarizing ourselves with the present moment. It takes practice to be able to do this.

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Welcome to Coping Skills for Kids!

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Welcome to Coping Skills for Kids!

I’m Janine Halloran, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an Elementary School Counselor and a mom of two elementary school aged children. Over the last 15 years, I’ve worked with children around managing big feelings and emotions. Early in my career, I realized the importance of making sure my clients have healthy coping skills. Whenever I work with someone, my goal is to make sure they end up with a variety of healthy coping skills they can use every day.

Copyright © Coping Skills for Kids, part of Encourage Play, LLC 2021