Helping Families

Gena Tidwell-Haley, LPC Upcoming Therapy Group Sessions

Gena Tidwell-Haley, LPC describes upcoming group therapy sessions including:  Divorce Recovery, Social Skills Support Groups for Children on the Autism Spectrum, Parent Support Groups for Children on the Autism Spectrum.

The Mercy House Counseling Center is located at 5005 Colleyville Blvd. in Colleyville, Tx. Conveniently located in the Grapevine, Southlake, Colleyville corridor on what is also known as Highway 26, near Highway 114 and Highway 121. 

Falling back into School

Getting our kids back in the school routine can be challenging at best.  Some thoughts that may prove helpful.  Keep them on a regular sleep schedule, even on the week-ends.  Try not to vary the "going to bed" time and the "getting up" time by more than an hour.  Our body clocks can take a bit to reset themselves from the more relaxed summer days.  The more quickly you and your children get on a regular schedule, the sooner your body clock will set itself.  Re-setting your body clock also helps with morning agitation, difficulty concentrating, lack of motivation, and a plethora of other aggravations.

Set a morning routine for yourself and your children.  What do they do first when they get up?  Do they get dressed?  Do they brush their teeth?  Do they make up their beds?   Do they eat breakfast?  Do they take their medications?  In what order are these things supposed to happen.  Having a daily routine not just in the morning but also in the afternoons will help get kids on track and keep them on track.  Keep in mind that some children are more inclined towards routines naturally than other children.  Patience with children who are more free-spirited can go a long way in making your mornings run more smoothly.

Afternoon routines can be just as important!  I generally recommend that kids have a balanced snack of carbohydrates and protein.  It will help their energy levels and their ability to concentrate while doing their homework.  Balanced snacks are especially important for children involved in after-school/extracurricular activities.   Breaking up homework into segments of 10-20 minute periods with break times for a glass of water or a restroom break can help kids maintain their attention spans more effectively and complete their homework in less time.  Remember, as adults, we need breaks from our everyday routines.  Stretching, checking e-mail, or having a cup of coffee, all may help us to complete our tasks more efficiently and in a timely manner.  Kids need the same kinds of breaks, although I'd be careful about the caffeine and sugar...

Nightime routines are also important.  Remember to have a set schedule for getting ready for bedtime.  Who has baths when?  When do they brush their teeth?  Are snacks before bedtime allowed?  If so, when in the process does that occur?  Do your children like to be read to before bedtime?  Is bedtime a time you've chosen to spend quality time with your children?  If so, when does that happen in the course of preparing for bed.  As a side note, turning down the lights or turning off overhead lights and turning on table top lights help signal the body that it is time to go to bed.  This may be a helpful tool if your children are old enough to read before they go to bed.  Sufficient light is necessary, of course, but overhead lights may not be.  Clearly, you as the parent, are able to use your own judgment.

School can be a difficult transition time for kids.  It should take about two weeks for your children to adjust to their schedules.  If you find it is taking longer than this or that your children are struggling with paying attention in school, alertness, completing tasks in a timely manner, or cooperating well with other children, it may be time to seek professional help.

Feel free to contact me if you have further questions, would like additional ideas, or would like to talk about how professional help may benefit you and your children.

Genuinely,

Gena Tidwell-Haley, LPC

Mercy House Counseling Center

Summer Sanity

Just a note about keeping your kids busy during the summer.....Oftentimes parents become focused on getting kids signed up for summer extracurricular camps, religious activities, and play dates that parents may forget that summer can be a great time to teach children about responsibility. The biggest complaint I hear from parents is that their children complain about BEING BORED!

We, as adults, wonder with all of our responsibilities how children can't seem to find anything to do with their time without our assistance. A great summer time recommendation is to suggest that your children clean out their closets, mow the lawn, dust the furniture, organize their toys, weed the flower beds, water the lawn, unload and/or re-load the dishwasher, go through their clothes and shoes that don't fit so that they can get prepared for their new clothes that WILL fit in the fall.

There is no time like the present to teach children that keeping up with household responsibilities and preparing for the future, whether that means cleaning out clothes or researching colleges is important. Oftentimes you'll find that when children come to you complaining of boredom, and you suggest tasks they could be working on, your children will often either find ways to entertain themselves or learn lessons of responsibility. In either case, you as a parent have helped your children become more independent and responsible.

Tags: summer bored, responsibility, chores

Planning for the Summer

Things to think about as you start planning for the summer.   Try to choose educational, creative and active activities for yourself and your children.  Plan quality time on a daily basis, even if it's just a 30 minute family break or dinnertime.

Because of the decrease in routine, increased time responsibilities on parents and primary care givers, and increased access to siblings, conflict and turmoil can become a more predominant part of our lives than we'd like.  Structure your days into sections.

Some suggestions migiht include:  what time everyone gets up, BREAKFAST, household chores, free time, LUNCH, play time outside, creative time, chill out time, DINNER, and then family time for the evening.  Your time doesn't have to be organized down to the minute or hour, just provide some organization so that everyone knows what to expect.

Try to set specific days for doing grocery shopping, errand running, laundry, yard work, etc.

Again, the more the routine is set, the better we all do.  So, a thought from (AND FOR) the counselor, conduct your own crisis management by utilizing some, if not all, of these suggestions.

Tags: routine, summer, sleep, Parents, children, Vacation, Sports

Videoconferencing and Skype Counseling

Thoughts from the Counselor: Videoconferencing has been used for a number of years in the corporate world to conduct meetings in which personnel can not all be physically present but in which their input and attendance is vital for the success of the goals of the meeting.

Videoconferencing via the use of SKYPE is now being utilized in a broader sense for providing both mental health psychiatric care and mental health counseling support. SKYPE is a secure and encrypted means by which counselors, doctors and patients/clients can communicate without concern for violation of confidentiality. Some counselors, including Mercy House Counseling Center, have chosen to add therapy videoconferencing utilizing SKYPE as an additional means of obtaining counseling services.

Videoconferencing has often been shown to be just as effective in psychiatric treatment as face-to-face treatment for those who are not able to access the psychiatric or counseling services they need due to time constraints or other restrictions. In addition, some areas make the provision of counseling support services unavailable either due to locale, traffic conditions, work constraints, or other responsibilities. videoconferencing provides an alternative to face-to-face treatment that helps to overcome these obstacles. In addition, some individuals in high-profile or high-risk jobs may be concerned about the confidentiality surrounding coming to and from a counseling or psychiatric facility.

SKYPE allows these C-level executives to receive confidential support from qualified professionals and yet maintain their privacy. Oftentimes these same executives' schedules and responsibilities may not allow them to be away from the office, but they may have breaks during the day in which a secure and confidential counseling support session could be conducted via videoconference. Because of the C-level executives' familiarity with videoconferencing, the opportunity to utilize this service should be an easy one to utilize. Realizing that these individuals have special considerations and needs that may separate their therapeutic concerns from those of the general public, it would be prudent for the executive to do their due diligence in selecting a mental health professional who can understand and has the proficiency and skill set to provide these services.

In addition, a generation of children and adolescents where texting, video-game playing and electronic media abound, these same children and adolescents may find that videoconferencing is a significantly less intimidating process by which to obtain the counseling support they need. On-going office visits with a counselor may exacerbate symptoms in these children and adolescents with diagnoses of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Depression, or Bipolar Disorder. SKYPE and videoconferencing may alleviate some of these anxieties and, may possibly decrease the length of therapy needed to produce an improved state of wellness. Studies are underway to determine the effectiveness of videoconferencing, but the results are not yet complete, so quicker results can not be guaranteed. In addition, the alliance between the therapist and the child or adolescent should never be underestimated as it can be developed in face-to-face meetings. Each case should be considered independently.

From another standpoint, college students often face time constraints due to class scheduling, extracurricular activities, adjustments from home life to college life, and many other factors that could prevent them from seeking the counseling support they need. Videoconferencing may provide an alternative solution by offering more flexible hours for appointments scheduled around other college activities.

In a world with increasing stressors on so many levels, videoconferencing may be an excellent alternative for assisting people to receive the counseling support they need without the added stressors of the interruption of an individual's daily schedule.

As a professional with an extensive background in corporate, collegiate, and counseling venues, Mercy House Counseling Center is now offering this service to its clients.

Tags: Skype, Counseling, Video Conference