Transforming, Adjusting and Caring

As I prepared to write this article, it occurred to me that the topic of this newsletter, self-care and summer transformation, was sent to us before the start of COVID-19. We were asked to focus our article on self-care and transforming and adjusting our mindset over the summer. In actuality, we are all doing these things now – at warp speed. In fact, we are clamoring for online resources for our students, our teachers and our own families. I even have neighbors and other relatives asking for help, as I am sure you do, too.

As a substance abuse counselor at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque Public Schools, I am always working with my students on self-care. I share below some self-care solutions and ideas that I have found through scouring resources online and from a few counseling friends. I hope you find these helpful for your students and families regarding self-care, adjusting and anxiety.

To transition and adjust our mindset over the summer – this is a much more difficult topic. Do any of us know what that will look like? We have no students in our schools for the remainder the year. We are still waiting to hear about summer school plans and if and how that will play out. Even more concerning is the timeline of the new school year approaching us in just a few months. Will we start classes in August? If so, to what capacity, physically at school or online? Will this atrocious disease be gone? Or will we be able to handle things at a level by then that we can function again as a healthy society? Those answers are not here yet. I envision our students when we do return to school needing many supports from us for self-care at school and at home.

I close with a poignant statement I read from Dr. Laura Kirmayer, a clinical psychologist. We all need to be aware of our own stress and anxiety and how it pushes onto our children at home, and maybe even onto our students as we begin to work with them in some sort of online capacity. “A big part of treatment for children with anxiety is actually teaching stress tolerance. It’s a simultaneous process – it’s both directing the parent’s anxiety, and then how they also support and scaffold the child’s development of stress tolerance,” she wrote. I encourage you to read her whole article, How To Avoid Passing Anxiety On To Your Kids, from the website childmind.org. It is a terrific article.

Many of you have your own school counselor websites and I hope you will use the resources below and share these with your departments, counselor colleagues and even close friends. Please post on your websites for your students and families during this difficult time. Please take care of each other and yourself, and be well.

Michelle Medved is the Eldorado Crossroads substance abuse resource counselor with Albuquerque Public Schools and NMSCA president-elect. Contact her at nmscapreselect@gmail.com.

Resources

Progressive Muscle Relaxation for Kids

Shape American Physical Activity Fun Workout Chart: Check It Out!!
Work Out Ideas in a Chart

Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA)
How to Talk To Your Anxious Child or Teen

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)
Parent/Caregiver Guide
Simple Activities for Children and Adults

Child Mind Institute
How to Avoid Passing Anxiety on to Your Kids

My Book List

“I Know This Much Is True,” by Wally Lamb
“The Lost Boy,” by Dave Pelzer
“Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson
“The Glass Castle,” by Jeanette Walls
“The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog,” by Bruce Perry