Category: Resources

What You Need to Know About Taking a Child to Therapy

This post will hopefully explain any questions you might have about taking a child to see a therapist thanks to the expert advice of Dr. Carlos Konishi Ph.D., a pediatric psychologist at CHOC Children’s. We will cover how to find a therapist for your child, what to prepare for your first session, some questions you might want to ask and most importantly, how to know you have found a good one.

Kids’ mental health.  We need to talk about it.

But there are still stigmas and misinformation around mental health because we don’t understand mental illness like we do physical illness.

If your child was complaining about a persistent physical pain, what would you do?

Make an appointment with your doctor.

You probably wouldn’t even think twice about it, right?

What if you noticed persistent and noticeable changes in your child’s emotional or mental state or behaviors, what would you do?

The answer is not as clear as a physical ailment, is it?

But it should be.

Make an appointment with your therapist.

If you have never seen a therapist before, the idea of taking your child to one might seem daunting. But it doesn’t have to be. The first step is often the hardest but the end results will be well worth it….

Galileo Innovation Summer Camp Giveaway!

This post is brought to you by Galileo Innovation summer camps for kids

This time of year something happens in the psyches of moms everywhere.

Once Spring Break is over we know what is coming. We brace ourselves and hold on to our hats and glasses because it is one wild ride to the end of the school year. I am convinced time actually speeds up.

For real.

Given summer will be here in the blink of an eye, the ubiquitous planning and strategizing to get the kids registered for summer camps goes into full effect about now. Are you there yet?

Now I am sure you have your same ‘ole favorite tried-and-true camps you do every summer, which is great. But this summer I urge you to consider sending your kids to a totally NEW, totally INSPIRING, totally EDUCATIONAL (but not boring educational) summer camp. It’s a camp that will inspire and expand their creativity and minds, Galileo Innovation Camps, where kids’ wildest ideas come to life.

For real.

Galileo Innovation Summer Camps are designed for Pre-K through 8th grade kids with the goal to create and nourish a love for innovation. At Galileo, they believe the world needs innovators, and in the imaginations of children is where ideas begin.

You in? Yes?

Then you don’t want to miss out on this opportunity…Galileo is
? GIVING AWAY ONE FREE WEEK OF CAMP?
in Orange County or Carlsbad to one of my readers!!! Details below. Keep on readin’…

CHOC Children’s Mental Health Inpatient Center

CHOC Children’s is a partner of Tiny Oranges, but this is not a sponsored post. As a proud CHOC Children’s partner, I was invited to tour their brand new Mental Health Inpatient Center before it opens its doors to patients this month. The desperately-needed facility will provide 18 beds to treat children ages 3 –… Continue reading CHOC Children’s Mental Health Inpatient Center

How to Talk to Your Kids About Tragic Events

In the wake of last week’s horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas, this article on how to talk to your kids about a tragic event in the news is brought to you by CHOC Children’s. 

When tragic events happen in the news it is sometimes hard to know how to handle conversations about it with our children. How much information should we give? How do we answer specific questions? How does this vary with a child’s age?

Which is why I was so grateful to have the opportunity to speak with Dr. Nicole Vincent, PhD, a licensed psychologist at CHOC Children’s to get her advice to share with you today… 

Getting Beyond the One Word Answer

This article is brought to you by CHOC Children’s pediatric psychologist Dr. Carlos Konishi Ph.D on conversation starters for kids and advice on how parents can encourage communication beyond the one word answer. Getting kids to share more can be a challenge at times, especially for parents of teenagers. His information on how to get kids to open up gave me so many “AHA!” moments during my interview I actually had to apologize for saying “TOTALLY!”  so many times after he said something that struck a chord. I was like an 80’s teenager myself. Totally.

conversation starters for kids

One word answers.

Ugh.

How was your day?

Fine.

Good.

Okay.

What did you do?

Not much.

The process of trying to get more information out of your child can be painful at times, like pulling teeth. So how do you get beyond the one word answer?

Here is Dr. Konishi’s insightful advice… be ready to say TOTALLY yourself…