Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Coping Skills Spotlight: Take a Mini Mental ...

Today, I’m highlighting one of my favorite coping skills to use: Take a mini mental vacation wherever you are. You’ll hear an example of what a mini mental vacation can look like and how to practice this method. 

This is a coping skill that is in the Coping Skills for Teens Workbook. I’m excited to share that I’ve recently recorded and launched the audiobook version of the Coping Skills for Teens Workbook…

In this episode Janine discusses…

Janine Halloran, Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Overcoming Social Anxiety from Childhood to ...

What is social anxiety and how big an impact does this have for a child and the difference for an adult? How can you tell the difference between social anxiety and being an introvert? These are just some of the questions Janine speaks about with Natasha Daniels as she also talks about her memoir Out of My Shell. 

They also speak about:

Janine Halloran, Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
The Power of Independent Play: An Interview ...

How do you encourage your kids to be more independent? When do you as a parent step back to give them the space to step up? How can you encourage them in their fears? What are some of the easy parenting norms that we can try?

Lenore Skenazy joins Janine today to discuss some of these questions. They discuss: 

Janine Halloran, Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Becoming a Tech-Intentional Family with Emily ...

What does it mean to be a tech intentional family? Now phones, ipads and other forms of technology are in most areas of life. There’s no size that fits all and what works for you and your family will look so different to your next door neighbor and the other parents you meet at the school gate. So where do you begin? 

Coping Skills
Janine Halloran
Three Playful and Creative Ways to Explore ...

Play is such a powerful way for kids you learn ANYTHING including coping skills. Games can also be a way to help us learn and identify the feelings we have. Plus being a lot of fun along the way!  

In this episode Janine discusses 3 specific examples: 

In this episode Janine discusses…

Coping Skills

Updated Neurodiversity-Affirming Whole Body Listening Larry: An Interview with Elizabeth Sautter

Updated Neurodiversity-Affirming Whole Body Listening Larry: An Interview with Elizabeth Sautter

In this episode I am joined by Speech Language Pathologist Elizabeth A. Sautter to talk about ‘Whole body Listening Larry’. For our communities to evolve and grow, we have to constantly look at ourselves, the way we speak and how and what we teach children in schools about diversity.  Not every brain is created biologically the same, so why do we think we could learn, listen, work or play the same way? I hope this episode opens your mind up to the positivity and brilliance that comes from people with neurodiverse brains.

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Coping Skills for Adults: Movement Strategies

Coping Skills for Adults: Movement Strategies

This episode is the next installment of ‘Coping skills for adults’ and I want to focus on the movement style. Movement and exercise is a strange one. Before doing it, you really don’t want to, it takes a lot of momentum but once you’ve completed a workout don’t you just feel amazing with all those feel-good hormones running through your body? This isn’t just a feeling, it’s been scientifically proven! Movement helps your physical functioning, studies also show it improves your cognitive function but most interestingly exercise improves your mental health. 

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions: An Interview with Kim Hopkins

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions: An Interview with Kim Hopkins

We can learn a lot from history and luckily as humans we can learn to progress and right our wrongs, to be more ethical or helpful. In regards to caring for children, in the past we used restraint techniques when a child was displaying negative behavior and some were even paddled! In fact I was stunned to learn that, as of 2022 paddling is legal and being practiced in 15 U.S states. You don’t need hard scientific evidence to know this isn’t right. My guest Kim Hopkins joins me to talk about safer, kinder techniques we can use with our children to help them learn effectively.  

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Coping Skills for Adults: Sensory Strategies

Coping Skills for Adults: Sensory Strategies

This episode is the next installment of ‘Coping skills for adults’ and I wanted to explore some sensory strategies we can use to cope, de-stress, and relax throughout our days. We’re all busy people so if we can take these mini relaxation moments to de-stress then it won’t feel like another item to add to the to-do list, you can do it while you’re at the supermarket or working at your desk.

Digital Media Wellness for Kids & Teens: An interview with Julia Storm

Digital Media Wellness for Kids & Teens: An interview with Julia Storm

How many times have you found yourself in a tech hole where you’ve been scrolling for what feels like an eternity yet you still can’t switch off the device? After you feel groggy and unmotivated to do anything. If it happens to us… then surely that same feeling happens to our kids and some of them don’t have the skill to recognize what’s going on. This episode is all about keeping children safe online, teaching them to look after their mind and body to use tech in a useful way without damaging their health. My guest Julia Storm is a Los Angeles-based Digital Media Wellness Specialist, the perfect person to talk to on this subject! Let’s dive in…

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Coping Skills for Adults: Processing Strategies

Coping Skills for Adults: Processing Strategies

Have you ever taken part in your own gratefulness experiment? Perhaps you have written a small list every day for a month to see how it impacts you? Studies show that practicing gratefulness can benefit your psychological well being, improve relationships, increase empathy, reduce toxic emotions and is just in general good for your wellbeing. Whether you’ve done this before or you’re a first-timer, then is there a better time to do this than in the month of Thanksgiving? I think not!

Using Music Therapy to Teach Skills at School: An Interview with Ryan Judd

Using Music Therapy to Teach Skills at School: An Interview with Ryan Judd

This episode is all about music. Have you ever felt anxious and put on your favorite calming song? Or perhaps sad and delved into a heartfelt playlist? I would guess most of us use music to fuel our tough workouts! My guest on this episode Ryan Judd is an internationally known music therapist who uses the power of song with children - mainly in the school setting. Research shows music produces Oxytocin in the brain which is the hormone associated with social bonding, a very important skill to learn as a child. Listening isn’t the only part that is beneficial, but playing music can help children bond further and release any emotions through sensory play.

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Coping Skills for Adults: Distraction Strategies

Coping Skills for Adults: Distraction Strategies

Today I want to focus on the coping style of distraction. Distraction is really focused on play and fun activities to help us manage big thoughts, emotions and feelings, but let’s focus on the adult piece of play in this episode. Play is a natural stress reliever which can have a big impact on relationships and work therefore we could all do with a little more fun and play in our lives. I want you to consider; what is fun for you? What can you do today to help relieve some stress?

Give me some space! Helping children self-regulate at school, home, and anywhere!

Give me some space! Helping children self-regulate at school, home, and anywhere!

This week I spoke to the lovely Jana York, a certified mindfulness and meditation teacher about how we can help our kids through the power of the breath. Mindfulness thankfully is everywhere these days, it may have started in the east but it’s definitely being adopted in the west. Speaking of geography, Jana York has taught children in Japan and Thailand, from her experience there she learned a lot of ways to use sensory toys and games to help children self-regulate and be more at peace with their anxiety.

Coping Skills for Adults: Relaxation Strategies

Coping Skills for Adults: Relaxation Strategies

This is the second episode in the ‘Coping Skills for Adults’ series, today I’m focusing on relaxation strategies. It’s so helpful to have a variety of coping strategies because each one will work better for different times. This episode is all about tapping into yourself, working out what works specifically for you, ignoring what you’re told should work on social media or by other people. The beauty of the human race is that we’re all different so listen to yourself and tap into what works for you…

© Encourage Play, LLC / Coping Skills for Kids 2021