Helping Little Kids Deal With Big Emotions

Your little one has so many sweet moments. He can be helpful, affectionate, and funny. His teacher says he is awesome in daycare. That is why it’s so confusing when he has those difficult days. You want to head-off the next rough morning, and avoid that phone-call from the daycare or preschool provider. You know you need to get in front of something but you’re not sure how or what.

Parents often come to me after they feel they have tried everything. Well-meaning therapists or internet bloggers have suggested more consistency, using a reward and punishment system with charts, and ignoring bad behavior. All of which can be very helpful, but when your child has an underlying anxiety problem, those strategies just aren’t enough.

I help preschoolers resolve the core issues that are leading to their emotional problems. Whether their go to response is fight mode functioning where you see anger and destructiveness or if they tend towards flight/freeze mode like hiding, being more clingy, and reacting to stress by shutting down.