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Increasing Communication in Children with Autism: A Parents’ Guide.

If your child is diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), chances are, they probably have some issues in the area of communication and socialization. Difficulties in communication can range from a child being not verbal to having high vocabulary while displaying repetitive speech and an inability to read social cues. Once your child receives an ASD diagnosis, seeking professional help is the first step towards helping your child reach their full potential. Early diagnosis and early intervention services show promising results to help your child live a fulfilling life. ABA therapy has shown empirical evidence to increase socialization skills, improve communication skills, build adaptive skills, decrease problem behaviors, and increase overall confidence. Below are some ABA techniques that parents can implement to help their child increase socialization and communication. Finding a System of Communication Each child with ASD has a different communication abilities; some children communicate with verbal language or word approximations; others are not verbal and may need professional help to develop a system of communication, such as gestures, using pictures, or/and a communication device. If your child is receiving ABA therapy or/and speech therapy, work together with the your child’s clinician to figure out what is the best way for your child to communicate at this point in time. If your child does not have verbal language in their repertoire, that does not mean that they won’t be verbal in the future. Fostering current abilities will help your child get to the next level of communication. If your child is displaying problem behaviors, they might be communicating wants and needs in an inappropriate way due to communication barriers. Teaching your child a more appropriate way to communicate, while not rewarding with preferred items during problem behavior, decreases the problem behavior and increases appropriate communication. Set Up Opportunities for Communication   Once you and your child’s clinician found the best communication system, start setting up opportunities for your child practice expressing wants and needs in an appropriate way by using preferred toys, activities, and/or food items. For example, if your child likes to pop bubbles, have your child request “bubbles” every couple of minutes. If you are playing with blocks, have your child request the color/shape of block that s/he wants. If your child wants a particular item, put it within your child’s view, but out of reach, so your child can request it. You can even set up opportunities during snack time. Give your child a little bit of food item at a time and have him/her request more. If your child doesn’t communicate within 5 seconds, prompt them to use their current communication method. Prompts are signals to help a person complete a task. You always want to fade your prompts to avoid your child becoming prompt depended. Talk to your child’s clinician about the best prompt sequence and a prompt fading program for your child. Do not provide your child with preferred items during a problem behavior. It is important to reward only appropriate communication. When your child requests items independently, provide a lots of praise and preferred item within 2 seconds. If the item is not available, let your child know when it will be available, and/or if there is alternative/ replacement item. Building Language During Playtime A good way to help your child build receptive and expressive vocabulary is to label items and actions during play. For example, while playing with blocks, saying “red block goes on top”. When playing with cars, saying “car goes zoom”. The repetitive statements associated with items will help your child increase vocabulary, especially during play. Any time your child labels an item or receptively identifies the item by pointing, provide a lot of verbal praise and encouragement. Make sure this activity is rewarding and fun. It is important for your child to associate play and the use of communication with good things. If your child is verbal and has the ability to label items and answer questions, ask your child various questions regarding toys such as, “what color is the truck?” “What color is this block?” If your child enjoys looking at books or reading book, have your child describe to you what they see in pictures or/and tell you what the story was about. This can also be an opportunity for learning various emotions by labeling the feelings of each character. Provide lots of verbal praise and rewards during this activity. References: Sunberg, M.L., Partington, J.M. (2013). Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities (Version 3). Pleasant Hill, CA: Behavior Analysts.  

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Managing Tantrums in Children with Autism

If you have a child with Autism, most likely, you have experienced tantrum behavior. Most children on the spectrum have difficulty communicating wants and needs; tantrum behavior is a form of communication. They are basically saying ” I don’t like this” or “I want ….”. Below are some ways to decrease the likelihood of a tantrum occurs. Keep Track of Your Child’s Triggers Keep track of what happens before and after your child has a tantrum. Do they have a tantrum when they are asked to do something they don’t like to do? Do they have a tantrum to gain access to a toy or an activity? Are transitions a problem? Are there sensory issues such as loud noises or bright lights? Is the child trying to get your attention? Knowing the triggers can help prevent and/or minimize the likelihood a tantrum occurring. Knowing triggers can also help teach children skills such as asking for a break when frustrated, asking for a weighted blanket, requesting food, taking deep breaths, and appropriately asking for attention. Routine Most kids on the spectrum like to have a routine throughout the day. A common trigger might be an unexpected schedule change in a common routine or a sudden interruption in an activity. One way to help with transitions is to create a visual schedule. Sit down with your child and create a schedule with them at the start of the day. If there is a schedule change, let your child know ahead of time. If there is a transition from a fun activity to a less favorable activity, give your child at least a 5-minute warning. Set a timer to help with the transition. Use a ” First….Then…” statement. For example: “First we will eat breakfast, then watch YouTube.” Encourage Communication As previously mentioned, children on the spectrum have difficulty communicating wants and needs. Set up opportunities for your child to communicate when they are calm such as asking for food, toys, play, attention, taking a break, etc… If your child practices communicating when they are calm, they are more likely to communicate wants and needs when frustrated. During a tantrum, remind your child to use their known system of communication. Address Sensory Issues Your child may have sensitivity to noise, bright lights, textures, and food. If you are aware of any sensory issues, plan a way to address them ahead of time. For example, if your child is sensitive to noise and you know that you will be somewhere loud, bring noise-canceling headphones with you. Remind your child ahead of time that they can request a break from the environment or wear noise-canceling headphones. If you are going to a restaurant and your child is sensitive to food textures, take a look at the menu ahead of time to assure the restaurant can accommodate or bring your child’s favorite food with you. Social Stories Social stories are learning tools for kids with autism that explain communication, socialization, safety skills, and coping skills. If you noticed that your child has a tantrum surrounding certain situations, that might appear confusing, a social story might help them understand what is happening. Social stories also help teach skills. This website has a collection of free social stories: https://www.abaresources.com/social-stories/ What to Do During a Tantrum When your child has a tantrum, the best thing you can do is stay calm. Do not scream or show frustration. Have a calm and neutral face and a calm tone of voice. Make sure that you do not give your child access to rewarding items or attention. This will help your child understand that tantrum does not equal communicating wants and needs or gives them the attention that they crave. Remind your child of coping skills or/ and ways to communicate. For example, if your child needs a break prompt them to ” say break”, provide you a card that says break, or sign for a break. Remind them to take a deep breath or put their noise-canceling headphones on. Implement planned ignoring: this means that you are ignoring the behavior and not your child. Do not talk to your child about the tantrum. Just remind them in a calm way what you are doing, what they are supposed to do, etc… Wait until your child calms down. Once your child is calm, praise them. For example, “thank you so much for calming down”. If your child made a mess, have them clean it up. If you were in the middle of a task, have your child finish at least a portion of it. Provide praise for cleaning up or finishing the task. Also, provide lots of praise for appropriate communication. If your child has severe or/and frequent tantrum behaviors, seek help from Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

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A Survival Kit for Managing Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are one of the most common mental- health diagnoses in the United States. Forty million adults experience some form of anxiety every year. It is our prehistoric lizard brain, that is giving us a false sense of danger. Furthermore, anxiety is affected by a variety of factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events/environment. The good news is anxiety is highly manageable. With treatment and lifestyle changes, relief is possible. Below are some ways to help manage the symptoms of anxiety. Relaxing Self-Care   If you are experiencing anxiety symptoms, exam your self-care routine. Self-care has been a buzzword for a couple of years now for good reason. We are so busy with work and family life, that we put our needs last, causing burnout and other mental and physical health issues. In this busy world, taking time out to care for yourself will help be more centered and feel more energized to take on your day. Self-care looks different for everybody. For some people, self-care might be vegging out and watching reality shows and for others, it might be working out. Take time each day to do what relaxes you. For me, it is reading, hiking, painting, cardio, yoga, and watching light-hearted shows on Netflix. Each night, after a long day, my husband and I curl up on the sofa and watch our shows or movies. This is the self-care routine that we do together. Get in Touch With Your Feelings   Feelings of anxiety can occur when we are suppressing our feelings and are not aware what is the root of the problem. Writing in our journal or talking to a trusted friend can help us process a situation or a past event that has been bothering us. Sometimes anxiety is our body’s way of telling us that we are exhausted, burned out, or we are faced with a situation that we are not sure how to handle. Taking a day off from work and rest, reflect on your current situation, or do something that makes your heart happy might be just what the doctor ordered. Practicing Deep Breathing Our breath is the path to our serenity. The correct way to breathe is to have our breath slowly reach our stomach and slowly exhale out. However, when we get stressed out, our breath often reaches down to our chest. This causes us to build up carbon dioxide in our body, which can cause panic attacks and anxious feelings. Practice taking 10 deep breaths daily will help you breathe correctly during stressful situations. Meditation and Yoga   Studies show that yoga and meditation help decrease anxiety symptoms by producing serotonin levels to manage anxiety and depression symptoms. Meditation and yoga are not all the same. There is power yoga, light yoga, aerial yoga, hatha yoga, and yoga-pilates fusion. Furthermore, there are different times of meditation that include mindfulness, transcendental meditation, mantra meditation, and more. Explore various forms of yoga and meditation to see which one is right for you Exercise It is no secret that exercising has a lot of health benefits such as improving heart health, increasing energy, losing weight, and building muscle. Did you know that exercise can have the same effect as an antidepressant? It releases feel-good chemicals such as endorphins and serotonin. Exercise does not have to be strenuous. It can be taking a walk, dancing around the house and singing, or going for a swim. Always check with your doctor before starting any kind of exercise program. Examine Your Diet Past studies have shown that processed foods, foods high in sugar, and fried foods can cause or increase anxiety. Eating rich greens and whole grains can increase serotonin levels, which help ease anxiety. Also, eating often and drinking plenty of water can decrease the likelihood of nervousness due to a drop in blood sugar. Keep track of any food sensitives you may have such as gluten, dairy, or soy. An allergic reaction can cause symptoms of anxiety. Talk to a Therapist The first step you may want to take if you are experiencing anxiety is to talk to a licensed therapist. A therapist will help you process your emotions, help you identify triggers, and build some good coping skills to help manage anxiety. Just like going to a doctor if we break a leg, going to a therapist if we are experiencing uncomfortable emotions, experienced trauma, or/and are dealing with stressors. A therapist will help you find your zen and help you live a more fulfilling life.

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Teaching Kids to Label Emotions and Use Coping Skills

Every day humans experience a variety of emotions. We can wake up in a great mood and an unexpected traffic jam can make us feel annoyed. A happy day can be ruined by an unkind word from a friend or spouse. The same thing happens to our kids. They can go to school happy and come home sad due to a bad grade or a fight with a friend. Emotions can vary day by day, moment by moment. Some emotions are pleasant such as happiness, excitement, and calm. Other emotions can be more difficult to experience such as sadness, loneliness, and fear. Heartbreaks from friends or significant others are the most painful of all and can be a challenge to get through. Learning to identify and manage emotions at an early age can set up your child for a healthy existence: physically and mentally. Here are some tips to help your child identify and learn how to manage various emotions. Start Labeling Feelings as Early as Possible When your child is as young as 12 months old, start labeling emotions in books and videos. For example, “Pooh is sad because he lost his honey” or “Peppa Pig is excited to see her friends”. If you and your child witness another child crying at the playground, say “that child is crying because he is in pain from falling”. When your child experiences emotions, validate them at the moment. For example, ” you are so happy to play in the water” or “I know you are sad because your toy broke, it’s okay to be sad”. Purchasing flashcards with various emotions might be a good way for your child to start building emotional language. There are videos on Youtube that teach emotions in a fun way. Here are my favorite youtube videos: 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jetoWelJJJk 2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7HcVLsCrY 3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anHnpDfsItc Teach Coping Skills to Deal With Emotions Start teaching your child coping skills and problem-solving skills as early as possible. If your child is frustrated because they cannot find their favorite toy, validate their feelings of frustration and show coping skills by saying, “I know you are frustrated that you cannot find your favorite teddy bear, let’s take some deep breaths and calm down, and retrace our steps.”If your child came home crying because they fought with their best friend, validate their feelings and try to problem solve the situation. For example, ” I know you are upset because you and Emily fought, let’s talk about what happened, and come up with a possible solution.” There are curriculums and books you can purchase to help your child learn coping skills. One of my favorite curriculums is was created by Leah Kuypers to help kids identify and manage emotions is the “Zones of Regulations”. This curriculum groups emotions by color and attaches coping skills for each color. This curriculum can be purchased on Amazon or you can purchase activities based on this curriculum such as www.teacherspayteachers.com or https://www.socialthinking.com/Products/zones-of-regulation-poster. There are also youtube videos that help teach coping skills, problem-solving skills, and managing emotions: Below are my favorite:\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_FMxPo4xDM This video teaches how to cope with anger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nf2Pzcketg This video teaches stress management. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDYx9qM_ygg This video is on test anxiety. One of my personal favorite coping skills to teach kids is yoga and meditation. There is an elementary school in Baltimore that replaced detention with a meditation and mindfulness room. As a result, the instances of suspensions and detention rates dropped significantly, and school attendance has increased. Meditation and yoga have shown lots of benefits including a decrease in anxiety, depression, and improves overall happiness. Enroll your child in a yoga kid class, practice breathing and meditation as a family, or find various videos on youtube that have fun yoga and meditation videos for kids. Below are my favorite kids’ yoga and meditation videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOD82D-Z1Fk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf5K3pP2IUQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_qU7l-fcU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWOHcGF1Tmc In conclusion, there is no one-size-fits-all; every child has a different learning style and need. If your child has major emotional or behavioral issues, seek professional help.

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The Goals and Benefits of Family Therapy

Family therapy is a form of psychological counseling that helps members of a family communicate better. The mental health service identifies systems causing strife within a family and adjusts them on a broader, not necessarily individual, level. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the goals and benefits of family therapy. Every Reason to Seek Family Therapy The primary goal of family therapy is to establish healthier dynamics between family members by, in part, identifying and doing away with unhealthy dynamics. Behavior therapists help clients achieve this by: · Informing family members about healthy dynamics to help them identify what they might be doing wrong. · Setting healthier boundaries. · Giving them a neutral, non-judgmental space where they can exchange thoughts, feelings, and emotions. · Introducing communication strategies to facilitate the aforementioned exchange. · Identifying and addressing as yet undiscovered problems in the family. · Encouraging a sense of acceptance to pave the way for healing. The Benefits of Family Therapy One individual’s suffering is the suffering of an entire family unit. No matter how estranged, families are affected when one or more of their members gets diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance use disorder, or some other condition. However, you don’t have to wait until a family member falls sick to seek family therapy. You can apply for a session to reap the following benefits. 1. Better Communication with Your Children Talking to your child, especially if they’re anywhere near puberty, can often feel like trying to match two mismatched puzzle pieces. You don’t know what you’re doing wrong, and your child probably feels ignored and neglected. A family counselor can facilitate proper communication between both parties by applying different techniques to address the communication barrier and providing them with a safe space where they can learn more about the other’s grievances and inner feelings. 2. Learning Coping Skills As a family, you’ll go through several major life changes. In the absence of proper coping skills, these changes may turn into life-altering changes for your unit. For instance, not knowing how to cope with the death in the family might leave lasting effects on one or more members of said family and cause the entire unit to suffer from its negative impact. A professional therapist helps everyone address their feelings and recommends coping strategies that may come in handy well into the future. 3. Reducing Outside Influences Family therapists help reduce outside influences of social media, people, and whatnot that cause issues within a family. They help families deal with the external forces, causing them to butt heads and maintain a successful bond with each other. If you’re facing any of the above issues, book an in-home ABA therapy session to recruit the counseling services of our behavior management consultants. Do away with anything harming your family dynamics and lead a healthier and fulfilling family life. Reach out to initiate behavioral health therapy in New Jersey.                

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The Importance of Organizational Behavior in a Workplace

Organizational behavior is the study of how people communicate and interact within groups. Organizational behavior strategies are usually applied to optimize teamwork and simplify human resource management. That was the short of it. Heres’ the long of why it’s important to have organizational behavior management in the workplace. Healthy Workplace Dynamics It doesn’t take much to turn an office setting into a warzone in which every employee is out to get the other. As a leader of the organization, it’s your job to prevent workplace politics by looking for signs of conflict among your employees. You can do this by assigning one of your most trusted employees with the task of keeping an ear out for: · Behavioral changes · Tensions · Different emotions Identifying the source of friction is the first step to improving communication within your organization. Better Employee Experience Motivation is a major part of employee retention. It increases workplace engagement, improves overall productivity, and encourages your employees to work harder and give everything they have to their jobs. An organizational behavior study would help you to: · Monitor the current employee experience. · Isolate the sources of employee demotivation. · Determine how much of it is due to changes in behavior. In other words, an organizational behavior study helps you take targeted steps towards better performance instead of shooting in the dark and hoping for results. Improved Performance There’s always a reason why your employees aren’t giving their 100% to your organization, especially when their performance has diminished over a period of time. A study on organizational behavior helps you determine their professional attitudes and whether these have anything to do with their declining performance. Through this study, you can deduce: · Current interactions between different employees. · Status of team unity. · Concerns about job security. If you’re lucky, the reasons behind declining performance may not vary from person to person, in which case, you would’ve certainly had your work cut out for you. Successful Team Collaborations There are several ways to build collaborative teams. Carrying out a behavior study can help you apply them to the right set of people. Taking a behavioral approach to team building can help: · Team up people based on their similarities and differences. · Improve teamwork · Avoid putting people who don’t get along in the same team. · Build morale and confidence. In other words, an organizational behavioral approach to team collaborations helps you avoid team conflict, improves efficiency, and keeps you afloat in the long run. Change Your Workplace for the Better Through Organizational Business Management in New Jersey Turn a toxic work environment into a highly productive work environment with the help of our organizational behavior management consultants. Seek our organizational business management consulting services to change employee attitudes and interactions, and increase efficiency in your office setting.                

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4 Reasons Why Everyone Should Engage in Therapy

The past year two years have been extremely hard on everyone as the pandemic continues to be a part of our lives. Living in such times of distress can take a toll on anyone’s mental health. While mental health is still a taboo in our society, 20% of US adults reached out for help for their mental health. As our lives are affected by a lot of stress and uncertainty, it wouldn’t hurt to consult a therapist. Even when you think everything is okay, therapy can help you in many ways. Here are some reasons why you should engage in therapy. Helps in Self-Development Therapy is something that is out of a lot of people’s comfort zone and normal environment. When a person enters a room and expresses their deepest fears, unspoken feelings, and private thoughts to a complete stranger, it might be overwhelming at first but it provides room for self-improvement, self-awareness, and self-development for a person. So even if therapy seems uncomfortable and only for those with mental health issues, it is guaranteed to help you. Helps You Lead an Improved Life Oftentimes, things hold us back and hinder our growth. This could possibly be just because we haven’t been able to figure out where exactly we’re lacking. When you talk to a therapist, it will benefit you greatly to just have someone to talk to. You can figure out things and seek a therapist’s help to guide you. Provides an Opportunity for Experimentation Therapists know that there are certain challenges in everyone’s life that can lead to people acting a certain way. Those people who are set in their ways rarely ever make decisions that could cost them or experiment with things that can be seen as making mistakes by other people. With a therapist’s help, you can try out new things in a judgment-free zone. You can explore feelings or practice behaviors that you wouldn’t normally in your daily life. You can even find solutions to challenges that have stopped you from doing something. Provides Meaningful Insight When we face certain situations in life and go through tough times, we barely think about the aim behind our actions and thoughts. Understanding the aims is very normal and important, as it helps to give meaning and value to everything you do and think. With therapy, your thinking process can become less complex, which is otherwise a challenge for some. You can learn things about yourself and discover lessons from difficult situations. It will also promote self-care. Therapy is a healthy practice. At Comfort ABA, we offer services like in-home ABA therapy in New Jersey. We have certified and licensed therapists who provide their services to children on the autism spectrum and therapy for their parents as well. You can also reach out to us for behavioral health therapy, family therapy, and ABA therapy in New Jersey. Call us directly at 856-508-4 or contact us to find a behavioral therapist in New Jersey.

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The Building Blocks of Leadership

These days, most tasks call for a cross-functional or/and collaborative approach in order to get the best results. Team work is common in most organizations, but it can be tricky building a team with the right combined knowledge and expertise. Also, creating an effective team requires genuine leadership skills that all too few people possess. Before you decide on who will be part of your team, you need to spend time deciding on the structure of the team as well as what are the traits you are looking for in that particular role. Then, you can decide what team members best align with those characteristics. Once your team is assembled, make sure everyone understands what their individual role is and what their role is as part of the team. Finally make clear the goal of the team in a way that everyone is clear on what is the objective. Tips for team leadership This article won’t turn you into a great team leader: only you can do that. What it will do is to give you a few pointers that will help you along the way. Below are some areas to consider. Scope: differentiate between general team building and specific aims for projects for which you will need a dedicated team. Of course, depending on the size of the team this may not be mutually exclusive. Communicate Vision: communicate effectively with members of your team and let them know the importance of their role in the whole project. They also need to know how the project relates to the overall objectives of the organization. Motivation: Motivate both, yourself and your team. This is more effective coming from a trusted individual. Let them know that you appreciate them. Bring coffee in the morning if your team had a late night working. Provide positive feedback when you witness hard work and dedication. Confidence: the team members and the whole team itself, need to feel empowered to make decisions – within certain parameters off course. Don’t micromanage, unless the team member is struggling. Encourage your team to take initiative. Courage: this rare trait is a valuable attribute that you must personally exhibit, you must be willing to stand alone at time and against all odds if you believe what you are doing is right for your team, sometimes going against what may be “best” for you as a leader. You must be willing to stand up for your team to other leaders, these traits are tough for many people to consistently exhibit. This Moral courage I speak of is something you must develop in yourself and also develop and encourage in others. Creativity: outside the box thinking can be a great asset in your team. Rather than feel threatened by a new way of completing a goal, you should encourage it. Just don’t allow the “thought process” to cause paralysis to overall progress. As General Patton once said “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” Metrics: It is crucial that you have some tool by which to measure the performance of your team. If your environment has a “human component” to it such as working with human being in a therapeutic environment you need to find a way to factor in the time that you spend with the clients and things such as the progress a given case has made. You can’t solely measure billable hours because billable hours only tell part of the story. This is where I believe many ABA companies are making a mistake in their way of evaluating BCBA’s and RBT’s. Provide measurable feedback often and not just when the employee is struggling. Laugh: Life is too short to spend a minimum of 35 hours a week in the company of miserable, downtrodden colleagues. You’re the leader so inject some fun into the day. (Attitude reflects leadership) Conclusion: It’s important that you promote an understanding of the structure you’ve put together. Tell your team what role each person has, and they will understand why you’ve chosen to include them, and what they can add to the process. But more importantly once your teams are assembled allow them some flexibility to decide how they arrive at the agreed upon destination. Allow your teams to surprise you with their ingenuity and creativity. And then praise that and encourage more progress.

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Self-Care During The Pandemic

Everyone has been touched by this Pandemic. It has been a year this the first case emerged in the United States; our lives completely changed. We work from home, most of our kids are attending school virtually, and we have to wear a mask everywhere we go. As a result, our regular routines such as going to the gym, work life/home life balance, family and friend gatherings, etc… have developed a new normal, with lots of precautions and to keep ourselves and our family safe. Furthermore, young adult’s celebrated firsts such as going away to college, attending high school, going to prom have been put on hold. These elements have added more stress to our already hectic life. According to Panchal et al (2021), 4 in 10 adults have reported feelings of anxiety and depression during this pandemic, which has increased from 1 in 10 adults in January 2019. Thus, the need to increase and maintain good self-care is importance during these hectic times. Here are some ways to take good care of yourself: The Foods That Help Your Mental-Health If you have symptoms of depression or anxiety, consider making some dietary changes. According to Rachael Schultz (2020) from Healthline, there are foods that can ease depression and anxiety such the Mediterranean Diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fatty fish such as tuna and salmon, healthy fats like olive oil and raw nuts, and sweets and wine in moderation. Another diet that has shown promising results is the DASH diet that embraces whole grain, protein from fish, chicken, and nuts, non-fat diary, and limiting sugar intake. There are women who reported that cutting out sugar or decreasing sugar intake have significantly decreased their depression symptoms. A change in diet may not eliminate all symptoms, but it can help with conjunction with therapy and/or taking medication. Get Moving The pandemic has disrupted most people’s workout routine and day to day movement. The gyms were closed for a while and all workout classes canceled. Social distancing by staying home has been a good way to prevent us from catching COVID-19. Getting exercise or any kind of physical activity is an important part of our mental-health and wellbeing. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise eases symptoms of depression, anxiety, and increases confidence by releasing feel good chemicals such as endorphins. Physical movement also prevents a number of health problems including heart issues, diabetes, and arthritic. Since we are at a new normal , establishing a new workout routine is part of a good self-care. If you were into taking classes such as Zumba or yoga, there are APPS that provide great workouts. I have been using Boho Beautiful APP for my yoga routine and mediation needs. Also, there are free workout videos on YOUTUBE and live stream classes such as Open Fit and Mirror Co if you miss the live experience. If you are not into exercising, establishing a routine where you engage in a physical activity might be a good way to get moving such as taking walks, running around the house with your kids, dancing to your favorite song in your bedroom, doing some yard work, or house work. Check with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine. Socializing With Loved Ones   We as humans, are inherently social creatures. According to Dr. Emma Seppala (2017) a medical director of The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education from Stanford Medicine, social connections improves physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Lack of social connection, on the other hand, may do just as much damage as smoking or having high blood pressure. During the pandemic, we have been social distancing from our friends and family, who are outside of our household, to prevent COVID-19 transmission and to decrease the amount of sickness and death associated with the virus. As a result, we have not been socializing as much as we were pre-COVID. Finding creative ways to continue to connect with friends and family during the Pandemic is important for our emotional wellbeing. Thankfully, we have technology that can assist us continuing to connect with our loved ones. My friends and family have found creative ways to connect with each other by having zoom parties, having coffee or a class of wine over Face Time, and checking in each other a couple of times a week. During good weather, meeting outside with masks on, while keeping 6 feet apart, is a good way to spend time together in person. Feeling connected and finding creative ways to is a healthy part of our self-care routine.   Getting Enough Sleep Joseph Crossman said once,” The bridge between despair and hope is a goodnight sleep” There is no question that lack of sleep effects our mental- health and emotional regulation. According to Eric Suni, from the Sleep Foundation, sufficient sleep, especially REM sleep, helps the brain process emotional information. An average adult should get from 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. A common cause of sleep problems is poor sleep hygiene. The following are ways to improve sleep hygiene: Having a set bedtime. Finding ways to wind-down such as reading, meditating, and doing something relaxing. Avoiding caffeinated beverages in the evening. Diming the light and putting away electronic devices an hour before bed. Getting regular exercise and sunlight during the day. Work-Life Balance Since working from home became the norm during the pandemic, work-life balance has been a challenge to maintain. We don’t have the commute to break up our day or a coffee break in the break room. We also have to balance our work load, helping our children with remote learning, and other house hold duties. As a result, the work-home boundaries start to get blurred. Here are some ways of keeping a work life balance: Keep regular work hours and stick with those hours. Create and maintain a regular morning routine. Set firm boundaries with people in your household during work hours. Take breaks throughout the day.

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Creating Happy Thoughts: A Cognitive-Behavior Approach

There is an old saying, “happiness is a state of mind”. Based on the current research, there is truth to this statement. Our thoughts effect our mood. We all have thoughts that create happiness, sadness, anger, irritation etc…. Furthermore, our thoughts or patterns of thinking effect our mood and behavior and our behavior effects our mood and thoughts. It is a cycle. If we can identify and change our thoughts that create unhappiness, we can shift our mood in a positive direction, increase productive behavior, and improve our wellbeing. This theory originated by Arron T Beck, a psychiatrist from University of Pennsylvania and the founder of Beck Institute. He created a therapy called, cognitive behavior therapy, where the purpose is to identify thoughts that cause us pain and replace them with more a balanced and realistic thinking. He identified distorted thoughts that create depression and anxiety. We all have these extreme thoughts. They might have been manufactured by our upbringing , trauma, or/and life experience. This article will identify some common distorted thoughts, how to challenge these thoughts, and create more balanced thoughts. All or Nothing Thinking ( Black or White Thinking) All or nothing thinking/black or white thinking is when you think things are either on one side of the extreme or the other side of the extreme, with no gray area. For example, someone is either your worst enemy or your best friend. Your day is either really great or really bad. If you don’t get a promotion you have been working towards, you are a total failure. If one bad thing happens, that means nothing good happens. This error in thinking can cause a lot of distress and anxiety. To challenge this type of thinking, we need to find a middle of the road alternative thought. For example, you have had a bad day, think about all the good days that you have had or all the good things that happened that day. If you are fighting with your bestfriend, that does not mean that your friend just became your worst enemy; it just means you and your friend are not seeing eye to eye. If you were passed up for a promotion, that does not mean that you are a total failure, and your time for that position will come in time. The reality is, that most things are in the gray area, and not everything is all or nothing. Keeping this in mind will help you find a more balanced perspective. Catastrophizing Catastrophizing is when you believe that there will be a catastrophe based on one or two events or facts. For example, if you didn’t get your dream job, you start thinking that you will never find your dream job you, will work in a job you hate for the rest of your life, and you might end up homeless on the street. The reality is if you didn’t get one particular job, there will be other jobs that might be as interesting or even more interesting than the one you did not get. Another example is if you went on a bad date and you come home upset because there are no good people out there and you will end up alone, with 10 cats, who will eat your face after you die. The reality is that just because you had one bad date, does not mean you will not be able to meet the right person in the future. Personalization Personalization is when you think that you have caused a problem that you did not cause or when someone did or said something to target you, which is not the case. For example, you may think that your friend is not texting you back because of something you said or did, when in fact, your friend has a very busy day or forgot her phone at home. Another example might be you blaming yourself for friends or family fighting among each other, over an issue that has nothing to do with you. To challenge these thoughts, consider facts or lack of facts related to your role in the situation. Negative Filtering Negative filtering is seeing the negative in situations instead of seeing both, negative and positive. You ignore any information that does not align with your negative view. For example, if you are wearing a beautiful dress and 99 people compliment you on it and 1 person criticizes the dress, you will focus on that one person. During a yearly work evaluation, you get an mostly positive feedback and 1 or 2 negative feedback, you will focus on the negative feedback, instead of seeing the whole picture. To challenge this thought, identify positive aspects of a situation or feedback, to help you have a more balanced prospective. Overgeneralization Overgeneralization is when you make a general conclusion based on one incident to all situations. For example, if you had a bad day at work; therefore it will be a bad week, bad year, etc… If your spouse had a bad day and is not in the best mood, your marriage is ruined. Look for keywords such as “never” and “always”. To challenge this thought, look at the details of the present situation and analyze it individually. We don’t know what the future might bring, so overgeneralizing negative situations might cause unnecessary distress. Mind Reading Mind reading is when you are 100% certain that you know what someone is thinking, but no facts or inconclusive bits of information to support this thought. For example, your boss is short with you because they have a bad day and you assume that they do not like you. Your boss might be having a rough day or have some personal issues that they are dealing with, which has nothing to do with you. When a coworker doesn’t say good morning, you assume that they are mad at you. Unless you have done something wrong to merit these behaviors. Looking at facts in an objective way will

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