Parents, it’s back-to-school time, and if that is not stressful enough, we are all still trying to navigate our way through the new reality that is COVID-19. Ensuring that kids are fully prepared to head back to school is crucial for their mental health and academic success, but what about parents? How can parents take the necessary steps to stay mentally healthy too?
Best-selling author, family therapist, TEDx speaker and Psychotherapist Jodi Aman, LCSW, has a few mental health tips to help parents prepare for school during COVID-19.
Here’s Jodi’s top mental health tips to help parents prepare for their children returning to school:
Tip #1:
Find someone who you can share your fears with. Ideally, this person will be compassionate and understanding. Being able to express yourself and process through your fears will help you be able to be stronger for your family.
Tip #2:
Once they start, plan to spend time talking to them about what differences there were and how everyone seemed to be. This de-briefing will help you stay connected and in the know. This will help you feel empowered instead of disempowered.
Tip #3:
Practice self-care. This has been heavy on all of us. It is time to commit to radical self-care so that you can continue to have the energy to support your family. When your family needs you, you don’t skimp on self-care: you need to up your self-care game so you can be what you want to be for them.
Tip #4:
Develop your mother’s intuition. With fear so rampant right now, our intuition is taking a hit. You can hear it, you feel that you can’t trust it when anxiety and stress is present. But connecting to your intuition calms your anxiety!