002. Decoding Child and Youth Anxiety through times of STRESS and how YOU as a parent can HELP!

Live link show notes at www.momsweatsanity.com

Welcome to The Mom Sweat Sanity Podcast! Joining us for episode number one is clinical counsellor and mental health and wellness expert, Jenna Gleeson. Jenna specializes in child and family counselling, helping clients identify and tackle issues with anxiety and stress appearing in younger members. In our conversation, we get to hear from our guest about the basics of anxiety in children and the common signs of unusual amounts of stress on young minds and bodies. Jenna unpacks the impact that family dynamics have and how symptoms of an environment are reflected in children's health and behaviour. We go through some tell-tale signs of high stress and Jenna explains how these differ across age groups. From there, we turn to some strategies and methods for addressing these kinds of issues, starting with conversations and the examples that are set for children. For Jenna, experiences of anxiety are on a continuum, and all children should feel it is okay to have these feelings, and this starts with parents and their behaviours and attitudes towards difficult circumstances or events. We talk about the power of daily check-ins, the evolving landscape of mental health discourse, and why trying to set a perfect example is detrimental to a child's self image. For this illuminating and important conversation, be sure to listen to the show today!

 

.

.

.

.

Insta: instagram.com/momsweatsanity

Email: brittany@brittanderson.com

___________________________________________

Show Notes:

Decoding Child & Youth Anxiety through Times of Stress and How You as a Parent Can Help with Jenna Gleeson

 

Episode 02: Show Notes.

Key Points From This Episode:

 

• An overview of Jenna's journey, personal life, and her work in clinical counselling.
• Jenna's early desire to get into the counselling field, and the events that inspired this.
• Anxiety in children and reflections on this subject during the pandemic.
• The ways in which stressful family dynamics play out and show up in different children.
• Steps for parents to take in aid of children experiencing unusual stress and anxiety.
• Normalizing the presence of anxiety through communication and sharing.
• Ways to challenge and balance negative thoughts at different ages.
• Helpful resources for cognitive therapy; why Jenna recommends the MindShift app.
• Progress in societal conversations about mental and emotional health
• Getting away from a myth of perfection and setting an unrealistic example for children.
• More useful resources recommended by Jenna!
• Starting from a strong foundation for health and wellbeing — leading by example.

 

Tweetables:

 

“I think my counsellor who I had as a teenager was a really big mentor for me.” — Jenna Gleeson [0:02:28]

 

“There is literature coming out that is saying that findings are showing that COVID is greatly impacting the wellbeing of families.” — Jenna Gleeson [0:03:58]

 

“If we are only allowing our kids to see us as perfect then that is a really unrealistic expectation for them.” — Jenna Gleeson [0:24:43]

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 

Britt Anderson

Britt Anderson on Instagram

Jenna Gleeson on LinkedIn

Jenna Gleeson on Instagram

MindShift App

Anxiety Canada

Kelty Mental Health

CounsellingBC