Chronic Stress

Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness month? It’s time to start talking about the health of our brains, just like we do the health of our bodies. It’s time to BREAK THE STIGMA. That’s what this month is all about.

Not only do I feel passionately about this topic because it’s what I talk about for a living but also because my own family is impacted by mental illness just like so many of yours are. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons I focus my trainings and content on topics such as trauma, chronic stress and social-emotional learning.

The pandemic has certainly brought to light many of the challenges people with mental health issues face on a daily basis. It is also to blame for exacerbating these issues for tens of thousands of adults and children.

There has never been a better time to break the cycle of silence and gain a better understanding of mental illness. If not for your benefit, for the benefit of someone you love.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. Trained crisis workers are available 24/7.

I’ve been in a “series” kind of mood lately. I wrapped up the YouTube series on coping skills and decided to start a new one on social-emotional learning. Why? Because I am getting SOOO many questions on this topic right now, from educators and parents alike.

I think we’re all in this place where we realize that our kids/students are struggling (heck, WE are struggling!), but we’re just not really sure what else we can do to help them.

So let’s talk about it. What exactly IS social-emotional learning? How can we integrate it into our classrooms and homes? What does it look like? Over the next several weeks, we are going to tackle all these questions plus many, many more.

We will discuss the importance of social-emotional learning (although, I think most of us have been forced to figure that out in the past two years!), the competencies we can teach kids and specific strategies we can use at home or in the classroom.

I hope you’ll join me for this series, and when you do, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss out on any of the great content I’m sharing!