Frustration is a familiar feeling no matter who you are. No matter what age, gender, nationality, or spirituality you identify with, you know what it means to feel frustrated. It’s also likely that you know that frustration rises inside us when we want a certain outcome from our efforts and, for whatever reason, we do not achieve that outcome.

If you’re a caregiver, you have probably thought about how to support your child’s emotional intelligence. This may look like asking your child to “use their words” to name how they are feeling, or maybe your child has a big meltdown when something they want doesn’t go as planned. Whatever the scenario, equipping children with the tools to understand their emotional world is essential for their well-being and ability to maneuver through life’s ups and downs.

Play therapy can seem like magic at times. Your child comes to our office for 45 minutes once a week to play and after an average of five months, they’ve completed their therapeutic goals! Their emotional regulation has improved, their anxiety has decreased, or maybe their self-esteem is higher.

As a therapist who has worked with children and families since my undergrad days, I was PREPARED for motherhood. Or so I thought. But, as most other parents can resonate with, parenthood is much more difficult than any outsider can imagine, and it didn’t take me long to figure this out. Once I did figure out how hard it was, I began reading both for information and entertainment. And quite honestly, as a coping skill.

Typically caregivers are thrust into this new Special Education world abruptly, carrying with them worries about their child on their shoulders. Special Education is difficult enough to navigate on its own, let alone when the well-being of someone they care about is at stake.

Typically when someone thinks of therapy, images of a calm and quiet waiting room may appear in their mind. Maybe rain sounds are playing, and the office is filled with mid-century modern furniture and earth tones. As you can imagine, play therapy tends to be a bit different. Especially the sounds!

I recently came across a parenting article and I love it for so many reasons. It’s The Rise of Accidentally Permissive Parents by Elizabeth Passarella in The Cut. I think it speaks to so many issues parents are having… resulting in a difficult reality of not feeling like you’re parenting well. What a hard place to be! I highly recommend the read.

If you have a strong enough “why” you can endure any “how.” This is a paraphrased idea courtesy of Friedrich Nietzche that I find to be very true in life. But man! Constructing a “why” strong enough to do something difficult can be pretty tough in our adult lives (for example, I procrastinated on writing this blog post), let alone our children’s lives.

As play therapists, we often tell our caregivers to spend one-on-one time with their child for at least 30 minutes doing an activity of their child’s choosing or something they can enjoy together each week. We also know that finding that activity or free play can be a challenge for many caregivers. Have you ever wondered what toys and games we have in our rooms and why we use them? Keep on reading to understand more of the reason behind why we have chosen each specific toy in the play room and which ones might be worthwhile in adding to your collection at home!

There have been many tragic events that have impacted our world and local Austin community as of late. As I write this, our community has just experienced the loss of several individuals through gun violence. Some days are just hard and our hearts feel exceptionally heavy. More and more I have caregivers ask if they should be discussing tough topics in the news with their child -- and if so, how?

During the holiday season, we often find that children have more difficulty with emotional regulation. Excitement is abundant and routine falls to the wayside: two things that shrink the level of tolerance children have for dysregulating stimuli.

I feel like it’s safe to say every single person who reads this blog has experienced a sleepless night and can remember the side effects they suffered the next day: lethargy, low motivation, trouble concentrating, desperate for a cup of coffee or tea, and maybe even being just outright cranky. (For me, the coffee mug seems permanently glued to my hand in an effort to recover.)

Friendships.  Acceptance.  Connection.  These are all things we want for our children. As adults, we have felt the joys and tribulations of friendships and want to help children navigate those tricky waters.  It's painful when we see our children excluded from a group or struggle to connect with other children.  It can be extra challenging to unpack exactly why difficulties are happening and how to support our children to have successful social interactions.

Friendships.  Acceptance.  Connection.  These are all things we want for our children. As adults, we have felt the joys and tribulations of friendships and want to help children navigate those tricky waters.  It's painful when we see our children excluded from a group or struggle to connect with other children.  It can be extra challenging to unpack exactly why difficulties are happening and how to support our children to have successful social interactions.

Suicide is a topic that is difficult for anyone to talk about. Throw in the mix of talking about suicide with your children and that conversation goes from uncomfortable to sometimes unbearable. It can be frightening to bring up such a heavy topic to our children and can bring up worries that we are “putting ideas in their heads” by doing so.

Divorce and separation is undoubtedly a challenging experience for everyone involved, especially for children. Amid the emotional rollercoaster, finding a way to co-parent effectively can seem like an overwhelming task - especially when we know that a child’s adjustment during this time depends largely on how well caregivers handle this uncomfortable experience. However, with dedication, communication, and a shared commitment to the well-being of your children, successful co-parenting is not only possible but can be incredibly rewarding.

Searching for a therapist and beginning the process of therapy is understandably overwhelming. You’re worried about how your child is doing and in the process of finding a therapist that will be a good fit for them, you might be wondering if you’ve checked all the boxes and asked all the right questions. In this blog, I want to provide some insight into what the first steps of your therapy journey at Ensemble will look like to help relieve any anxiety you’re feeling about the process.

During your formative years, you may or may not have been exposed to the developmental work of Erik Erikson. He was a developmental psychologist in the early 20th century who organized human development into eight stages with specific developmental tasks from birth to death. The idea of human and child development can be tricky because development is never a clear or linear path. Each child is unique and worthy and is growing at their own pace. Healthy development cannot be rushed but it can certainly be slowed. Children develop best in an environment of physical and emotional safety. We can embrace our children as humans who strive to be fulfilled, contributory, and in relationship with others. And they will struggle with this, will need guidance, and may look like they aren’t striving for these things but I promise, they are. In their own way. They will, by virtue of being human, encounter obstacles, challenges, and emotional struggles, but they are always developing and evolving. Even if it’s not on our schedule.