This document discusses 20 ways to nurture children's mental health. It covers physical, environmental, interpersonal, emotional, and cognitive strategies. Specifically, it recommends ensuring children get enough sleep, exercise, nutrition, and relaxation. It also stresses the importance of structure, safety, communication skills, problem solving, and identifying cognitive distortions. The overall goal is to help children feel safe, competent, and confident.

1. Innovations in Behavioral Healthcare
 http://foundationsevents.com/counselortoolbox
 Meetup Thursday June 20th at 6pm at Merridee's
Breadbasket
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2. 20 Ways to Nurture
Children’s Mental Health
Instructor: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Executive Director: AllCEUs Counselor Education
Host: Counselor Toolbox Podcast
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3. Objectives
 Identify what children need for good mental
health
 Identify 25 ways to nurture children’s mental
health
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4. Children’s Mental Health
 Children need to feel
 Safe
 Emotionally
 Physically
 Competent (efficacy)
 Able to succeed in school
 Able to succeed in managing emotions
 Able to succeed at …
 Confident (esteem)
 Lovable for who they are
 That they belong
How does NOT feeling these contribute to mental health issues?
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5. Physical
 Sleep and Sunlight
 Help set your circadian rhythms and vice versa
 Circadian rhythms regulate (feeding, sleeping, stress) hormones
 Lack of sleep  fatigue, irritability, low distress tolerance, poor
concentration
 Sunlight produces far more bioavailable vitamin D
 How much?
 3-6 Years Old: 10 - 12 hours per day (8p-6a)
 7-12 Years Old: 9 - 11 hours per day (9p-6a)
 12-18 Years Old: 8 – 10 hours per day (10p-6a)
 Create a sleep routine
 Evaluate sleep hygiene AllCEUs.com/sleep
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• National Sleep
Foundation
• WebMD
How can this help
youth feel safe,
confident and
competent in school,
relationships,
activities?

6. Physical
 Eliminate Caffeine
 Caffeine stimulates the HPA-Axis leading to a perpetual state of stress
 Caffeine has a half-life of 5-8 hours
 Chronic caffeine intake
 Has been shown to increase serotonin and acetylcholine and inhibits
the release of GABA, which contributes to our feeling of alertness.
 Reduces the number of active receptors (tolerance)
 When it is stopped, the brain’s abundant supply of happy chemicals is
abruptly cut off and the person feels depressed.
 Reduces cofactors necessary for neurotransmitter synthesis
 Inhibits the absorption of iron and B-vitamins involved with the
synthesis of serotonin, dopamine and GABA
 People often use caffeine to compensate for inadequate sleep
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https://www.precisi
onnutrition.com/cof
fee-and-hormones

7. Physical
 Nutrition
 Provides the building blocks to make neurotransmitters responsible for
mood, motivation, libido, concentration and energy.
 Maintains a healthy gut microbiome to help produce 80% of the
neurotransmitters and prevent leaky gut (AllCEUs.com/gut)
 Deficits of specific nutrients (i.e., vitamins A, B6, B12, C, folate, iron,
zinc, and calcium) are associated with lower grades (CDC)
 Interventions
 Involve youth in creating a weekly menu
 Encourage maintenance of an online food diary
 Eat colorfully (Yellow, Red, Green, Blue/Purple/Black, Brown)
 Start a hydroponic (or regular garden)
 Keep fruits and chopped vegetables easily accessible
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How can this help
youth feel safe,
confident and
competent in school,
relationships,
activities?

8. AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
8

9. Physical
 Exercise
 Higher physical activity and physical fitness levels are associated
with improved concentration and memory.
 Time spent in recess has been shown to positively affect students’
attention, concentration and classroom behaviors
 Consider the motivation of behaviors
 Brief classroom physical activity breaks (i.e., 5-10 minutes) are
associated with improved attention, concentration, on-task
behavior, and educational outcomes
 How much
 Children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years should do 60
minutes (1 hour) or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
daily. (moderate=50-70% of max HR, vigorous =70-85% max HR)
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• Bike riding (incl.
stationary)
• Basketball/sockball
• Walking
• Balloon toss
• Tag
• Dancing
• Obstacle course (in
or out)
• Mini trampoline
• More…

10. Physical
 Relaxation and Recreation
 Many youth get up, go to school, come home, do homework
until 8 or 9 o’clock then go to bed with little time for true
relaxation.
 Relaxation is the state of being free from psychological and
muscle tension
 Techniques to calm the HPA-Axis and Teach Self-Regulation
 Guided Imagery (even to space)
 Yoga, Tai Chi
 Progressive Muscular Relaxation
 Deep breathing
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11. Physical
 Screen for
 Autism: 1:59 (CDC)
 Developmental Delays: Cognitive, social and emotional, speech
and language, fine and gross motor
 Learning disabilities impact up to 10% of children
 AD/HD
 Must watch for differential dx Asperger's Disorder, and Other
Common Misdiagnoses and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children
 Mood disorders (NIMH) Depression 3%; Anxiety 8%; PTSD 4%
 Thyroid Disorders
 4.6% of the U.S. population age 12 and older has hypothyroidism
 Hypothyroidism is one of the most common causes of
intellectual disability
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12. Environmental
 Help children learn
 Identify how they learn best and teach them how to modify
their learning
 Auditory/Visual/Kinesthetic
 Reflective/Active
 Apply what they learn to things that are important or useful
to them
 Newton’s laws
 Biology and the NWF
 Nutrition and broken bones
 Hand washing and staying healthy
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13. Environmental
 Structure and Limits
 Let children know you care
 Help children learn to self regulate
 Create consistency and predictability in a sometimes
chaotic world
 Interventions
House/Class Rules (Bring/Make rules list for vacation)
Review rules regularly (before getting out at the park or
at grandma’s)
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14. Environmental- ACES
 Reduce exposure to:
 Direct or indirect physical, verbal or sexual abuse or neglect
 Family members with addictions or mental health issues
 Caregiver loss
 Interventions
 Self care
 Regularly discuss children’s feelings and thoughts if a family
member has a mental illness
 Connect with children daily, even if from a distance
 Military---write letters ahead of time and give them to
stateside partner to give to children each day/week
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15. Environmental
 Safety—Emotional and Physical
 Ensure children’s environments are:
Free from threats to their physical safety
Free from bullying or verbal abuse
Rich with images (social media, television, music, posters
etc.) that help them feel safe, special and included
 Dr. Seuss Oh The Places You’ll Go
 The Middle by Jimmy Eat World; Confident by Demi Lovato
 Inclusive television shows
 Adults in the environments need to be responsive to
the needs of children
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16. Environmental
 Safety—from Internal Critic
 Teach children about negative self-talk
 Do not model negative self talk or use global criticism
 Teach children to:
Separate fact and feeling based reasoning
 I feel stupid therefore I am stupid
Focus on objective facts
Identify and address things over which they have control
Develop skills to accept that which they have no control
over.
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17. Interpersonal
 Attention and Unconditional Positive Regard
 Unconditional positive regard for who they are as
people, not what they do
 Authentic praise and genuine interest (They can tell)
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18. Interpersonal
 Communication Skills
 Assertiveness
 Role play
 Insist on using the I feel ___ because ____ with objective
language
 I feel angry because you won’t let me stay out after midnight.
 I hear you are frustrated and I realize it seems unfair,
however, I believe that it is important that you get adequate
sleep and you can see your friends tomorrow.
 Effective listening (paraphrasing)
 Do not just ask “Do you understand?”
 Insist on eye contact
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19. Interpersonal
 Healthy Boundaries
 Are critical for healthy relationships, increasing self- esteem and
reducing stress, anxiety and depression.
 Boundaries set a clear line between what is you and what is not you.
 Help people not get drained by always giving, being unable to say no
and seeking approval from others
 Emotional
 Taking responsibility for other’s feelings and problems (Not my circus)
 Letting other people’s feelings dictate your own
 Sacrificing your own needs to please
 Blaming others for your problems
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20. Interpersonal
 Ask for Help
 Social support is one of the greatest buffers against stress
 Help can come in the form of encouragement, empathy or
assistance
 Asking for help does not represent weakness
 Encourage children to ask for help when needed
 Help children learn how to find appropriate assistance
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21. Interpersonal
 Appreciation of Individual Differences
 Temperament: Help them synergize
E/I (People and environment)
S/N (Conceptualization)
T/F (Motivation)
J/P (Time management)
 Talents
Public speaking
Sports/physical activities
Science and math
Art
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22. Emotional
 Mindfulness and Emotion Identification
 Children who can identify vulnerabilities and emotions can
intervene before they enter the red zone.
 Mindfulness activities
 Model emotional vocabulary with the “I am feeling ____ because” to
help children not personalize and become learn to use feeling words
 Prompt mindfulness-- “It seems like you are not happy. What is
going on?” “I am ____ because ____”
 Body scan (Energy, sleep, appetite, pain/discomfort, urges)
 Many children somaticize their emotions
 Encourage visual, olfactory, auditory triggers for happiness
 Make a collage of “Things that make me happy”
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23. Emotional
 Distress Tolerance
 Tests, doctor’s visits, break-ups, not getting
asked to a dance, someone being mean
 Help children learn to wait to act in their wise
mind
 Make a list (poster) of distraction options
 Activities (coloring, watching fish, talking,
tearing/shredding)
 Opposite emotions (do something that makes
them happy)
 Push it away (Write it down and put it away,
throw a bunch of balls)
 Sensations (Catharsis, ice, wall sits, splash cold
water)
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Distract
Don’t
React

24. Cognitive
 Problem Solving
 Children who can solve their own problems feel much more
empowered.
 Use scaffolding to help them solve real-world dilemmas
 What is the problem?
 Janie and I got into a fight.
 I do poorly on my tests because I get so nervous
 What are possible solutions?
 Stop being friends, continue to be friends, become frenemies
 Drop out of school, learn to manage my anxiety, get
accommodations
 What are possible interventions for the solution you want? …
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25. Cognitive
 Self-Efficacy by experiencing success
 Teach them how to set SMART goals
Overall goal: Be class valedictorian
Specific: Get a A in chemistry
Measurable: Yes
Achievable: Yes but I will need to set aside 1 hour a night
to study and get afterschool assistance from my teacher
Relevant: Yes
Time Limited: Yes. 1 semester
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26. Cognitive
 Psychological Flexibility
 What kind of person am I (values worksheet)
 What does it mean to be…compassionate, loyal, creative
 Do one thing each day that is…
 Who and what is important to me
 Family
 Reputation/popularity
 Friends (which ones)
 Work/School (GPA)
 Activity (football, band, piano, tae kwondo)
 How do I feel right now and why. (Angry because I don’t want to
study. Embarrassed because Sally posted a photoshopped pic of me)
 How could I solve this problem in a way that will help me get closer
to what is important to me.
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27. Cognitive
 Cognitive Distortions
 All or Nothing
 Find exceptions or solutions
 Fallacy of Fairness
 You may not have caused it, but you have to fix it.
 Use psych. flex to address the effectiveness of staying angry.
 Magnification—Mountains from molehills
 Evaluate the facts
 Minimization of the positive
 Remember the positive things
 Personalization
 What parts were your responsibility
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28. Cognitive
 Learned Optimism
 We are wired to pay more attention to the negative for
survival
 This leads to a negative outlook
 This prompts us to be more aware of the negative things that
happen and interpret events with a negative filter.
 Interventions
 Positive journaling
 Dialectics
 Living in the AND
 Gratitude Wall
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29. Cognitive
 Self Esteem
 Radical acceptance of strengths and weaknesses
Unconditional positive regard
Attention and authentic praise
 Appreciation for synergy
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30. Summarize
 Help children prevent vulnerabilities and enhance
mental health by
 Helping them address cognitive and emotional issues
 Ensuring they have a safe environment
 Teaching them healthy interpersonal skills so they can
get support when needed and prevent getting burned
out
 Children need to feel like they are loved, they
belong and they are capable at home, school and
in relationships
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