Safe Community Coalition

We connect and inspire our community by providing programs and resources to reduce stress and foster mental wellness to empower our youth to thrive.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

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[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Thank you for tuning in tonight and thank you to @LynnLyonsMSW for sharing her expertise, wisdom, and humor with our community this evening.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: It's hard to tolerate your kid's distress. But when we normalize it, they get through it!

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: Kids are going to have big emotions. Validate them. Ask how you can help. Let them practice feeling big feelings. Avoid jumping in with your own distress and avoid jumping in to fix it. #anxiety

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: If your main goal is to help your child avoid something, you are enabling the anxiety. Rather, help them develop the skill to tolerate the uncomfortable feeling.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: "The goal is to change the relationship to the worry when it shows up rather than to change the world so the worry goes away." #Anxiety

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: If you have an anxious kid, you'll want to "front load," give the kid the info and plan ahead of time rather than in the moment.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Q: from audience: Are there gender differences in #anxiety? A: Statistically girls are more anxious than boys. Each shows anxiety differently though.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Q: from audience: How do you address kid's existential worries? Lyons' answer: Go micro instead of macro.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: "The biggest gift you can give your kids is to experience joy in their presence."

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: At the beginning of Covid, what kids said is "it's not so bad, because I'm .getting more sleep, I'm connecting with my family more, I'm posting to social media less."

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: Watch for negative connection such as bragging about how little sleep they get, how many diagnoses they have.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: Teach kids to do "awkward empathy." You don't have to know exactly what to say; you can offer empathy as a connection.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: Delay giving kids smart phones. Focus on social skills.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: Connection, connection, connection. It is key. It always comes out on top.

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: Kids need messages of hope. We want to foster the belief that change is possible rather than that they have a "disease" or that "mental illness" is who they are. #anxiety

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: You don't have to imagine dying in a plan crash; you'll do fine the first time! #Anxiety

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

catastrophic thinking

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: Catastrophic thanking / catastrophic parenting = you are imagining all the bad things that are happening. You think it's problem-solving but it's not...

[Safe Community Coalition @mcleanscc]

Lyons: Rather than global thinking, help kids break things down into smaller parts: beginning, middle, and end.