Course Notes: The Whole-Brain Child Approach. Pt 3

Our last Whole-Brain post covered the following topics:

  • Aside from the brain being divided into two hemispheres, it can also be split into the upstairs (reasoning) and the downstairs (emotions)
  • Strategies 3, 4, and 5 connect these two brains to reduce an “emotional hijack” and promote clear thinking

On to strategies 6 and 7. They’re short, we promise!

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Course Notes: The Whole-Brain Child Approach, Pt. 2

In our last Whole-Brain post, we talked about the first two Whole-Brain Approach strategies. A quick recap:

  • The brain is shaped through genetics and experience.
  • The brain’s two polar opposite hemispheres and how they must work together to achieve balance and well-being, away from chaos and rigidity.
  • The first two strategies on how to integrate both hemispheres when your child is experiencing emotional moments

On to the next segment and Strategies 3-5!

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Course Notes: The Whole-Brain Child Approach, Pt. 1

Every two years, OTs must complete at least 24 hours of continuing education to maintain their licensure. I love this requirement because I can learn new techniques, get a grasp of the new research that is currently out there, and apply it to practice.

My course this month is on the Whole-Brain Child Approach and how we can incorporate it into our pediatric work. I found this course to be super helpful in understanding a child’s maturing brain and why it is so important to connect with them from a place of compassion and kindness. This is something that all parents can practice, not just therapists. Here are some facts and strategies I’ve learned in the first section of the course.

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Child(ish) Reads: Adventuring Together

Adventuring Together: How to Create Connections and Make Lasting Memories with Your Kids
By Greta Eskridge
224 pages.
Audiobook is 3 hrs and 54 mins.
This book is published by a Christian publisher; however, the content is not faith specific.
Chapters include personal stories as well as idea lists for kid adventures.

I first learned about Adventuring Together from the Minimalist Moms Podcast. It was three months into COVID and I was trying to rebuild my girls’ summer plans, which now no longer included our public park and splashpad. What could we do to make sure our toddlers weren’t spending the entire summer bored and indoors?

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Child(ish) Reads: Unselfie

There are a ton of articles about the major differences between Boomers, Millennials, Gen X and Gen Z; and how social media and screen time have driven huge cultural and sociological shifts. Now that Millennials are becoming parents, we have a very real fear: Fear that our kids could grow up to be really self-centered a**holes.

I think our most recent election is a prime example of how empathy influences our actions, our representatives, and our policies moving forward.

Here are some quick facts:

  1. Empathy means a person can recognize, understand and express their own emotions, as well as be attune to the emotions of others. Not just having touchy-feely feelings.
  2. Girls are more likely to be empathetic because parents talk about feelings more openly with daughters than with sons.
  3. Many people blame social media and screens for creating narcissistic zombie kids, but there is much, much more to the rising empathy gap.

Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World
By Michele Borba, Ed.D.

Instead of giving you a play-by-play review of this great book, I want to talk about the things that stuck with me; the great content that not only will help me raise my daughters for the future, but also can shed light on many adults in the present.

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