Menu
Menu

Parent

Smooth Sailing Through Life’s Changes: Mastering Emotional Regulation During Transitions

· · Leave a Comment

SMOOTH SAILING THROUGH LIFE’S CHANGES: MASTERING EMOTIONAL REGULATION DURING TRANSITIONS

As we delve deeper into 2024, emotional regulation is a prominent theme that goes hand in hand with supporting transitions.

Understanding Transitions

Transitions in life are inevitable. Whether it’s starting a new school year, moving to a new home, or experiencing changes within the family dynamic, transitions can be challenging for both parents and children alike. During these times of change, emotions can run high, leading to stress and uncertainty.

What is Emotional Regulation?

Emotional regulation refers to an individual’s ability to recognise, process and act upon the emotions that they feel within different situations on a regular day. It is one’s ability to adjust and control their energy level, emotions, behaviours, and attention to allow for success in connecting with our loved ones and engaging in our daily lives. We provide even more information on our “Tools to Support Emotions” blog.

Emotional regulation is a skill that is developed over time. Emotional regulation is essential for healthy emotional development and well-being throughout life. There are two stages to emotional regulation.

Co-regulation is the foundation for emotional development, allowing children to explore, learn and understand unfamiliar situations while parents support them by providing a safety net. 

Self-regulation involves the ability to notice and change/control one’s own feelings and adapt to surroundings. Emotional regulation is essential for healthy emotional development and well-being throughout life. To find out more information, refer to our “Emotional Regulation” blog.

The Emotional Rollercoaster

Transitions can evoke a range of emotions, from excitement and anticipation to anxiety and fear. Children who thrive on routine and stability may feel their sense of security disrupted, leading to vulnerability and insecurity. Similarly, parents may experience a mix of pride, worry, and doubt as they navigate unfamiliar territory. With the right tools and support, families can navigate transitions more smoothly, fostering emotional regulation and resilience along the way.

Strategies for Emotional Regulation

So, how can we help you support your child emotionally regulate during transitions? As Occupational Therapists, our role is to enable children and parents to recognise, understand and manage their emotions during times of change. Whether they are transitioning from breakfast to getting dressed or from home to school, navigating our emotions is a difficult task and can depend heavily on our sense of safety within ourselves and others and our connection to place, person, or thing. 

Here are some practical strategies and tools:

1. Transition Time: Allow ample time for transitions, providing a buffer for individuals to adjust mentally and emotionally.

2. Observation: Pay attention to the child’s body language, affect, tone of voice, and overall demeanour to gauge their emotional state.

  • Are we slouching our shoulders or dropping our head?
  • Are we smiling, and are our faces lit up? 
  • Is our tone of voice low, high-pitched, or fast-paced? 
  • Do we appear frazzled or disinterested?
  • Do we seem tired or overwhelmed from something that happened earlier?

3. Tools and Techniques we utilise, and you can too.

  • Visual schedules for predictability and routine. This also provides a point of orientation. 
  • Visual timers to set task timeframes and provide visual information of how long the task is.
  • Therapressure brushing is a technique for grounding and calming.
  • Therapeutic use of self for connection, following their lead and co-regulation.
  • Breathing exercises such as belly breathing or blowing bubbles.
  • Incorporating vestibular input through activities like wobble boards.
  • Providing oral input with stretches, cold drinks, or chewy foods.

Setting the Body Up

We call this process ‘Setting the Body Up’ as this prepares the body with sensory input and transition time to ease into daily activities.

Once our body is adequately ‘set up’ and we’ve allowed ‘transition time’. Transitions into daily activities won’t be as overwhelming. 

Emotional Continuum

We use cognitive-emotional strategies to support the emotional continuum. Strategies like sensory processing and cognitive strategies can help refine knowledge and apply skills in social situations. To learn more about how we use the above techniques as well as “Zones of Regulation,” “Size of Problem vs Reaction,” “The Alert Program,” “The Incredible Flexible You Series,” and “The Social Thinking Detectives” refer to our “The Emotional Continuum” blog. 

Embracing Change Together

Transitions are unpredictable, and allowing yourself grace in navigating them is essential. Understanding your own triggers and emotions is key to understanding how to emotionally regulate yourself. As parents, showing vulnerability can help model to our children that, YES, change can be scary, but you can do this as a TEAM.  Encourage open communication about challenges and solutions, empowering your child to take ownership and responsibility for the transition process.

Ask your child and yourself what is challenging about the transition to school/work or what makes it hard to go to soccer training or out for a catch-up with a friend in the afternoon, and what could we do to make it easier? This collaboration provides a sense of ownership and responsibility for our child and can result in increased adherence to routine, reducing the risk of emotional dysregulation.

Ready to embark on a smoother journey through life’s transitions? Start implementing these strategies today to foster emotional regulation and resilience in your family. Remember, every small step counts towards a smoother sail!

By implementing these strategies and fostering a supportive environment, families can navigate transitions more smoothly, fostering emotional regulation and resilience along the way. Contact us today if you would like to chat about transitions and how we can help.

If you’d like to chat more, please don’t hesitate to contact us today! Call us on 0477 708 217 or email admin@exploreandsoar.com.au

Until Next Time,
Molly

PUBLISHED MARCH 2024

Latest Posts

Parenting – You’re the expert; we are here to support the transition!

· · Leave a Comment

PARENTING – YOU’RE THE EXPERT, WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT THE TRANSITION!

As the sun rises on a new week, we hear the hum of school routines resuming, marking the return of familiar patterns.

During the past week or so, many of our families will have returned to school and the routines that it brings with it. For some of our families, February is a transition period where new routines and ways of balancing life are being forged as their child starts daycare or preschool, kindergarten or high school or even a child not being back at school because they have finished or commenced in a type of employment.

How do transitions feel for parents and children?

This transition period can be a daunting time – a rollercoaster of emotions not only for our children as they learn their new environment and the expectations that go along with it. But it is also a rollercoaster as a parent as we navigate a shift in our role; a moment of letting go but also sometimes the fear of the unknown. Our journey into parenthood commences with dreams, hopes, and a multitude of expectations, but from the moment we commence on our journey to become parents, the road ahead is filled with dips and hollows that we can genuinely not prepare ourselves for; however, acknowledging and recognising the transitions within our parenting journey allows us to adapt and grow.


What types of transitions are there?

Some of those significant transitions that we can anticipate during parenting might include:
● Bringing your newborn baby home for the first time
● Starting at daycare or preschool
● Starting kindergarten or high school
● Puberty
● Our child starting their first job and seeking more independence.
● Our child turning 16 and seeking to get a driver’s license.
● Finishing school
● Moving out of home.

But there are also many transitions that we do not anticipate happening during our journey as parents – a child becoming unwell, a diagnosis that wasn’t expected, a death, a separation. All of these heart-wrenching trials require us as parents and individuals to stop, pause, reassess and pivot in our roles and in our way of doing things. Explore & Soar stands as a beacon, acknowledging and respecting the unique narratives of every parenting journey. We recognise that transitions can be tough, change can be challenging, and the journey is as diverse as the individuals embarking on it, so no one’s story or journey is the same, and we respect that here at Explore & Soar.

How, then, can we, as OTs, stand beside you and support you as parents on this rollercoaster?

A Holistic Approach to Transitions

During our university studies, we learn in-depth about the interaction between how, where and why we do things and the positive and negative impact this can have on an individual’s overall health. When we work with a child and their family, we consider the whole person; we consider what strategies, interventions and approaches we are going to use. At Explore and Soar, we want to be able to support you just as much as your child in their journey towards their goals! Sometimes, therapy sessions can provide that space so that you can take a breath, sneak a quiet cuppa in the corner, and recharge while the therapist is working with your child.

It’s also important to ensure that, as parents, we are scheduling our own self-care time – it’s the flight safety briefing message – you need to put your oxygen mask on first before you can help those around you! Checking in with ourselves, noticing our own regulation patterns and adapting our responses also helps to show our children different strategies or ideas they can use when they feel overwhelmed, exhausted or touched out.

Empowering Parents with Self-Care

Next time your therapist recommends some home program exercises, consider them as not just a task for your child but as opportunities for you to connect – Try to do them with your child! See how they make you feel before and after completing them. Talk to your child about them and compare feelings.

At times, we do have those uncomfortable conversations around things we have noticed or ideas on what could make a difference in helping your child with their goal. Our therapists are noticing things from the outside and through our trained eyes. It is not from a place of
judgement but rather a place of working alongside you to build you up. As a parent, you are your child’s biggest advocate and teacher. You have the expertise in your child; it is our role as OTs to help refine this, adjusting and adapting to different transitions across your parenting journey.

Embracing Change Together

As we navigate the ebb and flow of February’s transitions, let’s remember that parenting is a continuous journey of learning and growth. Embrace your experiences, connect with others sharing similar paths, and let’s soar through these transitions together. Share your stories, seek support, and revel in the collective strength that arises when we navigate as a community.

May your journey through 2024 be filled with resilience, adaptability, and the unwavering support that Explore & Soar offers. Here’s to embracing the rollercoaster of parenting with open hearts and a community that understands that every twist and turn is a part of our unique and beautiful story.

If you’d like to chat more, please don’t hesitate to contact us today! Call us on 0477 708 217 or email admin@exploreandsoar.com.au

Until Next Time,
Lori

PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2024

Latest Posts

Life Transitions and The New Year

· · Leave a Comment

LIFE TRANSITIONS AND THE NEW YEAR

Happy New Year! We hope you have enjoyed the end-of-year celebrations with some yummy food, rest and spending time doing things that bring you joy. 

Annual Theme – Life Transitions

Progressing from a year of developing Safety for Vulnerability for ourselves, our team, clients, and their families and communities has shaped us into this next phase of ‘Life Transitions’. For myself, our team, and many of our families, they are all going through new life transitions. Life transitions are powerful and have the potential to shape who you were, who you are and who you are becoming.

What are life transitions?

Life Transitions can also be described as ‘Transitional stages of life’.

It is defined by significant changes in roles, responsibilities, and routines requiring you to adapt to new circumstances. It can also involve a constant flow from one temporary state to another, resulting in each of these changes being a transition or a “passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another” (Transition, 2018).

Transitions in everyday life can be meaningful or a part of everyday life. Different types of transitions, for example;

Smaller everyday life transitions:

  • Engaging in an everyday conversation – transitioning in and out of a conversation with someone.
  • Commuting to school or work – leaving home, travelling, then entering the office or school grounds.
  • Transitioning from different classrooms or from the classroom to recess and back again.

Significant Life Stage Transition:

  • Transition to preschool, Kindergarten, Year 7 and transitioning out of school.
  • Experiencing puberty. 
  • Beginning a relationship. 
  • Moving home: moving from one home to another.
  • Moving Communities: moving from one town to another.
  • Changing sporting clubs or sports.
  • Changing careers, jobs or being promoted with different responsibilities.
  • Entering the workforce.
  • Commencement of University and a significant life transition for us adults is
  • Parenthood. 

Do you have any new life transitions happening this year? Or What life transition are you experiencing or in at the moment?

This year, we have a few of our clients coming to the end of their schooling years, some making the big transition into Year 7 and others who are transitioning into Kindergarten. 

Personally, this year, I am making the new life transition into parenthood alongside my husband. A new life transition for us that you all are already on, and I am thrilled to be joining you. 

For the team, many of us are going through our own life transitions as well and have shaped many of our conversations together by sharing our experiences and different strategies that have helped us along the way.

Explore and Soar’s Life Transition

As Explore and Soar approach our sixth year with you all, we are thrilled to be growing alongside our clients and families! We are excited to be sharing with you an extension of our services and an ability to continue to support you as you continue to grow. 

For Explore and Soar, we, too, are in a new life transition; we have decided to share with you an extension of our service to continue to support our clients as they make the new step and life transition into adulthood. That transition from school to work. That transition to independence, living alone, being self-sufficient and living a meaningful and best life! We are so excited to continue to work with our clients now to the age of 24! This is an exciting opportunity for us to continue to build our occupational therapy team with therapists who are experienced in supporting our teenagers and young adults in these big life transitions!

To mark these life transitions for all of us, you will see our new Explore and Soar logos, socials and website updates, and a uniform change this coming month. We are loving these changes and are excited to share them with you. So keep an eye out, as they are coming soon!!

How Explore and Soar can help you?

Please know you are not alone; each person at different ages and stages in their lives go through different transitions based on their personal life experiences. Each of our clinicians is trained in providing strategies, interventions and support through any life transition, meaningful activity or everyday task. We love to problem solve and help no matter the question or concern. 

Each month this year, you will also have access to a different blog that will go through different life transitions, big or small and have a range of different strategies or ways to support you through those moments. 

We are always here to help in a range of different ways. If you’d like to chat more, please don’t hesitate to contact us today! 

0477 708 217 or admin@exploreandsoar.com.au

Articles:

Adler, A. B & Castro, C. A. (2019). Transitions: a Theoretical Model for Occupational Health & Wellbeing. Occupational Health Science. 3:105-123.

Until next time, 
Jess

PUBLISHED JANUARY 2024

Latest Posts

Navigating the Transition to High School: A Parent’s Guide

· · Leave a Comment

NAVIGATING THE TRANSITION TO HIGH SCHOOL: A PARENT’S GUIDE

Over the past few weeks, we have visited many of our local schools to talk to parents and families of children starting kindergarten in 2024. During these talks, we provide lots of information about how you can support your little person for a successful transition to big school. You can click here to read more about the transition to kindergarten.

We understand that your child’s journey through the educational system is filled with milestones and transitions from the very beginning; however, the preschool to kindergarten transition isn’t the only transition in our schooling lives. One of the next big milestones is transitioning from primary school to high school. 

This move can be filled with just as many emotions and feelings – excitement for finishing primary school, growing up and what lies ahead. It can also be anxiety-provoking at the thought of changing schools, changing routines and the challenge of friendship groups changing and needing to make new friendships. All of which are valid feelings and thoughts!

In this blog, we’ll explore the various challenges your child may encounter during this transition and provide practical strategies to support them as they step into high school life.

Some of the challenges your child may face could include:

  • New Friendships – Making new friends or friendship groups changing; having to be vulnerable in talking to other people we don’t know or feel comfortable around just yet.
  • New Routines – High school bell times may be slightly earlier or later; how will this impact upon the daily routines of your child?
  • New Environment – Navigating their way around a new school can be overwhelming, knowing where the toilets are, where to go for help, or where their next class is. Or even navigating their way to and from school.
  • New Rules and Expectations – Having multiple subjects with different teachers in a new school can be daunting, being unsure of what the expectations are in and out of the classroom.

So, how can we best support our children in this transition to high school?

  • Get to know the school: Talk about it; arrange additional transition days to allow your child to feel more comfortable in this new space if needed.
  • Practice any new routines:  Practice ways to get to and from high school; make sure your child knows which bus to catch or where they will be dropped off or picked up from.
  • Visual Aids: Create a visual schedule or simple checklist to determine what they must take each day. Timetables can be tricky to work out! Break it down into what they need each day and then for each subject.
  • Map out the school: Get a copy of the school map if possible and colour code important areas such as the library, toilets, canteen, office etc.
  • Prepare for Social Interaction: Create “cheat cards” for conversation starters and role-play how to introduce themself to others. Remind them that it is highly likely that other children in the group are just as nervous about making new friends as they are.
  • Time Management and Assignments: Help them schedule, plan and prioritise how to complete assignments. Keep in communication with their teachers to know when things are due and how you can support your child.
  • Advocacy: Advocate and encourage your child to advocate also for their needs! A new school means new teachers who don’t know your child’s cues or needs. Provide as much information as possible to support consistency for your child across their teachers.

As your child embarks on this exciting journey to high school, remember that you are not alone. We are here to support you. If you would like more information about our group program, click here to check out the flyer. You can also reach out to us on 0477 708 217  or admin@exploreandsoar.com.au. 

We would love to see you in our groups!

Until next time, 
Lori

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER 31, 2023

Latest Posts

Mindfulness for Parents and Carers

· · Leave a Comment

MINDFULNESS FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

A new school term and managing busy schedules is never without its challenges. The new year means building and establishing new routines that will work with your families core priorities, needs and wants whether it’s work, school, sports, social or education centred. At times this can feel like an uphill battle. Please know you are not alone in this. We see you, we hear you and we acknowledge all the effort and work you have put into the start of this year. The flexibility, patience and even changes parents have made for their children’s appointments is amazing to see. 

As Occupational Therapists and Therapy Assistants, we visit your home to provide intervention solutions to support your child’s release of emotions and to promote emotional regulation, social awareness, sensory processing and overall well being. 

Our parents work incredibly hard to maintain routines, be present and continue to support ongoing therapy within the home. But what I’d like to reflect on today are some coping strategies for our parents. To offer some suggestions that allow you a moment to ground yourself and recharge.

Most of us struggle to prioritise time for ourselves but it is essential for our wellbeing to take a few minutes each day to increase and support a positive mind-body balance. The way in which we can achieve this is through mindfulness practice. 

Mindfulness has several key characteristics:

Mindfulness is defined as a state of being in which individuals bring their attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, in a non-judgemental or accepting way. 

  1. It involves a receptive awareness and registration of inner experiences (emotions, thoughts, behavioural intentions) as well as external events. 
  2. Mindful information processing is pre-conceptual. Meaning, in a mindful state, individuals are purely noticing what is happening rather than evaluating, analysing, judging or reflecting upon it. 
  3. Mindfulness is also characterised by a present-oriented consciousness where individuals focus on moment-to-moment experiences rather than thinking about the past or fantasising about the future. 

There are many benefits to mindfulness that include:

  • Stress reduction 
  • Increasing working memory 
  • Increase focus 
  • Reduced  emotional reactivity 
  • Increased cognitive flexibility 
  • Enhance self awareness 
  • Increase intuition 
  • Reduce fear modulation

This also supports the notion that mindfulness training addresses a basic skill in self regulation capacities. This is a vital skill as a parent who is often providing an example of healthy emotional regulation to their children.

In order to become more mindful, I thought I’d give you some specific strategies that you can try. These include: 

  • Setting intentions or positive affirmations each morning.
  • Keeping a gratitude journal. Think of all that you are grateful for in the present moment, this can make difficult periods of time easier.
  • Grounding your body by stepping outside for 5 minutes with bare feet. You can also practice grounding yourself by paying attention to the soles of your feet as you walk. With each step notice how your weight shifts from the center to the ball of your foot. Maintain steady breathing throughout this exercise. This is called “earthing”. 
  • While the kids are asleep or busy being kids, find a place where you can be alone and savor the silence just for a moment. 
  • Square breathing. Inhale, hold, exhale, hold with a count of 4 at each stage. This type of breathing supports deeper and slower breath. It works by distracting your mind as you count to four, calming your nervous system, and decreasing stress in your body
  • Colouring in is a way to focus your thoughts, focus on the current moment and decompress. 
  • Completing 5 senses work. Notice the world around you, via sound, sight, touch, taste, and smell. By doing this, you are grounding yourself by increasing your awareness of your body and your environment. 
  • Completing a body scan. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Close your eyes to reduce the number of stimuli. Start at the top of your head and work all the way down to your feet. Pay close attention to what each area of the body feels like, giving yourself increased awareness and bringing your focus to your own body and what it needs. 

It’s vital that we take time out to be mindful each day. Looking after your wellbeing only affects your child’s in significantly positive ways. We want each of our parents and carers to know that we are here to support you as well as your children – as we are always family focused. For any more information please don’t hesitate to ask your therapists or assistant any time!

References 

Davis, L. W., Strasburger, A. M., & Brown, L. F. (2007). Mindfulness. An intervention for anxiety in schizophrenia. J Psychosoc Nurs, 45, 23-29.

Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. W. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: the role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of applied psychology, 98(2), 310.

Until next time,
Maddie

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MAY 4, 2022

Latest Posts

Subscribe to our newsletter

Receive our news and updates via email. That's all.

View our Terms of Use.

Your feedback is always valued at Explore & Soar. If you have some feedback to help us support your needs better, please click here and share your valued feedback with us today.