I love working for The Kids Mental Health Foundation because we’re constantly sharing free, useful content to help families work on their mental wellness.
Our resources are intended for use by parents and caregivers with children – but guess what? The tips, expert guidance and tools provided are just as helpful for us adults as self-care.
In fact, since most of us never got this kind of mental or emotional support when we were growing up, these resources are a great place to start for anyone in need of a mental health check-in or some extra support around emotions. And really, in these times, who couldn’t use a little added boost in our self-care or mental health toolbox?
Here are my top six favorite resources from The Kids Mental Health Foundation that are also very helpful for us “older kids” – aka grownups.
These cover what I’d call the building blocks of mental health – talking about our feelings, building good mental wellness habits and coping with tough emotions.
- Resources for Starting Conversations. So often in life, it may seem easier to avoid tough conversations – but the fact is, tough conversations are where the magic happens. When we make ourselves vulnerable, open up and allow emotional room and space for others to do the same, that’s when relationships become deeper and true connection can happen. This goes for parents with children, of course – but also for us adults with our friends and peers, too! These conversation starters can help anyone navigate their way through relationships via good talks.
- 7 Ways to Cultivate Happiness. This article is written for parents to help their kids boost their happiness – but the tips work just the same for us adults, too. It’s a great reminder to be mindful of creating a life for ourselves that is intentional, kind, grateful and filled with meaningful relationships and good habits. After all, before we can tell kids to do these things, we should be modeling them ourselves, first.
- Coping with Strong Emotions. Emotional regulation is a critical skill that every human being must learn, but most of us were never taught it directly. Worse still, many of us never had a role model who could demonstrate emotional regulation for us when we were kids. That’s why this resource, intended to help parents teach their kids how to manage tough emotions, is also a good starting point for many of us who never learned or had this modeled for us as kids. I often wonder if everyone learned how to manage their emotions as kids, how this would change the world for the better.
- 6 Ways to Help Kids Who Are Anxious. As the parent of a child with anxiety, I wish I had read this article a long time ago. I always wanted to protect our daughter from her anxiety so we let her avoid the things that made her scared. Now I know this was not the right approach at all! Instead, we’re meant to gently guide kids toward their anxiety so that it doesn’t become stronger. If you’re an adult with anxiety, these tips will be as helpful for you as they are for children. Anxiety doesn’t discriminate based on age!
- Behavior Activation: A Mood Booster for Kids. Behavioral activation is a tool from therapy that is useful for absolutely everyone and at any age. It works both as a wellness and prevention tool, and for those struggling with difficult emotions. Behavioral activation involves doing fun, meaningful or valued activities whether or not we feel like it, knowing that just by getting active and doing those things, we’re going to feel better. It’s a great way to boost your mood and get back to feeling good!
- Prioritizing Self-Care. Here’s one that’s actually written with us adults in mind. If you’re new to self-care or not sure how to get started taking better care of yourself, this is a great place to begin. No one can be a good parent or caregiver if we’re not ensuring that our own emotional and mental well-being are in a good place first. Taking time for yourself, even if it’s just five or ten minutes a day, is a worthy and essential thing to do. Not taking care of ourselves can lead to bad mental health, including exhaustion, anger, irritability and depression. We deserve better and so do the people in our lives!
If you liked this post, let me know and I can write more like it and make this an ongoing series. There are tons more great resources on the Kids Mental Health Foundation website. I’d love to share more of them with you in future posts!
And, if you liked this topic, be sure to read my other self-care articles, too.
