Grace•Grit•Growth Counseling

12/17/2025

I got to hop on with Prairie Doc this week to talk about emotional management and screen use. I LOVE this Brene Brown and Elmo tidbit about the need for expression when we’re having an uncomfortable feeling.

12/17/2025

This Savvy KID post is a great string of visuals that include regulation options to support your littles (and yourself) through all of the holiday routine change. Providing children options of activities to aid in regulation - and engaging alongside them - is a fantastic way to help out children move through uncomfortable feelings.

12/13/2025

Thank YOU to the 200 community members who joined us this morning for the Winter Family Movie Event at Brookings Cinema 8. Brookings Home Team, Brookings County Title Company, and I are happy to share you all helped us raise over $700 for Brookings Area United Way!

We are grateful for community stakeholders who collaborate to help us host fun, family events in our community.

What type of other events would you like to see for our families throughout the year?! Drop us some ideas below to see if you can help us come up with others.

Our next family event will be in April of 2026. Stay tuned 👏👏👏 as we have some great planning in the works with Brookings Area United Way and Children's Museum of South Dakota!

12/13/2025

What a fun and inexpensive activity with this cold weather to do with the children ❄️🌬️

12/11/2025

Sharing these two reminders from the Mel Robbins podcast during the Holiday season.

We cannot control or change other people. We CAN focus on what is within our control. “What is within my control in this situation?” Is a great question to get curious about and make it part of everyday reflection.

Emotional intelligence is a complex set of learned skills. Unfortunately, they are not skills regularly taught to all. Reminding ourselves not everyone has the ability to recognize when they’re in an intense emotion, to understand the importance and accountability of recognizing it, to label it, to express it, and to choose a management skill, is important.

Give yourself grace. Set healthy boundaries. Move your body, and schedule with a therapist for a nonjudgmental professional to process the hard stuff with. We’re not meant to do it alone.

12/07/2025

12/04/2025

PBS KIDS offers multiple free holiday movies. Our top favorites include Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas and Wild Kratts: A Creature Christmas.

Their website also has Curious George printable/color in wrapping paper, and Daniel Tiger ornaments, along with multiple craft, reading, and episode suggestions - for any tradition or holiday your family celebrates this season.

It's the holidays! Create DIY holiday crafts, activities, and decorations with young children.

12/03/2025

Pro Tip: take out certain holiday (red/greens/white, etc) or winter (blue/purple/white) legos of the bins you already have for a fun “holiday” or “winter” build with your little!

12/02/2025

As the holiday gets busy, it is easy to feel the pressure to do more, plan more, or buy more. But as a therapist, I want to offer a gentle reminder: one of the most powerful tools for lowering stress, for both kids and parents, is our time - in play.

This season, simple moments of imagination can regulate nervous systems, strengthen connection, and create emotional safety. And yes 💚❤️ even that little holiday elf can be part of the magic.

When we lean into imaginative play, whether it is moving the elf, inventing stories, creating tiny holiday scenes, engaging in holiday crafts, etc. we are doing more than “keeping a tradition.” We are:

🎁 Supporting emotional development
🎁 Encouraging creativity and problem-solving
🎁 Building regulation skills through laughter and curiosity
🎁 Strengthening our parent-child bond

And here’s the part many parents do not realize:
👉 The small moments of playful energy we invest now can actually save us time later.
👉 That few minutes of setting up the elf or joining a child’s imaginative world can reduce meltdowns, increase cooperation, and make daily transitions smoother, because a regulated child interacts with the world so differently than a stressed one.

During a season that asks a lot of us, let imagination do some of the heavy lifting.
I know play feels like one more task on your list; please try and remember:
✨ it is a stress-relief strategy
✨ it is a connection tool
✨ it is a gift you and your child both get to enjoy

Here is to a season filled with gentleness, wonder, and a little extra magic. 🧝‍♂️💛🎄

12/01/2025

“Two things can be true at the same time.” Such an important concept to learn ❤️❤️

11/26/2025

Feeling grateful for the time Little Wildflower Play Therapy, LLC put into sharing these prompts with us 🥰

11/25/2025

Recognizing our own anxiety and worries in parenting is important. It is developmentally appropriate that tweens are wired to need independence. How can you work and explore opportunities as a parent to manager your own worry to allow successful independent time for your child?

This is a great quick TED talk to watch!