Nadia Vasu, LCSW, RPT

12/28/2021

12/16/2021

Beautifully stated Robyn Gobbel - Attachment, Trauma, & Adoption 😍

08/21/2021

Well said, Kind Minds Therapy 👍

08/11/2021

09/11/2020

Connections and being with are the foundations to which we can help someone with feelings of anxiety

GAD is a common anxiety disorder that involves constant and chronic worrying, nervousness, and tension. Unlike a phobia, where your fear is connected to a specific thing or situation, the anxiety of GAD is diffused—a general feeling of dread or unease that colors your whole life. This anxiety is less intense than a panic attack, but much longer lasting, making normal life difficult and relaxation impossible. Generalized anxiety disorder is mentally and physically exhausting. It drains your energy, interferes with sleep, and wears your body out.

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad.htm

Infographic via .is.mental.illness

01/24/2020

Big feelings are a bit like waves. They can come unannounced and knock us right over. When one comes another often follows and they can quickly begin to swirl together. We certainly can’t stop big feelings from coming, for ourselves or our children and teens. But we can learn to manage them and begin to take control. We can learn to surf. We can teach our children to surf. Important lessons for us all! One of the biggest steps in this is simply naming those feelings. Name them to tame them. When you notice that your child is excited, angry, scared, nervous etc. simply say what you see! We don’t need to rush in to push the feeling away. We do need to acknowledge it, name it and offer soothing support. When those waves knock us over cuddles can certainly help. It can be the same with big feelings!

12/26/2019

"If they could 'get over it' on command, then they would have already."

11/03/2019

💛1. Regulate (Brainstem and midbrain) – What we need to do is help children regulate and calm their stress responses (fight – flight – freeze). What can we do? Offer comfort and reassure them you are there.
💛2.Relate (Limbic Brain) – For this R we need to connect with our child. Their feelings need to be validated so they know we really see, hear and understand them.
💛3. Reason (Cortical Brain) – Once the child is calm and connected they are able to engage in learning what to do (and only then). Heading straight for the reasoning part of the brain does not work if your child is dysregulated and disconnected from you.

10/09/2019

10/03/2019

Sometimes, as adults, we use unhealthy methods to change our children’s behavior. We mean well, but we focus more on immediate change than we do on long-term success. Instead of teaching kids skills to make independent choices, we teach them how...