COVID-19

For the past 15 months, we’ve been carefully following safety protocols, and strict mandates have helped inform our decisions. Now, as we come out of our COVID caves, the rules are more ambiguous and varying comfort levels collide. It can create a whole new wave of anxiety around what feels safe, especially when our precautions don’t match those around us. In some ways life was simpler in our caves, where we could more easily protect our families. In this podcast episode, CHC’s Clinical Director and Neuropsychologist, Dr. Vivien Keil, shares coping strategies for easing our family’s way back into the world with courage and compassion.

As more and more people are vaccinated and COVID restrictions ease, the time has come for us to figure out how to re-enter the world. While many have been longing to get back to ‘normal,’ others are not so sure they’re ready. According to a report from the American Psychological Association (APA), about half of Americans are feeling anxious about re-entry after sheltering in place for so long. In this podcast episode, we sat down with licensed clinical psychologist and CHC’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Ramsey Khasho, to talk about how to ease our way back into the world and support our kids in that process.

Everyone in the entire world is experiencing some kind of stress right now. And everyone’s reactions to the stressors of the past year have been different – even among members of the same family. By validating these individualized responses, practicing healthy coping strategies and building self-esteem, parents can leverage difficult days to model resilience for their kids and prepare them for future challenges. Join us for today’s podcast episode as CHC’s Tony Cepeda, LMFT and Karly Crockett, LCSW share their expertise on the various manifestations of stress, trauma and grief and ideas for supporting your family through hard times.

ADHD is challenging enough under normal circumstances, let alone in a pandemic. Between working from home and distance learning, both students and adults can experience feelings of isolation, loneliness, distraction and boredom. Important tasks can get overlooked or ignored without the typical structure and oversight of the office or classroom. We sat down with Ross Loofbourrow, an adult with ADHD who’s learned to embrace his differences as strengths and tap into his hyper-focus in a positive way. Ross believes ADHD is a superpower: in this episode, he’ll not only explain why, but share tips that may just make you feel the same way.

Our bodies and minds have been on high alert for a year now. COVID has altered almost every aspect of our lives, and the effects of this cumulative and prolonged stress response can affect our brain size, structure and functioning. But not all stress is bad, and adapting in the face of adversity can build resilience, confidence and skills to weather future storms. In today’s podcast, we sat down with Clinical Program Manager and Licensed Psychologist at CHC, Patty Crisostomo, PhD, to learn about the very individualized ways that stress can manifest itself in kids and adults, and effective vs. ineffective coping strategies.

Parenting in a pandemic is hard, and each age has specific developmental needs that are challenging to meet in isolation. The work of young children is to build language and social skills, much of which happen through family relationships, play and social interaction with peers. With kids spending so much more time at home and online, it’s important to create lots of opportunities for our young children to practice these skills in other ways. We sat down with Shirit Megiddo, Speech & Language Pathologist at CHC, to learn how to support your young child’s development, often using existing routines and items you already have around the house!

We are all feeling the strain of living, working and schooling under one roof. It is a challenging time for families – if there has ever been a need for compassion, it certainly is now. We sat down with Jennifer Leydecker, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Clinical Program Manager at CHC, to get her expert advice on ways to reduce stress and add compassion to your family dynamic. Spoiler alert: take care of yourself first!

While most young people have been spared from the severe physical effects of COVID-19, our children are reeling from the anxiety, fear and isolation the pandemic has caused. What are the best ways for you as a parent to support your child’s mental health? In this podcast, hear from Tony Cepeda, LMFT, who has over 30 years of experience helping families learn creative coping strategies to foster resilience and connectedness.

On Part 2 of "I Will Get By," Liza Bennigson shares what she's learned about adult self-care, how to start difficult conversations with your kids and tips from CHC clinicians for hanging on during hopeless moments.

Liza Bennigson dives into talking about her unfiltered experiences being a working mom who feels like most of us, wondering, will there be any end in sight?

Welcome to CHC's new Voices of Compassion podcast. We hope you'll find our podcast series just what you need these days.