Neurodivergent Parenting
Parenting is especially difficult when a neurodivergent child experiences symptoms of an overactive nervous system that get labeled as behavioral issues or neuropsychiatric disorders.
I don't have simple or easy answers, but I do have a lot of insights from years of the journey with my family and many families-clients.
I've put them together in a series of four presentations (a total of 5 hours in length) designed to teach you the theory and practice of neurodivergent parenting. I'll show you why an approach based only on one form of treatment doesn't work with neurodivergent children and teach you how to bring all aspects of the wellness approach (emotional, cognitive, physical, spiritual, and social) into the life of your child and family.
Presentations:
1) Neurodivergent Parenting with emphasis on PANDAS/PANS/AE as the root cause
2) Meltdowns, Stress, and Grounding
3) Food & Mood, Inflammation & Immunity
4) Self-Compassion for Neurodivergent Parents & Children
Cost for the entire series:
Now on 50% SALE: $110 instead of $220
1. PANDAS/PANS Neurodivergent Parenting
The stress and trauma caused by PANDAS are complex and it affects all aspects of wellness (emotional, cognitive, physical, spiritual, and social). Therefore, the response should be comprehensive and address all aspects of wellness.
Many parents spend a lot of time and resources pursuing several modalities of therapy. That may help for a while but often, it doesn't bring stability. There is a right time and a wrong time for each kind of intervention and it's important to choose the modality being used at any given time accordingly. Even when the timing is right, no single modality alone can bring much-needed stability. All aspects of wellness need to be considered at the same time, all the time. (emotional, cognitive, physical, spiritual, and social).
It is just as important that PANDAS parents and families also address the toll of the stress and trauma that they are facing as a consequence of PANDAS.
This presentation will review information essential in designing such an intervention plan.
Presentation includes:
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Critical information about stress and the brain and how this affects PANDAS kids’ ability to self-regulate emotions.
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Responding appropriately to flare behaviors. What can we realistically expect? What should we do or not do as parents in these times?
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Self-regulation in times of routine.
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What elements should therapy include for a child and family facing the debilitating impact of PANS/PANDAS/AE.
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PTSD in parents and families of PANDAS kids. This is a poorly recognized aspect of PANDAS. It's important for parents to have good information about it and to establish a sustainability plan.
2. Meltdowns, Stress, and Grounding
Parents of children with neuropsychiatric symptoms struggle with how to help them attain self-regulation and overall wellbeing. One of the most useful steps parents can take is to provide their children with an understanding of how the brain and nervous system work.
This type of information is defined as psychoeducation. Age-appropriate psychoeducation helps children regain a sense of control when they experience symptoms that make them feel they are at the mercy of emotions they can’t control that are rooted in a hyper nervous system.
This presentation provides parents and caregivers with information essential to understanding how stress affects children with neuropsychiatric symptoms and their families and describes a roadmap of six stages for moving beyond the cyclic effects of nervous system hyper-activation.
Numerous studies and reports confirm the value of psychoeducation, on clients who suffer from an overactive nervous system. Similarly, a grasp of this key information about how the brain reacts to stress can help children, parents, and caregivers make sense of reactions that otherwise seem overwhelming.
In addition to showing parents how to give their children an understanding of brain mechanisms, the webinar will introduce grounding activities to help children break the cycle of nervous system activation and facilitate (sensory and bi-lateral integration) grounding.
Presentation includes:
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Provide up-to-date information on how stress affects the nervous system including brain functioning, sensory processing, self-regulation, and capacity to differentiate past and present, and how to use this knowledge in day-to-day routines;
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Understand how anxiety is linked to meltdowns, attention deficits, school refusal, etc.
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Provide basic tools for calming children when they are experiencing hyper-nervous system activation (meltdowns).
3. Food & Mood, Inflammation & Immunity
This presentation provides parents and caregivers with information essential to understanding how food and lifestyle affect mood (feelings, focus, attention, retention), and how inflammation and immune system activation are linked to neuropsychiatric symptoms, and what is needed to establish sustainability.
Presentation includes:
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Provide basic information about the brain-gut axis, inflammation, and immunity.
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Provide information about methylation, mitochondria, psychobiotics, and CBD and how they relate to mental health and overall health.
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Describe how stress affects the gut and self-regulation.
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Review routines that facilitate sustainability and stability.
4. Self Compassion for Neurodivergent Parents
This presentation is for parents of children with special needs (neurotypical and neurodivergent), who are struggling with managing the stress and complex impact of raising a child with special needs.
The content is especially relevant for parents who find themselves or other family members stuck in self-criticism and feelings of not being “good enough”, or struggling with a sense of guilt and shame.
This presentation provides parents and caregivers with information essential to understanding what is self-compassion, its essential role in family life, coping with stress, enduring pain, and experiencing joy.
Presentation includes:
1. Provide basic information about self-compassion.
2. Provide information on the impact of self-criticism on our nervous system.
3. Follow a step-by-step exercise on how to establish a practice of self-compassion for yourself.
4. Learn how to introduce your child to the practice of self-compassion.
5. Review self-compassion from the context of self/family sustainability.
Materials
Make sure you have at hand a notepad, several print papers (A4), and pencil/pens and some crayons or markers.
Presenter:
Dr. Odelya Gertel Kraybill PhD, LCPC, a trauma researcher and psychotherapist, and PANDAS mom. Many of her clients are PANDAS families. She has made it a mission to help PANDAS parents to get valuable information about PANDAS interventions and to help bring knowledge of PANDAS/PANS/AE into mainstream awareness.
FAQs
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