What do anxiety, attention problems, bullying, and adrenaline-seeking all have in common? Although these stories all seem to be coming from a different place, there is a shared thread between them … stay with me.…the cyber-bully dynamicMy first assignment as a school counsellor, almost 20 years ago now, was an incident of cyber-bullying. It was…
Re-entry has begun and we are now preparing to return to parts of our lives, like work and schooling, without knowing exactly what this looks like. How do we lead our children? What do they need from us? Can they adapt to the new realities of social distancing at schools and will this create anxiety…
It was clear right from day one that there was something different about my son. He didn’t have that dreamy, half-conscious look of most newborns. He was unusually alert and awake with intense eye contact. The nurses on the maternity ward were calling him “the little professor“ or “Einstein”. Others said, “he’s an old soul”….
Part II: Digital Behaviour Management Systems As I deepen my knowledge and understanding of the optimum conditions for helping our children reach their full potential, I have come to realize that development comes in a context of rest. Recent research on the importance of sleep serves to support this conclusion. The Neufeld developmental paradigm reminds…
I cried all the way to school drop-off this morning. My daughters, buckled in their booster seats in our minivan, heard the voice of Hillary Rodham Clinton playing through the car radio as together we listened to her concession speech. My seven- and eight-year-olds glanced back and forth from each other, then back to me,…
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there were four alpacas – Butterscotch, Charcoal, Cusco, and Fiesta – living on our farm, somewhat peacefully. One day, three new alpacas came to live with us, and the peace was disturbed. We observed with bated breath as the alpacas worked out who would be the new alpha, the…
Six years ago, Neufeld faculty member Martine Demers took on a particularly noteworthy challenge: helping to turn around a K-6 elementary school nobody wanted. Over the 20 years that Martine has been the behavioural consultant at her school board in Quebec, she’s certainly run into her share of challenges. How could she not encounter some…
My young daughter’s panicky shriek of “Mama no go” and “stay Mama” was part of the morning ritual as I left the house to go to work. Screaming and clinging to my legs she tried to stop me with sheer toddler force. Her pleading voice would ring in my head throughout the day. My anxiety…
It was dark outside. My four-year-old granddaughter was about to cross the sidewalk, when she noticed a swarm of black ants covering the area on which she was about to step. Alarmed at the sight of them, she was filled with anxiety, frozen in helplessness. What is anxiety? In order to survive and stay safe…
One day my 10-year-old son came home shaken by an incident he experienced in the woods. He had gone biking with some neighbourhood boys and an older brother of one of his friends. In the forest, they came upon a group of angry teenagers who were arguing, and on the verge of a fight. As my son described…