Dear SDKF families, colleagues, and friends, Here at SDKF, my colleagues and I are often asked for tools and strategies on how to help our children (or teens) regulate their emotions. Our wonderful occupational therapist, Dr, Heidi Joachims “Dr. Jo” has written an exceptional article on co-regulation, or the ability for a parent, guardian, teacher [...]
If you’re parenting a toddler, you know firsthand that transitions can be some of the hardest parts of your day and often lead to tantrums. Take a look below to see what techniques our early childhood mental health specialists recommend trying at home! Here are five favorite preventative, aka “let’s try to get ahead [...]
We often get phone calls and questions from parents, many of whom are calling to find a therapist for their child. In many cases, after speaking with the family and learning about their child’s challenges, I personally recommend Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Curriculum instead. Why? For many reasons- one of which is that Social Emotional [...]
I’m excited to announce that San Diego Kids First is partnering with local schools to provide targeted services within the community! We greatly enjoy offering these services to school administration, staff, students, and families and welcome you to join us in our mission to maximize the developmental, social, emotional, behavioral, and academic potential of children [...]
We are very excited to announce that we are offering TWO NEW ROUNDS of social skills group training between now and the end of the calendar year! We are thrilled to be able to bring back this group for your little ones since our last sessions over Summer! The first group will be for 6-8 [...]
As a parent, as well as a professional who works with children, adolescents, and their families, I’d like to acknowledge how long, winding and strange the pandemic road has been for all of us! Nearly all of our normal structures and routines have been abolished or transformed into something different—and often, not for the better. [...]
Great News! We've added to our list of services! We now offer four different levels of assessments! I am so grateful to have such an amazing group of clinicians here at San Diego Kids First. Your child will be in great hands with our spectacular professionals! All assessments will be conducted by either Dr. [...]
I have some very exciting news to share with you all! Anna Williams and I have just launched our new business, San Diego Behavior Solutions! Check out our website here Anna has been a clinician at San Diego First for quite some time now. Together, we noticed a gap in the mental health field and [...]
(Many thanks to my colleague Andrea De Marino, MHS, OTR/L for this article. For more about Andrea or occupational therapy visit her website at www.sensorysolutionsinc.com - Dr. Deb) Some children have a difficult time interpreting sensory information from their environments, whether it be from the sense of touch (tactile input), movement (vestibular input), [...]
Last month I had the great pleasure of being invited to be a featured expert on Parent Savers national podcast on nighttime potty training (Scroll down to the bottom of the post if you'd like to listen!) . Along with two parents of young children and the host, we discussed what to expect, various tips/strategies, [...]
