Starr Therapy

Sufficient vs. insufficient sleep 😴 has a lasting impact on how children's brains develop. TVs, tablets and phones in the bedroom, even if kids didn't use it, was associated with 2x risk of insufficient sleep duration 😱 Melatonin supplements may help with sleep in the immediate short term, but do you know how consistent use impacts children's development, puberty, and future sleep habits? Science doesn't know yet either, but the preliminary findings suggest we should think twice 🤔 🤔 Thank you Delaney Ruston, MD and The Screenagers Podcast for these helpful insights for us parents! Recommendation: 1) Keep tech out of the bedroom ✅ 2) Be aware of clever Melatonin marketing and reconsider your approach to creating healthy sleep habits for yourself and your kiddos 💡

Parenting is just that hard. It's been the hardest challenge of my life and probably for many of you too. Thank you Vivek Murthy for elevating this issue to help us parents recognize we're not alone, it really is just that hard 👊

To all my fellow parents are there - this is not news, it's our norm. To my fellow therapists - we have an incredible opportunity to help reverse the trend of parental burnout AND the child mental health crisis we're in. Let's make it "normal" to take care of ourselves. Thank you Douglas Behan for sharing this!

Summer is still here and camps are coming to a close soon...do you have a plan for fun with the kiddos? Research shows that successful, happy kids are ACTIVE kids! Bike ride, get dirty, climb trees, or my personal favorite, get them involved in household chores! Chores create an opportunity for building skills such as work ethic, responsibility, and independence. Don't forget to throw on a sick playlist to keep the mood and motivation up 💪 🎶 #geniusofplay @thetoyassociation

According to Harvard's National Scientific Council On The Developing Child, most of the frustration parents feel when it comes to their children doing things is due to a lack of understanding and fostering their executive functioning right from the start. If you're not sure how to identify EF deficits, here is a quick run-down of executive function skills that can be targeted in therapy: Impulse Control: the ability to stop and think before acting Emotional Control: the ability to manage feelings by thinking about goals Planning/Prioritizing: the ability to create steps to reach a goal and to make decisions about what to focus on Flexibility: the ability to change strategies or revise plans when conditions change Working Memory: the ability to hold information in mind and use it to complete a task Self-Monitoring: the ability to monitor and evaluate your own performance Task-Initiation: the ability to recognize when it is time to get started on something and begin without procrastinating Organization: the ability to create and maintain systems to keep track of information or materials

Mom, mom, mom, MOM, ARE WE THERE YET?? ...Hitting the road this weekend with the kiddos? Check out these simple tips for making your journey an adventure instead of a headache 😂 #geniusofplay @TheToyAssociation

Executive Function skills are predictive of achievement, health, wealth and quality of life, more so than IQ or socioeconomic status. But many people don't know what they are...do you?