Sara Grunstein, LCSW

Yes! ... Repost: British Association of Play Therapists #synergeticplaytherapy #lisadion #regulation #nervoussystem #synergeticparenting #playtherapists #playtherapy #synergeticplaytherapyinstitute

The good enough parent

CalAIMH Community, Don't miss out on this great opportunity! Open to the public and free for CalAIMH members. More information coming soon!!

This infographic guide outlines the basic concepts of infant mental health and offers some tip. Thanks "Children and Young Peoples Strategic Partnership" for creating this! #mayismentalhealthawarenessmonth

Beyond the romanticization of motherhood

On Bereaved Mother's Day, we acknowledge the mothers whose babies have died. Like a fingerprint, your grief is unique to you, as unique as your baby. Go gently...

That is my mindfulness meditation is so important.

The baby is ten months old. She wants to crawl but her dress catches under her knees. She sits, unable to get away. She is a good baby.... The child is four years old. The family is leaving the party, but first she must hug the uncle who keeps tickling her when she tells him to stop. She hugs him. She is polite. The girl is seven years old. She hears her Aunty talking about what happened to her at the hospital when she birthed her baby. She doesn’t ask questions. She is respectful. The girl is ten years old. She and her friend film themselves skateboarding down a hill for their socials. They choose a filter to look thinner. She is fat. The girl is twelve years old. She sits in the high school exam hall, and does the grading paper that determines which classes she will be placed in. Her scores come back. She is dumb. The girl is thirteen years old. She climbs out of the pool after training. A boy points and laughs at the tampon string that has escaped her swimmers. She is gross. The girl is fifteen years old. She shaves her legs, tans her skin, selects a push up bra and puts on her party dress. She sets her makeup out on the bathroom bench. She is ugly. The woman is trying to conceive. She pees on a stick. It reads negative, again. She is broken. The woman is 26 weeks pregnant. She is concerned the movements have slowed. The baby is fine sighs the nurse. She is silly. The woman is 38 weeks pregnant. She is called into the OB’s office. Your baby is measuring big. I am scheduling an induction for tomorrow. She is incapable. The woman is in labour. The machine beeps next to her as she lies on her back. Still only 5cm. It’s time to prep for surgery. She is a failure. The mother is two weeks postpartum. Her baby is losing weight, and her nipples are sore from constant nursing. Maybe you’re just not making enough? She is faulty. The mother is four months postpartum. She is alone ten hours a day with the baby, sleep deprived and decimated. These are the best days of your life, says the woman at the checkout. She is ungrateful. The mother is eight months postpartum. Her husband finds her crying in shower. What’s wrong? he asks. She isn’t sure. #mamayourenotbroken

This works for everyone

There isn’t a single human on this planet who is responding to children with perfection 100% of the time. The goal is NEVER perfection. We are human and we get ...to be human. We will react instead of responding. We’ll feel stressed and overwhelmed, and y’all, so will our kiddos. We get to enter into repair. We get to own our mistakes, modeling that for them and connecting with them. It’s such a lovely feeling, that connection after rupture. Knowing that we can navigate hard things together and that it’s okay if it’s messy. What challenges come up for you with repair? What did this look like in your childhood? Let’s connect below . - Alyssa & @seed.and.sew

Using an attachment lens Descendants of slaves were stolen from their Mother Country We lost our mother and she was replaced with an abusive and terrorizing Mo...ther Country For 400 years, we adapted, we survived, we did what we had to do under conditions in which our Mother Country devalued us, minimized or ignored our needs, allowed those who should have been our siblings to murder us Yes, we do have loving and kind siblings in our new country but those in power still use policies to abuse us Given the ambivalence of constantly assessing who is safe and who is not, how does any child find comfort, direction, or trust, and yet Black Americans survive and some of us thrive, but it is always a struggle My question is what will you do to address this disorganized attachment systemic issue from your seat of power, as a friend, neighbor, professional, and more See more

This is true to my and others’ experience of this crisis.

Tragic optimism is the ability to maintain hope and find meaning in life despite its inescapable pain, loss and suffering.

Y aquí en español!

Thanks again for the generosity of those creative people, making all these resources available for free!