A Conversation on Children's Mental Health with Licensed Psychologist - Dr. Gushanas

I am excited to have Kim Gushanas, Ph.D., as our guest speaker! Dr. G, as her patients call her, is a licensed Psychologist and an assistant professor at The University of Texas Medical Branch. She started practicing with adults helping them with their anxiety and mental health. After working with them she realized she was often wishing she would met them earlier in life! And thus her interest in pediatric care arose. She quickly expanded her expertise by working with children in multiple settings and specializing in pediatric treatment and mental health care. She also emphasizes how important it is to help our children early on in their life to be able to develop social and stress management skills while also workin with any mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety to name a few. Some of the topics we discuss during our conversation are:

• Suicide prevention and postvention strategies for parents
• Mental health programs found in schools
• Parent tips and strategies to build communication skills with your children 
• How to start talking to your children today and having intentional conversations
• How to help our children resolve their problems and identifying when to listen, act, and sympathize with them
• The importance of parent modeling behavior when in stressful or uncomfortable situations 
• Practicing active listening and identifying how to support our children

Here are some of the resources Dr. G shared with us:

 Child Mind Institute: My favorite mental health resource for parents and youth: childmind.org (has articles in Spanish too)

Galveston County Suicide Prevention Coalition- open to anyone to be a member: https://galvestoncountyspc.wixsite.com/gcspc & on Twitter: @gcspctx 

- There are a ton of good resources listed there on the "Get Help" page, but my favorite for parents is: Parent Guide to Suicide

TCHATT telehealth services- Statewide initiative as part of the Texas Child Mental Healthcare Consortium. Available through most public schools already, or coming soon if not yet: find out more https://tcmhcc.utsystem.edu/tchatt/

Her Twitter: @DrKimGushanas

With so much more that is shared and discussed, I can’t wait for you to listen in! 
Together let's have open conversations about Mental Health. Please share this episode with at least one friend!

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