S2E9: It’s Okay to Not Be Okay: Supporting Children’s Mental Health w. Janice Sherman
Nebraska Extension Early Childhood Program Area-Emily Manning, Dr. Holly Hatton, Ingrid Lindal, Erin Kampbell, Linda Reddish, Katie Krause, and LaDonna Werth
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02/11/2025
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In this episode of The Good Life in the Early Life, Emily interviews Dr. Janice Sherman, a licensed mental health practitioner and play therapist with over a decade of experience of supporting youth mental health. Dr. Sherman, who runs a private practice in rural Nebraska, discusses the challenges of providing mental health services to youth in the state. She also highlights key warning signs that parents and adults should watch for in children’s behavior and offers valuable advice on how to seek the help youth need.
Resources:
Janice Sherman’s website: https://www.janicemorethanplay.com/
Nebraska Rural Youth Suicide Prevention Resources: https://ruralwellness.unl.edu/youth-suicide-prevention-resources
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline- 988 provides 24/7 confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals
The Nebraska Family Helpline is (888) 866-8660
Crisis Text line- Crisis Text Line is free, 24/7 support for those in crisis. Text 741741 from anywhere in the U.S. to text with a crisis counselor about any type of crisis.
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Resources from Nebraska Resource Project for Vulnerable Young Children- https://www.nebraskababies.com/resources/video-library/learning-more-about-iecmh-nebraska
The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Afterparty Review by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/2962-afterparty-review
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Searchable Transcript
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- [00:00:00.000]this is the good life in early life a production of nebraska extension i'm your host emily manning
- [00:00:14.400]an early childhood extension educator in this episode we are tackling the topic of youth mental
- [00:00:19.060]health in nebraska we have with us a guest who specializes in this topic area janice sherman
- [00:00:24.420]is a licensed independent mental health practitioner and registered play therapist
- [00:00:28.760]she has over 10 years of experience as a mental health therapist and owns a private practice in
- [00:00:33.980]rural glenville nebraska which is southeast of hastings specializing in children and families
- [00:00:39.400]she is trained in child parent psychotherapy child parent relationship therapy and is a circle of
- [00:00:44.660]security facilitator additionally she holds an infant mental health endorsement from the
- [00:00:49.280]nebraska association for infant mental health she is married with three grown children and
- [00:00:54.320]enjoys spending time outdoors with their five dogs and a cat welcome to the show
- [00:00:58.520]janice sherman thanks for being here today thank you emily i'm excited to be here i'm so excited
- [00:01:03.060]you're here today too and before we get started with our episode though i do want to start off
- [00:01:08.380]with some resources that people can utilize if they need help immediately a note to our listeners
- [00:01:13.680]these will also be available in our show notes as well so for immediate help with emotional support
- [00:01:19.660]you can call 988 which is the national suicide prevention lifeline it provides 24 7 confidential
- [00:01:26.620]support for people in distress prevention and care for people with mental health issues
- [00:01:28.500]and crisis resources for you or for loved ones there is also the crisis text line you can text
- [00:01:34.980]start to 741 741 from anywhere in the united states with a crisis counselor to support you
- [00:01:43.380]through any type of crisis and then finally also here in nebraska we have the resource
- [00:01:48.080]nebraska family helpline which is 888-866-8660 which can also give you support for a child's
- [00:01:57.740]mental health
- [00:01:58.380]and help you support a child through a mental health crisis
- [00:02:01.940]back to janice and back to our topic this episode before we talk about youth and mental health will
- [00:02:08.720]you share what personally supported you as a youth or was challenging in terms of your mental health
- [00:02:14.680]yes so i had a pretty typical childhood um you know came from a intact family and you know
- [00:02:23.120]seemed like everything was fine when i was a teenager my parents did divorce you know that's
- [00:02:28.360]a really difficult time for me i didn't really necessarily understand how difficult it really
- [00:02:35.800]was for me until i was applying for graduate school and you have to have all your transcripts
- [00:02:42.960]from everywhere and i saw my transcript from high school where i missed 21 days my sophomore year
- [00:02:49.620]oh wow so and i knew i'd missed a lot of school but you know at that moment i was like you know
- [00:02:55.320]i'm pretty sure i had some depression that
- [00:02:58.340]you know i wasn't aware of and and didn't get addressed so and didn't you know realize it until
- [00:03:04.440]i was an adult basically so yeah wow i'm sorry to hear that you experienced that during that time
- [00:03:10.760]was there anything that was helpful for you i had some really great friends that spent a lot of time
- [00:03:16.460]walking talking and and working through those things really great teachers the church we went
- [00:03:22.020]to had some good support there so so yeah i i had definitely had some protective factors out there
- [00:03:28.320]that helped pull me through all of that yeah that stressful time yeah your life yeah is that what
- [00:03:35.760]made you passionate about youth mental health or was there something else that got you into this
- [00:03:40.800]career yeah you know i'm not sure that directly did there probably was some experience there that
- [00:03:47.920]that you know really made me think about kids and feelings but my husband and i were foster
- [00:03:53.020]parents through christian heritage for about four years and throughout that time i think
- [00:03:58.300]had 11 placements we usually took large sibling groups which was a lot yeah but we we had a
- [00:04:06.900]placement who was this this young man was extremely violent um extremely angry and not safe
- [00:04:13.940]he had attacked me and uh you know we couldn't keep him as a placement because it wasn't safe
- [00:04:20.420]for our family and that really bothered me you know i was like okay what
- [00:04:24.300]why couldn't we help him and you know he was involved in some therapy
- [00:04:28.280]but after going through graduate school i know that he had a lot of trauma and we weren't
- [00:04:34.600]addressing that trauma or responding to his trauma triggers in a way that was help would
- [00:04:39.500]have been helpful for him and to de-escalate so so yeah so that was really kind of the driving push
- [00:04:44.080]to go back to school and and do that so yeah that that makes total sense and what an amazing thing to
- [00:04:51.660]make you go into this profession and it just shows how caring you are as a person and how
- [00:04:57.060]much you want to help other people
- [00:04:58.260]and also i think there's a lot of nebraskans who also have that same drive to help other people and
- [00:05:04.900]let's start off before we share some of the cool things that are happening in nebraska
- [00:05:08.880]in terms of youth mental health let's kind of give the listeners some background information
- [00:05:14.740]on the state of youth mental health nationally and here in nebraska i'm gonna read some statistics
- [00:05:20.800]and then i'm gonna ask for your kind of reactions and thoughts to to those so there was a report
- [00:05:26.400]produced by the state of mental health and the state of nebraska and it was a report that was
- [00:05:28.240]who is dedicated to the promotion of mental health well-being and illness prevention
- [00:05:33.080]in their report this year they state that 13 percent of youth which is over 3.4 million
- [00:05:39.800]youth are experiencing serious thoughts of suicide nationally so in nebraska the prevalence
- [00:05:45.160]is actually 14 percent so we're higher than the national average and then additionally 20 percent
- [00:05:52.180]of youth aged 12 to 17 reported suffering from at least one major depressive episode in the
- [00:05:58.220]past year and then in nebraska this rate was again higher at 21 percent so this report goes
- [00:06:05.680]on to say nationally that 56 percent of youth with major depression did not receive any mental
- [00:06:11.820]health treatment at all and this is defined as receiving treatment or counseling from a medical
- [00:06:16.740]doctor or other professional or receiving medication for a major depressive episode
- [00:06:22.040]and then unfortunately in nebraska this rate is 65 percent wow that is
- [00:06:28.200]actually a lot higher than i expected yeah any other thoughts or reactions to that um
- [00:06:33.280]you know it's heartbreaking to hear those because there's so many kids
- [00:06:37.720]suffering in silence or you know internalizing so much and you know as adults sometimes it's
- [00:06:43.780]hard for us to recognize those signs of the kids struggling um it looks like attitude it looks like
- [00:06:50.820]disrespect you know they can be very pokey and pushing us away so um and and sometimes
- [00:06:58.180]that works a little too well even though in reality they're crying out for help those are
- [00:07:02.980]heartbreaking statistics especially for the state of nebraska right yeah but as a mental health
- [00:07:09.220]provider you are invested in helping that out so what's been your experience with providing services
- [00:07:14.440]to youth in nebraska yes so i have provided services in several different i guess different
- [00:07:21.600]settings through my internship i did work through the schools our local school system that was kind
- [00:07:28.160]of before mental health therapists were coming into the schools so i had you know talked to some
- [00:07:33.160]of our local schools and said hey i'm in you know in my internship i'm needing some hours you know
- [00:07:38.000]can i come in and work with kids and it was eye-opening just the need and knowing that wow
- [00:07:45.180]you know getting mental health therapists in the schools is really important because it knocks down
- [00:07:51.340]a lot of barriers you know they they don't have to travel they're you know obviously accessible
- [00:07:58.140]it was very eye-opening and i was extremely busy um after that i also in addition to the schools
- [00:08:05.300]worked at the geneva yrtc for girls very significant trauma these girls that were there
- [00:08:11.740]they had done some really bad things and they were there you know really really trying to work
- [00:08:17.060]through it but i think one of the most common themes i heard from the girls there was i wish
- [00:08:22.820]my parents would have set limits because then i would have known that they cared and these were
- [00:08:28.120]pushed against those limits like you would not believe but you know ultimately those limits made
- [00:08:33.200]them feel safe and loved so and that someone cared what they were doing and was looking out for them
- [00:08:39.580]yes and then moved into group practice so what's been some challenges with providing care here in
- [00:08:46.480]nebraska if there has been at all yeah i think one of the largest challenges is there's just
- [00:08:51.900]such an overwhelming need there are way more children out there who need help than there
- [00:08:58.100]we have who are trained and willing to work with children a lot of therapists just don't want to
- [00:09:04.080]work with children don't want to work with that population which is the opposite for me i'm like
- [00:09:08.420]i'd rather work with kids than grown-ups but that's definitely one of the big challenges i
- [00:09:12.860]i also feel like the state of nebraska is a bit behind in the therapies that they acknowledge
- [00:09:19.200]as evidence-based therapies for for children play therapy is one that i'm i'm working to get
- [00:09:25.460]passed as an allowed therapy for our
- [00:09:28.080]system and you know just having therapists who do that additional training so they are comfortable
- [00:09:34.920]working with children and have the skills that they need to do that so it sounds like you're
- [00:09:41.460]really passionate about some of those therapies for children did you want to talk a little bit
- [00:09:45.520]more about that yes i am very passionate about that when i was looking at going back to graduate
- [00:09:51.000]school i knew i wanted to work with children that's when i discovered play therapy my instructors
- [00:09:56.080]there at the time one of them was doing play therapy and one of them was doing play therapy
- [00:09:58.060]research work with dr bruce perry who big name in the research field of early childhood if you
- [00:10:04.780]aren't familiar but yeah yes so i got some great great education great information and was you know
- [00:10:12.040]ready to apply that in um the work that i was going to do with children so yeah there's that
- [00:10:17.960]early intervention is such an important piece and as a parent i learned things that i wish i
- [00:10:28.040]for one thing i felt like if my kids were sad or disappointed or angry that i was failing as a
- [00:10:36.520]parent and i learned that hey it's okay to have those feelings and you don't have to
- [00:10:42.760]flip those feelings for them or you know try to change it that actually being with your child
- [00:10:48.860]and helping them you know just to feel supported through that feeling makes them okay with those
- [00:10:54.160]hard feelings in the future so i had to go back and do some apologizing
- [00:10:58.020]to my oldest because i'm like all right i did this all wrong oh but you know that's part of
- [00:11:04.940]parenting too is to recognize when we mess up because we do and going back and doing that
- [00:11:10.400]repair work with them so yeah when we know better we do better and we don't always know everything
- [00:11:15.940]when we start out we're not given a handbook on how to do some of these things so i think it's
- [00:11:21.020]to have some grace with yourself absolutely yeah i think uncomfortable feelings are hard for us to
- [00:11:27.140]even experience
- [00:11:28.000]in our own selves and then trying to help someone else through it too can feel really uncomfortable
- [00:11:33.120]if we're not used to it and know how to respond kind of like a lot of our instinct is to try to
- [00:11:38.660]flip it like you said to try and flip it and like you're gonna be okay it's fine right
- [00:11:42.640]yeah but like you said we gotta kind of learn how to be with them and be in that moment yes
- [00:11:48.840]yeah otherwise what we're teaching them is we're teaching them to okay that feeling is not okay to
- [00:11:53.900]have and you need to suppress it you need to if you if that feeling comes up and you're like
- [00:11:57.980]you need to just ignore it and move on which that internalization of feelings is what causes
- [00:12:04.280]the mental health problems such as anxiety depression anger you know just all of that
- [00:12:11.480]built up inside you know where they're not able to express it and get it out it just it doesn't
- [00:12:16.840]go away it just it builds up so and then we see that in those mental health outcomes so you've
- [00:12:23.940]mentioned some of the things that were challenging with providing care and here in the
- [00:12:27.960]what do you think nebraska is doing really well in terms of supporting youth mental health yeah i
- [00:12:34.260]think that we have a lot of great early intervention programs you know working on
- [00:12:40.940]social emotional with young children in daycares and preschools a lot of parent education so that
- [00:12:48.840]we're catching them early you know and we're letting those parents know early hey feelings
- [00:12:53.600]are okay and here's how you can you know be with and help your child through those
- [00:12:57.940]feelings yeah so what I'm hearing you say is we're doing a really good job of educating the
- [00:13:03.000]adults in the lives of children on how to teach children about their emotions like what they are
- [00:13:08.340]and then also how to express those in healthy ways so that children learn how to do that from
- [00:13:12.980]an early age so then by the time they're in their teenage adolescent years they have some of those
- [00:13:18.760]tools in their toolbox and it doesn't get bottled up and internalized and as parents we are more
- [00:13:27.920]irritated or whatever we know okay this is normal that doesn't mean there's a huge crisis going on
- [00:13:33.600]and we know how to respond better to them too so yeah well that's good to hear the things that are
- [00:13:39.400]going right here in Nebraska so let's move on to another question for our parents and our caregivers
- [00:13:47.060]who may be listening what might be some indicators that youth might need additional support or
- [00:13:52.780]assistance with their mental health because like you said sometimes that can be hard to
- [00:13:57.900]ease out like what's normal adolescent behavior and what is a sign that they're needing some more
- [00:14:03.260]assistance any big shift in behavior if you have a kiddo who was typically pretty outgoing
- [00:14:09.720]you know had a lot of friends and then all of a sudden they're doing a lot of self-isolating
- [00:14:14.420]they're really irritable that's an indication that okay we need to let's talk about this you
- [00:14:19.000]know what's going on I've noticed you know you're you see more
- [00:14:21.450]sad lately or whatever. That's definitely an indication. Irritability is actually a depressive
- [00:14:27.670]symptom in children, especially teens. Sometimes you don't recognize that as depression or sadness
- [00:14:35.250]because it just feels angry. And, you know, of course, the more they express that,
- [00:14:42.070]it's usually the adult comes in with that authority. And so then you're missing the whole
- [00:14:48.370]cry for help in those situations. So aggressive behaviors, especially sudden aggressive behaviors,
- [00:14:54.970]very anxious behaviors, maybe a child who used to be completely fine with getting dropped off
- [00:15:01.110]at daycare or going someplace. And then all of a sudden, you know, they're very clingy. They
- [00:15:05.090]aren't comfortable being left places. That doesn't mean there's anything major going on,
- [00:15:09.290]but that shift in behavior is something that, you know, okay, let's talk about this. Let's see,
- [00:15:13.970]see what's going on. And then, you know, if it persists, especially across multiple
- [00:15:18.350]environments, then it's definitely time to seek some help. Yeah, that irritability is a tough one
- [00:15:24.990]because it really tries to push you away when in reality they're needing you and they're just
- [00:15:31.930]sending some mixed signals about it. So how would you respond to that?
- [00:15:35.390]Yeah. So validation is magic. I'll just say that. Learning how to validate, which
- [00:15:42.410]validation is not agreeing or disagreeing, it's noticing. So you seem really sad today or, you
- [00:15:48.330]know, I noticed that you seem like something's bothering you. Don't ask why. Don't, you know,
- [00:15:54.070]try to change it or flip it. Just put it in the room. And they may not respond right away,
- [00:16:00.270]but eventually they will. Validation is one of those tools that helps you feel heard and listened
- [00:16:07.210]to and valued. Again, you don't have to agree with whatever's going on and you, and you sometimes
- [00:16:12.270]can't change whatever's going on, but just having somebody notice and listen is a huge deescalation
- [00:16:18.310]There is a book that I recommend pretty much to all parents who come into my office. It's called
- [00:16:24.690]The Power of Validation. It is just a real easy read and it gives examples of what validation is
- [00:16:30.550]and what validation is not. And the examples really help just to, so we know where we're
- [00:16:35.390]saying it and doing it the right way. So yeah, to really illustrate what it is and what and how to
- [00:16:40.490]do it. So related to this topic, some of our listeners have wanted some information about how
- [00:16:45.790]sometimes children express their emotions through behavior.
- [00:16:48.290]Like self-harm, hurting others or breaking things. What can we do as adults in situations such as
- [00:16:55.490]these, either through responding in the moment or taking preventative measures?
- [00:17:00.950]So keep in mind behaviors communication. If there's a behavior going on, there's a why behind
- [00:17:08.690]it. The child might not even realize what the why is, but as a parent or, you know, a teacher,
- [00:17:14.870]caregiver, if you can look at it through the lens of this child
- [00:17:18.270]is not trying to ruin my day. Kids don't want to be bad and get in trouble. So what's the why
- [00:17:26.010]behind it? And that could be various things, you know, depending on their age and what's going on
- [00:17:30.370]with them. But keeping that in mind, also keeping yourself regulated so that you're not matching or
- [00:17:37.390]escalating. That emotion is really important. If you want them to be calm down here and you're
- [00:17:44.390]really escalated, then it's not going to happen.
- [00:17:48.250]So I'm going to give you a hypothetical situation. I have a third grader
- [00:17:51.550]who rips down my bulletin board that I spent all weekend putting up. I'm super upset about that
- [00:17:59.310]because it was cute. And I have a lot of feelings about that. How do I support myself and how do I
- [00:18:06.730]support that student in the moment and also kind of remain curious about their behavior and the
- [00:18:12.470]why behind it? First, recommend that you take a deep breath and you get your
- [00:18:18.230]self in a calm state of mind before you address this with a child and then express your feelings
- [00:18:25.010]to the child. You know, wow, I worked really hard on that this weekend and I'm just really
- [00:18:29.390]frustrated and disappointed and confused about, you know, why you tore it down. And if the child
- [00:18:36.770]is calm and in a state of mind to be able to, you know, maybe talk a little bit about that or reflect,
- [00:18:42.510]you might get some insight into the why that happened. He may actually not really or,
- [00:18:48.210]she may not realize why she did it either, but there could be various different reasons. I mean,
- [00:18:53.670]it could be attention. It could be that they get a little power out of it when they can upset you
- [00:18:59.590]and, you know, ha, gotcha. But, but yeah, just kind of taking approach and then, you know,
- [00:19:05.410]maybe a collaborative effort, you know, is there something else you're wanting to see on this
- [00:19:09.490]bulletin board? You know, I'm wondering if you could help me with it. And then maybe
- [00:19:12.950]they would have some buy-in to leave it up and maybe be a little protective of it in the future
- [00:19:18.190]but yeah, taking that calm approach instead of, you know, all right, to the principal's office,
- [00:19:23.810]which is what you want to do, may have that behavior continue or, you know, get to the why
- [00:19:29.850]and stop it. So thanks for your advice on that scenario. And I think we'll just go into talking
- [00:19:36.290]more about what are some ways parents and teachers can support children's mental fitness and
- [00:19:41.350]well-being. One of the most common goals I put on treatment plans is we're going to work on emotions.
- [00:19:48.310]We are going to normalize that we all have feelings and emotions, even the negative ones.
- [00:19:53.850]Then we're going to talk about how we feel when we have each one of those emotions,
- [00:19:57.770]the job of each one of those emotions, and then talk about, you know, how can we express that
- [00:20:04.190]in a safe way? Feelings are normal to have. It's normal to be mad sometimes. It's normal to be sad
- [00:20:09.550]and disappointed and kind of start with that. That actually prevents a lot of outbursts and
- [00:20:16.070]behaviors in the long run.
- [00:20:18.150]Such a simple thing that we can take to do with our kids. Anything else that we can do to support
- [00:20:24.230]their mental fitness? So teaching them about their emotions and how to respond to them and
- [00:20:28.410]express them. Anything else that you would suggest? Yeah. So finding ways that help them to calm down.
- [00:20:34.210]You know, when you're overwhelmed or frustrated or whatever, what is something that helps you
- [00:20:38.530]calm down? Because even as adults, it's different for each one of us. What works for one may not
- [00:20:43.690]work for the other. What's allowed in your home, a child who's angry, angry,
- [00:20:48.130]is an emotion that gives us a lot of energy. Sometimes stomping to your room is perfectly
- [00:20:52.970]fine because they're getting some of that energy out. Sometimes families view that as you're being
- [00:20:58.010]disrespectful and showing your emotion too loudly. So, you know, kind of knowing what your limits are
- [00:21:03.510]and then talking to your kids about it and giving them those tools ahead of time and even walking
- [00:21:08.410]them through it and practice it, you know, role play it when they're not upset, helps them to
- [00:21:13.770]follow it a little better when they are in that state of mind. And then just, you know, setting up that
- [00:21:18.110]cozy corner is great for schools and at home. You know, here's your safe spot, here's your calm spot
- [00:21:23.970]and here's, you know, your squishmallow and, you know, whatever else it is that they need in that
- [00:21:28.590]spot to just kind of get themselves in a calm state of mind. The safe spot is a safe spot. It's not
- [00:21:34.310]used for punishment. Yes, which is hard to do because timeout has kind of been the gold standard,
- [00:21:41.010]you know, for a long time as far as a consequence. And what we've learned through the research is
- [00:21:48.090]timeout is a great break for grownups, but, you know, children don't have the capacity yet to
- [00:21:54.870]necessarily do that control work on their own. So they need some help. They need some co-regulation.
- [00:22:01.170]So when you tell them, you know, go over there, have your big feeling and let me know when you're
- [00:22:05.250]done with it, you're asking them to do something that's really hard for them and they really don't
- [00:22:09.670]know what to do. Research shows if you can co-regulate and help them calm down first,
- [00:22:15.810]then they calm down a lot faster.
- [00:22:18.070]Our final question is, if you have a crystal ball or you were able to get one wish granted,
- [00:22:25.430]what would you hope for in the terms of supporting youth's mental health here in Nebraska?
- [00:22:30.210]Probably would be helping our adults, our families to recognize that feelings are okay
- [00:22:38.630]and normal. And if our child is having a big feeling, you know, how do you respond to that?
- [00:22:43.330]How do you be with them? Just having that awareness so that they don't feel like they're doing
- [00:22:48.050]something wrong. By 11 months of age, our children have already figured out which feelings we're not
- [00:22:54.210]comfortable with. They learn that young, okay, so I'm not going to express this one because this
- [00:23:00.930]one really makes mom sad or mad or whatever. So we've got that work to do early on to model that
- [00:23:07.050]and allow that expression to happen in a safe way. And then I think having more mental health
- [00:23:12.190]therapists who work with children. In the rural community, I'm probably one of two
- [00:23:18.030]that is trained to work with very young children. And there's always a wait list. So having that
- [00:23:24.770]accessibility when a family needs help, even though it might not be a suicidal crisis,
- [00:23:29.450]they're struggling and they need help before three months, six months. So being able to meet that need
- [00:23:35.930]for the children and families in Nebraska. So I also have a couple of wishes too for Nebraska
- [00:23:41.610]and for youth mental health. And I really wish that we normalized that you don't have to be in
- [00:23:48.010]crisis and you don't have to be struggling to reach out for help. And you can reach out to
- [00:23:52.810]resources. And just the more that we normalize reaching out for help and support and talking
- [00:23:58.190]about some of these things, the easier it is to improve our lives and to get help. And we hopefully
- [00:24:04.250]we won't get to some of these crisis points with youth and young ones. Yeah, we don't have to keep
- [00:24:11.130]to our own little islands. We don't have to figure this all out on our own. There's so many
- [00:24:14.570]professionals and people out there that are willing to help and step in
- [00:24:17.990]and guide you and coach you a little bit. And that's
- [00:24:21.390]okay. That's what they're there for and they want to help you.
- [00:24:24.490]It's okay to ask for help, for sure. Yes, it's okay to ask
- [00:24:27.510]for help. And I think in Nebraska, we're
- [00:24:30.290]just tough people. We're tough people.
- [00:24:33.290]That's true. But you don't have to always be so tough.
- [00:24:36.270]Right. Sometimes tough is not the best.
- [00:24:39.430]So, yeah. Right. Yes. That's one of my
- [00:24:42.330]wishes. And then my second wish goes right along
- [00:24:45.210]with yours, too, is that prevention,
- [00:24:47.970]and teaching children about their emotions doesn't have to start
- [00:24:51.390]in adolescence when they're older. We can
- [00:24:54.330]start teaching it in early childhood. We can
- [00:24:57.510]start when they're infants and toddlers. We can start talking
- [00:25:00.370]about emotions, validating the emotions that we see in infants
- [00:25:03.510]like, oh, you're really hungry right now. Oh, that made you angry.
- [00:25:06.570]Yes. And that's emotional literacy. And that can
- [00:25:09.570]start in early childhood. And like you were saying,
- [00:25:12.290]these things help them later on because they're able to label
- [00:25:15.410]their emotions. They understand how that feels in their body
- [00:25:17.950]We can also start teaching them how to calm down and how to
- [00:25:21.150]express these in socially appropriate ways to set them up
- [00:25:23.810]for success in the future. So that's also my wish for one of
- [00:25:27.730]my wishes for Nebraska. Yes, I 100% agree with that. Yeah. And
- [00:25:32.070]there are some great programs, parenting programs out there.
- [00:25:34.610]Circle of Security Parenting is amazing. It's an attachment
- [00:25:38.730]based therapy, but it goes through everything you just
- [00:25:41.510]described. They also have a Circle of Security classroom
- [00:25:45.230]version that is geared towards like
- [00:25:47.930]child care providers and early childhood educators.
- [00:25:50.610]It just kind of expands on, you know, the caregiver is
- [00:25:53.950]the hands and meeting the needs for lots of people,
- [00:25:57.070]not just one. So yeah. And to put a plug
- [00:25:59.950]in for Nebraska Extension, there's a few early childhood
- [00:26:02.850]extension educators who are also trained in Circle of
- [00:26:05.970]Security. Look that up on our website and reach out and
- [00:26:09.010]see if they are currently facilitating. And
- [00:26:11.930]also in terms of teaching like emotional literacy and
- [00:26:15.030]stuff, we have some great programs that are going on in Nebraska
- [00:26:17.910]like the Pyramid Model or also
- [00:26:21.210]often referenced to Rooted in Relationships
- [00:26:24.070]where we teach early childhood educators about how
- [00:26:27.190]to teach like social and emotional learning to
- [00:26:29.910]young children in their classrooms. So that's
- [00:26:33.290]a neat initiative that's going on that you could look into
- [00:26:35.950]for professional development if you're interested. But just be warned
- [00:26:39.150]it's very intensive. It's very intensive
- [00:26:42.310]but it's a very neat professional and rewarding professional
- [00:26:45.370]development to get involved with. Now we
- [00:26:47.890]unfortunately have to start wrapping up our episode.
- [00:26:50.370]So if anyone is wanting to get a hold of you
- [00:26:53.850]would you be willing to share how to contact you?
- [00:26:56.830]Sure. Yes. So my practice name is called
- [00:26:59.830]More Than Play and I do have a website that's
- [00:27:02.930]pretty primitive and basic. At least you have one.
- [00:27:05.890]That's awesome. So the website is
- [00:27:08.790]JaniceMoreThanPlay.com and
- [00:27:11.870]my phone number is 402-705-3337.
- [00:27:16.970]So
- [00:27:17.870]check out that website, give Janice a call if you're needing
- [00:27:20.990]some resources and support and she can help you out. You can also reach
- [00:27:23.930]out to our early childhood team at earlychildhood at
- [00:27:26.610]unl.edu. Thanks so much for joining us
- [00:27:29.950]for this wonderful episode on youth mental health in
- [00:27:32.730]Nebraska. I really appreciated sharing your specific
- [00:27:35.930]insights as a mental health practitioner here in
- [00:27:38.890]Nebraska. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Next up
- [00:27:41.790]is our segment with young Nebraskans describing
- [00:27:44.970]how to cheer someone up. How do you cheer up someone who's
- [00:27:47.850]I don't know. You just maybe try to just like cheer them up
- [00:27:54.390]or something. It's just hard for me to describe it. Yeah, it
- [00:27:58.570]is hard to describe. You just do what you need to for that
- [00:28:01.590]person. I give them a toy. What else? Ice pack. Like if
- [00:28:07.030]they're hurt, they have an ouchie. Yeah. This has been
- [00:28:11.590]another episode of The Good Life in Early Life, a Nebraska
- [00:28:15.190]Extension early childhood production with your host,
- [00:28:17.830]Emily Manning. For more information on early childhood,
- [00:28:20.510]check out our website at child.unl.edu. If you like the
- [00:28:24.650]show, subscribe and tell your friends to listen. The show
- [00:28:27.310]production team is Emily Manning, Dr. Holly Hatton, Aaron
- [00:28:30.790]Campbell, Ingrid Lindahl, Linda Reddish, Kim Welsand, LaDonna
- [00:28:34.890]Wirth, and Katie Krause. See you next time and thanks for
- [00:28:38.170]listening. Bye-bye.
- [00:28:39.490]Bye.
- [00:28:39.530]Bye.
- [00:28:39.570]♪♪♪
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