From Classroom to Counseling: An Adolescent Therapist Shares Insights on Childhood Mental Illness

Licensed Early Childhood Educator Turned Adolescent Therapist Weighs In On Mental Illness In Children

by Jenny Flora Wells

Children who experience mental distress tend to be highly attuned to their emotional experience. You might call them the "empaths" of the kid world. They soak in every emotion and expression, from happiness, rage, deep sadness, and fear. They might have more intense emotions and meltdowns that happen on a repeated basis.

With children who experience the world in this way, it is important to convey extra patience, compassion, and care in response to their emotions. Coming from a background of being a Licensed Early Childhood Educator and Adolescent Therapist, I find it beneficial to establish self-compassion toward our emotions as early as we can. Caregivers can model this through naming their own emotions that are coming to the surface, and simply being curious about them. Caregivers can also ask questions to their children that helps them become curious of the emotions they are experiencing. For example, this could look like, "What emotion do you notice in this moment? If you could visualize that emotion as a character from a storybook what would it look like, sound like, and what does their personality look like?" This helps the child see the emotion as a "part" instead of being something that is overwhelming. I always recommend that caregivers show their child the Disney movie Inside Out, as it beautifully depicts the multiple mind of our emotions at play.

If the child is experiencing a meltdown of emotions, modeling the act of sitting with their heightened emotions with them is important. This might look like sitting with the child while they experience sadness, and allowing them to express what is coming to the surface for them.