Many parents and guardians of school-age children are buckling up for back to school while simultaneously trying to balance their own work-from-home lives.
In an interview with CBSN, Lisa Giovannetti, an integrative psychotherapist with Sutter’s Institute for Health & Healing (IHH), lays out the psychological impact of the extended lockdown on parents and guardians. She describes how parents can help identify and manage big emotions for themselves and their children. She also addresses burnout and asks parents to acknowledge they can’t do it all— and thinking that they can isn’t being fair to themselves. After all, managing everything amid this pandemic is no picnic. It’s unfamiliar territory and parents and guardians are learning as they go.
Watch the full interview here.
To help parents and guardians out, Giovannetti discusses how to role model coping skills for kids and teens. She looks at building in structure for the whole family and setting realistic goals that can be amended since no day is going to be perfect.
“We want to acknowledge that bad days are going to happen, that’s part of life and expected during a stressful time. We want to look at how we can move forward compassionately. To mentally gear up, parents should aim for routine but also lots of flexibility,” says Giovannetti.
