CHRIS 180
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 Highlights from our Facebook Live stream

Monica McGannon and Carlos Ross Live with Tips during COVID

Clinical Director Monica McGannon, LCSW, and Community Behavioral Health Specialist Manager Carlos Ross sat down on Facebook Live to talk about tips for managing anxiety, talking to kids about the virus, and more.

Monica and Carlos Facebook Live Covid 19 

We're open during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and we need your support more than ever.

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To reduce stress, our experts recommend getting outside!

With kids, try riding bikes, coloring with chalk, hide and go seek or gardening. For those with limited mobility, even just sitting outside and waving at passersby can have benefits. 

For calming down indoors: 

“Deep breaths are underrated, but they work. They truly do work!” McGannon acknowledged that to do this, parents might have to enforce some distance from their children. "You talk to the kids and explain to them, 'Mommy’s kind of stressed right now, I need some downtime, so if you guys could play please for 10 minutes, I’m gonna set the timer,' and then you take that time."

 On talking to children with concerns about the coronavirus:

Monica McGannon: “Honesty is the best policy, but you do not have to give all the facts. Be honest with them and say, 'It is a virus – just like the flu is a virus, just like a cold is a virus -and we have to take care of ourselves by washing our hands.' Get that ingrained into kids because that’s going to lower their susceptibility to getting the illness or any other illness.”

And on talking to teens and pre-teens:

Carlos Ross: “I challenge my teens and pre-teens to do some research. This is not the first time that a virus has impacted the daily lives of Americans and people around the world. So do some research on it and have an open conversation because this won’t be the last one. Then they’ll be better-prepared as adults to talk to their kids later in life if something like this were to happen again, and use them as the driving force because they’re tomorrow’s leaders."  

 

If you need counseling during this time: we are open, offering telehealth and in-person sessions! Find us at chris180.org/counseling.

 
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