If you are a parent who is selecting an ABA provider, you have traveled a long road of identifying and fighting for your child’s needs. Thanks to tireless efforts by advocates and parents, ABA services are more accessible than ever. Ironically, that can make choosing an ABA provider a challenge. You fought for ABA because your child needs this support in order to be their best selves. It’s too important to waste the opportunity ABA can afford with a provider who isn’t offering quality service. Some providers are certified to offer ABA, and some are not.

The Behavior Analysis Certification Board offers several certifications to practice ABA. A Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) is the highest credential a professional can achieve to practice ABA. New York State requires that BCBAs become licensed after becoming board certified—this makes them Licensed Behavior Analysts “LBAs”. BCBA’s cannot practice in New York State without a license or a limited permit.  People pursuing their BCBA are supervised by BCBAs and take rigorous coursework to ensure they provide quality care. Other providers who are approved by the BACB include Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBAs) and Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs). BCaBAs and RBTs still require supervision from a BCBA. If your provider does not have or is not pursuing one of these credentials, or is not being supervised by a BCBA, then they are not qualified to provide ABA.  There are other providers who may have ABA training and receive supervision from BCBAs who are not pursuing a credential. Special Education teachers, Social Workers and School Psychologists may have ABA training. If they are supervised by a BCBA, then they may provide ABA services—the rules vary state by state. The most qualified person to provide services to your child is a Licensed BCBA.

Even if your provider is certified, how do you know if they are any good? As parents, it’s our job to ensure that our children are getting what they need. But if we aren’t experts in something complicated and technical—how will we know? It can be especially confusing that “good” ABA and “bad” ABA alike can look, to a layperson, just like normal play.  Hopefully the highly trained professional taking hours of your child’s time each week is making a meaningful and impactful difference, but what if they are not, or could be doing more? How do you know if the quality of ABA therapy your child is receiving is “good”?

There are 7 Dimensions to quality ABA. If your provider is “good” they will be employing all of them in their practice. Here they are, in laymen’s terms, to help you to assess if your child is getting the quality of service you are looking for.

1. Generality
An ABA provider’s goal is to increase behaviors that are beneficial to your child; and decrease behaviors that get in their way. It’s all well and good if your child can be a perfect angel in the presence of their therapist. In fact, it’s great to see your child being successful with their provider! However, for ABA to be socially significant, the skills your child exhibits with their ABA provider need to generalize across settings and care providers. If your child can only exhibit skills in school, then their skills have not generalized. It means that their provider needs to work to teach in such a way that skills can transfer.  That being said, skills cannot generalize without parent and caregiver buy in. So, if you want to set your child up for success, collaborate with their ABA provider to make sure you feel comfortable and confident employing the strategies they recommend.

2. Effective
It needs to work. One of the things that sets ABA apart is that because efficacy is one of our 7 dimensions, we take data on your child’s progress so we can be sure we are honoring it. Your ABA provider should be taking scrupulous data to ensure that they can prove if their intervention is working. If it’s not working, the data should reflect that and a change in programming should be implemented. It might take a while for a provider to find an intervention that is effective for your child. Skills are often broken down into tiny steps to ensure accuracy and acquisition. If your child has some challenging behaviors that have been effective for them in the past, it can take even longer to see the results you are looking for. There may be a period where your child is “unlearning” maladaptive behaviors—but that should also be reflected in your provider’s data. If you’re not sure if an intervention is effective, ask your provider to show you their data. The rationale behind their clinical decisions should be clear if an intervention is not showing the progress you were expecting.

3. Technological
This component is especially important to ABA. ABA procedures should be written out in an extremely clear manner to be sure that anyone can replicate it. Remember Dimension 1—Generality? When interventions are technological, it helps us generalize because anyone can consistently provide the same intervention for your child, which will help skills generalize across providers. All techniques, procedures and components of an intervention should be explicitly described. You can think about it like a recipe for a finnicky souffle—it needs to be clear enough that anyone can bake it without the souffle collapsing. If a procedure is not technological, it will not be replicable and is therefore not good ABA. 

4. Applied
Applied in this context means that the intervention must be socially significant to your child. Socially significant means it has a valuable impact on a child’s life. We could use ABA principles to teach a child to flex their toes one at a time. But is that a valuable skill that will improve their lives? Not likely. It is easy to get caught up teaching children skills that a therapist has taught other children in the past. However, if they are a “good” therapist, instead of cycling through familiar programs they will create individualized goals and procedures designed for your child. Here is an example. Let’s say your child hates turning left out of your apartment building, and will throw a fit unless you turn right. When you turn right, you pass the dog park. Your child loves to watch the dogs, but sometimes you need to turn left to make it to the subway in time. In this case, a socially significant goal for your ABA provider to work on is helping your child to tolerate turning left out of your building door and not seeing the dog park. Now let’s say that this program goes swimmingly, and your provider feels great for the success they have had. Since this program was successful with your child, maybe they should implement it with all of their other clients as well! Here, unless the other clients also could not tolerate turning left out of their building, that goal would not be socially significant for other children and therefore would fail the “applied” dimension requirements. 

5. Conceptually Systematic
Conceptually Systematic means that our interventions are research-based and reflect and incorporate the principles of the science of behavior analysis that have been proven to be effective by research in the field. We are really big into evidence-based treatments in ABA. Often times, ABA providers can struggle with providers from other disciplines who do not have strong research backgrounds guiding their treatments and want ABA therapists to carry over their interventions. That conflict between providers is actually a sign that you are getting “good” ABA. So, let’s say you find a new treatment without research to back it up and want your ABA provider to implement it.  You will know if your provider is “good” if they politely decline. If there is not strong research backing an intervention, we ethically cannot provide that intervention. 

 6. Analytic
Remember how one of the earlier dimensions was “Effective”? Analytic plays into that. In order to know that our treatment is effective, we have to analyze the data we have been taking on our intervention. Therefore, data must be collected. If the data is trending in the direction we are looking for (increasing skills, decreasing maladaptive behaviors), then we know to keep doing what we are doing. If the data has plateaued or is not moving in the right direction, your provider needs to assess why this could be and if a change is warranted. These data are usually collected in a program book or on an electronic platform. It is pretty simple to assess as a parent if your provider is being analytic—just ask them to walk you through your child’s progress in their programs. 

7. Behavioral
The sciences of behavior works by making changes to a learners environment to impact their behavior. Since we need to be analytic and technological, these behaviors must be observable. If they are not observable, we cannot take data on them. There are some work arounds here. If a child is sophisticated enough to self-report on their thoughts or feelings, we can use those reports as a measure. For the most part though, behavior means “anything a dead man cannot do.” For example—can a dead man wear glasses? Yes. Therefore, wearing glass is not a behavior. But what if your goal is to get your child to wear their glasses? Removing glasses, is a behavior. So a good ABA therapist would teach your child to reduce the behavior of removing their glasses and increase the behavior of placing their glasses on their face. 

Of course your provider might be doing all of these things and still just not “click” with your child. That does not mean that they are a bad therapist, but even a good therapist isn’t the right fit for every family. It’s your job to assess if a therapist who employs all 7 Dimensions of ABA in their practice is a good fit for your family. Not sure? A good therapist should explain their reasoning to you. They should communicate with you reliably and if something makes you uncomfortable, they should talk with you about it to work towards a mutually agreeable solution. Good providers should be reliable, timely and professional. And if they are all of those things, but they still don’t “click” with your family, a good provider should help you to find someone who will.

Over the course of 7 weeks, parents of children ages 4-12 will meet virtually in a group of no more than 6 families once per week for 60 minutes, learning step-wise behavioral parent management skills to reduce food selectivity (e.g., picky eaters, selective eaters, faddy eaters). The strategies taught during these sessions can help parents of children along the entire continuum of food selectivity, from passively-avoidant picky eaters to children who are extremely disruptive during mealtime. Parents will be taught how children learn food preferences in order to help their child learn to eat new foods. Additionally, parents will learn behavioral tools and strategies to improve the mealtime experience. Individual consultation is also available as needed.

Parent Self-Survey to Assess Goodness of Fit for This Group:

1. Does your child eat a very limited variety of food, have low food enjoyment, eat very slowly, refuse to eat completely and/or exhibit disruptive behavior during mealtimes?
2. Have you already consulted with medical professionals to rule out allergies or other medical conditions to explain your child’s eating difficulties?
3. Is your child medically stable in terms of weight, heart rate and blood pressure?
4. Can your child eat solid foods without the exclusive need for oral nutritional supplements (e.g., PediaSure or Boost) or enteral/tube feeding?

(If you answered yes to all 4 of these questions, you could benefit from this parent training group!)

Dates & Schedule

• Every Thursday from 10-11 AM or 4:30-5:30 PM, from July 16th to August 27th
• Parents can choose the time that works best for them and will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis
• It is not mandatory to attend all 7 weeks, but it is highly recommended.
• Makeup sessions are not available

Parent Intakes

• Intakes are required to determine goodness of fit
• Please choose a few times when applying:
  • June 29, 30, and July 1 from 10 AM – 4 PM
  • July 6 from 9 AM-5 PM
  • July 7-9 from 4-6 PM

Weekly Agenda & Learning Topics

• Week 1 – Thursday July 16th: Introduction: What is Selective Eating?
• Week 2 – Thursday July 23rd: Preferences: How Children Learn to Like Food/Mealtime and Our Role
• Week 3 – Thursday July 30th: What it takes: Plan and Perseverance!
• Week 4 – Thursday August 6th: Problem Solving #1: Be the Model
• Week 5 – Thursday August 13th: Problem Solving #2: Family Meals
• Week 6 – Thursday August 20th: Problem Solving #3: Choose your choice!
• Week 7 – Thursday August 27th: Tools for Moving Forward & Closing Thoughts

Learning Objectives: By the end of the group, parents/caregivers will:

• Understand the definition, characteristics, and commonality of selective eating and potential contributing factors
• Be able to 1) identify minor mealtime battles and strategies to mitigate behavior 2) understand the importance of repeated exposure when eating new foods
• Be able to: Identify factors that could influence choice of an intervention and gain an understanding of: why and how interventions work; and the power of reinforcement and ignoring
• Have three step-by-step procedures, modifications, and strategies to try at home – parent(s)/caregivers will be supported in selecting the one that might work

Group Leader: Justine Caputi, MSEd, BCBA 

Cost:

• $150 per week per family (60 min parent session)
• The (non-refundable) intake fee is $100 for 45 minutes with parents only to determine goodness of fit for the group
• If accepted, full payment of $1050 is required before starting group. We accept Zelle, Venmo, PayPal or Direct Deposit.
• Only after group ends, we can provide a receipt for insurance reimbursement with a diagnosis and the following CPT telehealth codes: Intake 90791-95 and Group Parent Training 90849-95. Any missed sessions will be documented as such on the receipt. Justine will be the provider listed on the receipt. Her BCBA certificate is 1-16-24430 and our Tax EIN/ID is 45-2492120. If your child has an ASD diagnosis, we can use ASD CPT codes and help with any needed prior authorizations. Please check with your insurance company prior to the start of group regarding reimbursement.

Limited to the first 6 accepted families per time slot.

Additional Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria:

• Child must be between the ages of 4-12 years old.
• There is no educational or diagnostic restrictions for the target child of the parents who attend group.
• Child should understand given contingencies (e.g., “first we are going to do _____, then we are going to do _____”)
• Child has difficulty with tolerating specific foods which has limited their food repertoire (e.g., picky eaters, selective eaters)
• Child has at least 1-2 strong food preferences
• Child does not have nutritional deficiency or dependence on enteral or tube feeding or solely consumes oral nutritional supplements (e.g., PediaSure or Boost)
• Parent(s)/caregivers are seeking support/tools to manage food selectivity 
• Parent(s)/caregivers and has mild to moderate threshold for refusal behaviors (e.g., pushing food/plate away, yelling, spitting out food, ignoring)

 

Contact us today to sign up!

Children with special needs thrive on structure, routine and predictability, something that unfortunately through this time runs on very low supply at a common household. Every child has the right to be sad or anxious during these times but it’s extremely hard for a child with special needs to express their frustrations,  fears and anxieties and communicate about their feelings , so here are some tips that you can follow as a parent in order to comfort them and ensure to them that this shall pass.

Keep a consistent schedule
It is OK to have a late Friday Pizza and movie night with your child, but if this becomes a habit everyday now that schools are out, it will eventually create more issues and behaviors. Try to maintain a daily schedule with bed time, nap time and waking up time similar to the typical school days. Eventually schools will re-open and you don’t want to go through the process of having to do bed time training again. 

Maintain their school schedule at home
If your child cannot participate in their remote school program that their teachers have set up, it’s wise to communicate with their teachers and receive training for you or any other care taker on how to implement the same learning schedule and activities at home. Of course, if you have other kids at home that need your attention it can be challenging, but even if you can maintain fifty percent of that schedule will make such a difference in the progress of your child. Set up a similar token system, with rewards and breaks and snack time similar to the school setting. If your child has a number of ADL programs, such as learning how to wash their hands, or getting dressed, or toilet training please follow it. We all have days that we want to stay with our pajamas on all day, but it is essential for parents of special education kids to maintain those daily routines and keep assisting their kids with their daily routines even if they are not going anywhere. It takes their special education and their behavior analyst weeks and months to teach them how to put on their shirts or their pants, and this is something that cannot be taken for granted or let it regress. 

Mindfulness and Self Care
There is evidence and statistics that show an increase in the numbers of heart attacks, depression, addiction and domestic violence during the pandemic. Also eating unhealthily and gaining weight are very common now, because most of us are secluded in the house, bored and let’s face it food and baking makes everything better some times. Most of us know how to deal with the daily stress of life and have some coping skills that have help us throughout the years. But this pandemic it’s something new and unheard to all us, and it’s just hard to deal with the unpredictable.  For that reason, it is important to be able to practice mindfulness and Self Care. There are many different types of self-care, such as: Emotional self-care, physical self- care, mental self- care, social self- care and financial self-care. Keeping a journal or just a notebook, and writing down every day which type of self-care you would like to practice it’s a great idea. You can start your week by stating that Monday, you would like to work on your physical self-care, and write down how will you do it, such as I will exercise for half hour and eat a nutritious and healthy meal etc. You can practice more than one self-care type everyday of course, but writing it down makes it more visible and tangible and you can even reward yourself for following through with your goals of self-care. 

Mindfulness it’s also very similar to self-care, and it has been a new trend at jobs settings, schools and sports teams. It decreases stress, improves academics, helps with better emotional and self-control, improves clarity and sleep and in general it helps with general health and the wellbeing of an individual. Any activity that provides a healthy way to de-stress and calm oneself, such as yoga, Reiki Zen -Picture coloring, deep breathing exercising, positive affirmation writing and meditation count as a productive mindfulness activity. It’s something you can do at home with your family and can increase focus, positivity and strengthen emotional control. You can practice most of the mindfulness activity at home, either alone or with your family or with friends, schoolmates  colleagues and extended family members as a group practice via Skype or zoom.

For those who support children and adolescents with ADHD, Anxiety, and Disruptive Behavior, the value of evidence-based information on symptoms and treatments is crucial.

Joshua Rosenthal, PsyD, designed his upcoming, free Behavioral Skills Training Webinar Series for these parents, clinicians, and school professionals. He will cover key strategies and treatments on these topics to help improve behavior and communication in and out of the home. (Note: CEUs are not available at this time.)

Evidence-based Treatment of ADHD, Disruptive Behavior/ODD, and Anxiety in Children & Adolescents

• Tuesday, January 18th: ADHD: Strategies for Success At Home and In the Classroom
• Wednesday, January 19th: Disruptive Behaviors & ODD: Methods to Improve Conduct and Communication
• Thursday, January 20th: Anxiety: Evidence-based Treatment in Children and Adolescents

Time: 12-1 pm EST (You may register for 1-3 of the webinars)

Speaker: Joshua Rosenthal, PsyD.

These 60-minute FREE webinars will cover the following topics:

• Key signs and symptoms of childhood ADHD, Disruptive Behavior/ODD & Anxiety
• Skills to improve behavior, compliance and communication at home
• Tactics to collaborate with teachers and clinicians to improve behavior outside the home
• Strategies to boost child self-esteem and peer relationships
• Tactics to respond to difficult situations for children

>> RSVP here today to reserve your Zoom seat(s) << 

We are working to support our community of parents, clinicians, school staff, trainees and students with free access to our latest knowledge and treatments in Childhood and Adolescent Psychology. Contact us to be added to our mailing list for future Webinar and Group information.

We hope you can join us!

**We are also accepting registrations for our Educational Behavioral Skills Training Webinars and Clinical Parent Training Groups.

Written by Elena Dezoraiev, MSEd, BCBA-LP

Under the diagnostic criteria of Restricted and repetitive Patterns of Behavior of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a subcategory of insistence of sameness, inflexible adherence to routines exists. A subcategory describing how an individual with ASD can become extremely distressed over various changes in his or her routines. When working with individuals with ASD, one of the main skills addressed as providers or, a concern expressed by a caregiver is how to prepare better and, or, teach skills such as waiting, the passage of time, understanding when and why an activity/event occurs or not, and excepting routine changes with “typical” behaviors. Changes such as we are currently experiencing in our lives from the COVID-19 (Cornonavirus). It can become challenging for an individual with ASD or a caregiver to handle sudden changes such as school closures and changes in providers, services, or even just remaining at home for days and weeks at a time.  However, there are various resources and strategies that can be implemented and taught to individuals with ASD to help them cope with the sudden changes of routine as well as engage in less maladaptive behaviors. 

Social Stories
Social stories are a great tool to explain or describe a particular situation, event, or activity tailored explicitly to the reader’s needs and repertoire of skills. The story can include pictures and words, sentences or simple phrases, comic strips, favorite characters, or even actual pictures of the readers engaging in any behavior. A social story can be used to describe the current situation and the reasons why someone has to stay at home, and it can explain and answer relevant questions and doubts that the individual may be facing. As well as describe and or list routines and day-to-day activities. Social stories are also an excellent tool for behavior strategies; it can help teach feeling and emotions of others as well as those of the learner. For example: “I feel mad because I can’t go outside/playground/school. I want to cry and scream. When I feel mad, I can tell my mom or dad, I can ask for a break or something to do.” When social stories are created, they need to be presented and rehearsed often to help clarify and solidify the information presented through the story. 

Visuals Support
When presented with information visually as well as verbally, following a routine and working through various changes can become less confusing and more fluent. Visual supports are concrete cues that provide individuals with information about their routine, activities/tasks, and events. Visual support can be in the form of calendars, schedules (hour-to-hour, daily, weekly, monthly), checklists, reinforcement menus, written rules and expectations, first-then, and more. 

The concept of time can sometimes elude individuals with disabilities and, visual schedules can help them to anticipate tasks and activities; it can reduce verbal prompting provided by a caregiver and increase independence by the learner. 

A general daily schedule can be created for a learner with actual events such as morning/evening routines, mealtimes, and interchangeable activities such as chores, academic tasks, leisure activities. Within that schedule, smaller step-by-step (Task Analysis) visuals can be presented for necessary activities (e.g., a step-by-step visual in the bathroom how to brush your teeth). When engaging in a highly reinforcing activity, or less reinforcing, a timer and a first-then visual can be implemented to solidify the understanding of when the activity is ending and what comes next. When creating visual support, the following must be kept in mind: the learning and understanding abilities of the individual. The setting event, or environment that the visuals will pertain too, how much support will the learner require to refer and follow the visual, as well as reinforcing the individual for using their visual support. 

Choices
As providers and caregivers of individuals with disabilities, we may sometimes forget that even someone with a disability, regardless of his or her functioning or learning skills, can make their own choices if provided appropriately to them. Research has shown that choice-making opportunities are very effective in not only reducing problem behavior but also increasing motivation and task engagement. Choices can be given for practically any activity or task; academic tasks, leisure time, completing chores, meals, and even something as simple as morning routine of brushing your teeth first or getting dressed, and the same for the night routine. If possible, provide a choice of 2 and more per activity, task, or item. Choices should be present to the individual in a manner that best understood by them. Choices can be presented via pictures, written words, or just by verbally asking. Once a choice is made it must be honored by the caregiver. If a specific choice is not available at a particular day or time, either remove it from the presented choices or ask the individual to pick an alternative. 

Resources:

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a704/363f032bd4f0c61fe1c44a7774546f7f1275.pdf

https://www.autismspeaks.org/templates-personalized-teaching-stories

 

New Year, new you? People have been making – and breaking – New Year’s resolutions since the birth of Father Time. So what does it take to make goals you can actually accomplish?

Strategies to choosing the resolutions you can conquer
Over half of people’s New Year’s targets involve finances, weight loss, or fitness, according to a 2021 survey by Statista. Planning what you hope to change thoughtfully, however, may increase your chances for success.

1. Choose smaller goals: “If you set lofty goals that differ tremendously from what you are currently doing, it will be more difficult to achieve them,” says Niloo Dardashti, PsyD., Vice President and Director of Adult and Couples Services at Manhattan Psychology Group, PC. “The brain is wired to observe behaviors and negatively or positively reinforce them. In other words, if you follow through with a goal, it reinforces the belief that you can do it and vice versa.” Instead of resolving to lose 50 pounds, for example, try to limit desserts to 2 times per week, or walk an additional 4,000 steps per day.
2. Opt for intangible goals with broader impact: “Identify a goal that you can apply to multiple areas of your life instead of pigeon-holing yourself into one specific action,” says Karen Surowiec, PsyD., Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychologist at Manhattan Psychology Group, PC. “A concept or an outlook that extends throughout your lifestyle can feel easier to latch onto and make a large impact.” Consider less concrete goals when you identify beneficial personal changes, such as listening to your intuition more consistently, or turning off self-doubting thoughts.
3. Rethink your resolutions mindset: “You don’t have to call them resolutions, or even goals,” says Dr. Surowiec. “Rewording them as ‘new behaviors’ or ‘changes’ can help you achieve success.” Converting your resolutions into changes provides similar intentions, but takes away the traditional pressures associated with New Year’s resolutions.

Tactics to prevent resolutions failure
Falling off the horse, slipping up, or just plain giving up… no matter what you call it, the dreaded disappointment of failure when you break your resolution is hard. An estimated 68% of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions within 2 months, and the majority blame lack of willpower as their primary reason for failure, according to a 2020 study by OnePoll. With the right outlook and support, however, you increase your chances of sticking with your plans.

1. Celebrate small milestones, not just a big achievement: “It is OK to start with a big goal – for example, to get fit,” says Dr. Surowiec, “but drill down into that: ‘What is it about this goal that is going to help me or make my life better?’ Once you identify what you hope to achieve, say feeling healthier, you can determine smaller, more attainable resolutions under that larger goal.” Rejoicing in one or more stepping stones towards a broader resolution will feel easier to accomplish and keep you motivated.
2. Identify your support system: “As you work towards a goal, consider who can support you in your journey,” says Dr. Dardashti. “Additionally, rethink damaging relationships with certain friends or family members that negatively affect your progress towards positive changes.” Negative peer pressure can sideline goals to quit or reduce drinking, for example.
3. Seek therapy to help accomplish your goals: ”When it comes to past failures, your therapist is not there to scold you, but to give you compassionate support, understanding, and tools that can fit into your lifestyle to help you reach your goals,” says Dr. Surowiec. “Therapy can give you specific and customized strategies to find what works for you because it’s not one size fits all. It is finding out what your risk and comfort tolerances are and developing skills that are best for you.”
4. Seek therapy to improve your relationships and mental health: “Our levels of internal conflict have risen in many ways due to Covid, especially with regard to career and relationship choices,” says Dr. Dardashti. “Therapy can help you work through these conflicts and figure out next steps.”

Example Resolution, from Start to Finish:

1. Identify your goal: To lose 15 pounds.
2. Break down your goal into smaller goals: Instead of just planning to lose 15 pounds, identify small actions that progress towards that larger goal. For example, create a grocery list in advance to plan healthier meals more easily, or up your water intake to at least 2 liters per day.
3. Consider why you want to lose weight: To get healthier? To feel more confident? Write down your desired outcomes as a result of losing the weight. If you have a clear purpose, it will boost your motivation and make the work more meaningful.
4. Break destructive habits hindering progress: Changing behaviors that have sidelined your weight loss in the past will be challenging to stop. But there are strategies to cease late-night snacking, for example. Stock your fridge with healthier foods and replace the time you would have spent snacking with new habits, such as reading, learning a new skill, or doing a yoga video.
5. Reframe negative thoughts: You can acknowledge your negative thoughts, but you can find ways to turn them into positive thoughts instead of allowing them to disrupt your work towards your goal. Take deep breaths and chant or journal self-loving thoughts as you would tell someone you care about. For example, ‘I am valuable, I am worthy of a healthy mind and body, and I am loved regardless of my size.”
6. Create a team to help you: A support system can keep you accountable and offer you respect and care. Identify some trusted friends and family members, and share your weight loss goal with them. They can cheer you on and back your goal planning; for example, they may suggest healthier restaurant options or light physical activity during your time together.
7. Stick with it: Changing your behaviors can feel difficult, but your therapist can provide a trusted space to talk about your goals. You can talk to your therapist about why you turn to food for comfort, or why you feel shame towards your body, for example. Therapy can help you transform these actions and feelings into healthier, positive patterns with long-term impacts.

Manhattan Psychology Group can offer immediate and ongoing support to help you, your spouse or your children set new goals, break destructive habits, and improve mental health and relationships with others. From individual therapy sessions to virtual parent training groups and webinars, we provide tools and strategies to help you feel happier, healthier, and more confident. New year, new better you.

For more information or to schedule a free consultation, contact us today!