2. Family Goal Setting

Maycember, anyone? It can seem that in the rush to the end of the school year, schedules get jam packed with activities with school, sports, extracurriculars, and friends and family. It can be easy to become overwhelmed and disconnected.

Instead, be proactive and sit down together as a family (or one on one), to discuss your goals for the upcoming busy season ahead. Talk about priorities and values, and see what you can do to help the season be closer to what you want it to be. If you can, take the time to consider not just what you all have to do, but what you want to do as well. Maybe you can each or together even choose a word or intention for the season, and hold each other accountable for that view.

Between daylight savings time, better weather, more social gatherings, and longer daylight, it’s tempting to go with the flow and stay up late sometimes. However, inconsistent bedtimes or insufficient sleep can be a trigger for headaches, migraine, and pain (Morris et al., 2022). 

What you can do: Aim for a consistent sleep schedule for your child, and note concerns such as difficulty falling or staying asleep. A pediatric pain or health psychologist can work with you and your family to find the right balance between allowing for spontaneity and fun, while supporting the good sleep habits that can reduce pain.

Many parents and caregivers report a wide range of concerns related to their children and teens. These include changes that they observe in their children’s and teens’ mood, stress levels, behavior, and even focus in school.

It can be really difficult to know what to make of it, how to disentangle the symptoms from the causes, and when to get help. 

If any of this sounds like you, have you considered the role of sleep?

It’s easy to forget. We all know we should be getting more and better sleep, but it often gets de-prioritized in the hustle of daily life. 

Chronic pain in childhood or adolescence can be devastating and scary. It’s so mysterious, we can’t see it, and we might feel alone. We’ll seek out any advice or knowledge to help us make decisions about treatment.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths and misunderstandings about pediatric chronic pain that can lead to more frustration, and in some cases, more harm than good.

Here are 5 common myths about pediatric chronic pain, busted!

Despite our improved knowledge of the relationship between physical and mental health, the medical system often forces you to make a choice. Do you want to see a physician, or a psychologist? But this can seem contradictory to our understanding how complex and dynamic our health truly is. 

However, given that the mind and body are truly interconnected, finding healthcare providers who not only understand these relationships but can help your child heal and recover THROUGH them can be life-changing.

Health psychology is a field of psychology that researchers and trains clinical specialists in understanding and addressing the overlap between physical and mental health. 

First, you might pay attention to the overall noise level. During the pandemic, in-home noise was found to affect adolescents attention and executive function. In high noise environments, children also have shown poor persistence on tasks and habituate to auditory distraction. Chronic noise exposure is also associated with higher levels on neuroendocrine and cardiovascular measures. 

We work hard, make plans, and try to keep up our motivation.

But do we ever think about whether our environment is helping us with our goals, or actually working against us?

Here are a few science-backed environmental changes you can consider to help you with you and your family’s physical and mental health goals this year:

January has many parents and families considering how to be healthier in the new year. Often, this looks like goals for more physical activity and exercise. We may dream of routines, progress, and change. 

Then, reality hits. Busy schedules, winter cold, and post-holiday tiredness settle in, and physical movement takes a back seat. It can feel overwhelming to get back on track, which leads to disappointment and feelings of failure.

But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Should you choose in-person or Telehealth for your child’s therapy?

This may not be a comprehensive list, but here are some top stressors around the holidays. Considering them in advance, in addition to some ideas, may help create a sense of ease and preparedness for the days and weeks ahead.

GI psychology may be a good idea to consider if you have one of the following diagnoses:

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), like Crohn’s or colitis

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), including IBS-C, IBS-D, or mixed

• Functional Abdominal Pain

• Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder 

• Cyclical vomiting syndrome

• Abdominal migraine

• And more

In fact, GI psychology is not limited to any one diagnosis. Rather, GI psychology may be recommended to you or your child if they are:

1) experiencing any sort of digestive symptom, and

2) this digestive symptom (or symptoms) are starting to become distressing or interfering with life.

Furthermore, research published in 2020 out of Canada demonstrated that higher rates of anaphylaxis (a severe, sometimes fatal, type of allergic reaction) occurred on Halloween due to accidental exposure to unknown nut and peanut allergens.

Steps Families Can Take

1. Make decisions as a family

Should your child go trick or treating freely, with supervision, or only in controlled situations?

We all want what’s best for our kids. If your child is struggling with any pain or health condition, you will move heaven and earth to help them.

But in reality, we have to consider finances in making decisions for our children and families.

So you might be wondering, how much is this all going to cost?

Going to therapy takes some significant commitment of time and resources. You might be nervous about whether it will actually help, and whether it will all be worth it. 

Whether you’re just at the beginning or somewhere in the middle of your therapy journey, here some ideas to consider to get the most out of your time in therapy:

Despite chronic pain in childhood being relatively common, the experience can be isolating, lonely, and frustrating. It can feel like there are no answers, and you don’t know what to do.

How You Can Learn More about Pain and Pain in Childhood

Whether at the beginning or deep into the school year, parents may notice higher stress or anxiety in their children. You may wonder, does my child have school anxiety? If so, what can I do about it? It can feel frustrating if they don’t seem to want to talk about it or your efforts feel like they are going nowhere. You have so many questions. Keep reading to learn more about school anxiety, and some options to consider if you need some support. 

Parents can advocate or prompt the clinician in the appointment if they feel that opportunities are being missed.

Additionally, parents can help prepare their child, and provide some redirection of attention, by considering what choices they may make in the appointment.

Defining success in more than one way also fosters confidence, resilience, and persistence. If we only define success in one way, and then experience a set back, it can feel too demoralizing to continue to make any effort. On the other hand, if we define success in many ways, we always have opportunities to celebrate and grow our positive energy and effort.

Should You Pursue a 504 Plan or IEP?

You may be considering academic accommodations, adaptations, or services if your child is struggling in school.

If you believe that your child is struggling to stay in school, focus in class, or do their best work, due to a possible disability in one of the 13 categories, then it may be worth taking some next steps.

2. Learn about resources available to you on campus.

Research where the health clinic and counseling center are.

Learn about student health and disability accommodations at your school- you may be entitled to more than you think! However, each school requires different documentation to access these accommodations, so finding this out in advance is crucial to starting with everything that may help you from the beginning. Dr. Emily Foxen-Craft has helped document requests for accommodations and advocate for the needs of college students with pain, chronic illness, and mental health concerns to help them perform their best.

With today’s technology, you have access to more than what is directly on campus. You may even be able to keep up with your healthcare team from home. At Pediatric Pain and Behavioral Health, Dr. Foxen-Craft offers video sessions across 40 states (https://psypact.org/mpage/psypactmap).