Anxiety, Sadness, and Depression
We all feel down and blue at times. It can be hard to know whether it's a passing feeling or a more persistent period of a depressed mood. Similarly fear and anxiety are normal parts of the human experience, but sometimes these feelings can be so overwhelming, they get in the way of living the lives we want. Our clinicians are here to help you through. At Green Leaf, our clinicians will work with you to come up with a plan to address the places where you're feeling stuck. We will develop a comprehensive approach to your care, using both cognitive and behavioral strategies and integrating these with other multi-disciplinary treatments. We will teach you skills to move through difficult and painful emotions and work with you to develop a plan for engaging in healthy and meaningful activities to bring more joy into your life!
Children
When children aren't feeling well, this can be expressed in many different ways. When they're feeling overwhelmed or discouraged, they may demonstrate big and loud behaviors, changes in sleep or eating patterns, or withdraw. Sometimes when they're feeling nervous or anxious they might avoid things or refuse to follow directions. Kids aren’t always good at letting us know how they feel and as parents sometimes these situations feel scary and confusing and we may struggle to know how to respond. The clinicians at Green Leaf can help you and your child understand what's going on and what to do about it. At Green Leaf our clinicians work with both kids and parents to build awareness, communication strategies, and a plan for how to respond in the moment. We use a cognitive and behavioral approach. Children learn how to think about situations differently and what behaviors they can engage in that will be most helpful. We work with the family so caregivers and loved ones understand what is going on and know how to provide wrap-around support for healing.
We help your child learn to:
Be brave when feeling anxious, shy, or afraid
Express feelings without tantruming
Transition tasks more smoothly
Engage in play with friends
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Teens
When teens are feeling depressed, this can show up in many different ways. They may be angry or irritable, have changes in sleep or eating patterns, or withdraw. When teens are feeling anxious, they may have persistent worry, feel nervous about social settings, avoid certain things or have big emotional outbursts. Regardless of the specific presentation, depression, sadness, and anxiety can be debilitating and keep our teens from engaging in their lives. The clinicians at Green Leaf can help you and your teen understand what's going on and what to do about it.
Our approach to anxiety
At Green Leaf we know that anxiety doesn't get better by avoiding it. We teach our clients practical strategies to address their concerns in a productive way. We teach our clients how to be brave and tolerate feeling sadness or fear so they can do the things that they find valuable and meaningful in their lives. We take a step-by-step approach to dealing with overwhelming situation to build confidence and bravery!
