Here's What You Missed!
#papafa #twentytwentyone #tipsheets #tiktok #mentalhealth
Take a deep breath. Now that we are nearing the end of 2021 we want to commend you for the strength and resilience it has taken to get you and your family through this difficult year. We also know that it has been an incredibly busy year for many families. That is why we wanted to get together a list of the top 3 things you may have missed from the Parent Alliance this year. All year long we have been rolling out resources and support for parents and we want to make sure you go into 2022 equipped with all of the resources and knowledge possible.
1. Did you know we're on Tik Tok?
If you have children you may have heard about Tik Tok in the last couple of years.
This social media platform really took off in the middle of 2020 and we loved the idea of short bite-sized videos. We know that as parents you only have small pockets of time to learn and do research so we wanted to make it easier on you. These short videos are on a large number of topics ranging from daily affirmations to understanding childhood anxiety symptoms. If you are on Tik Tok give us a follow! We would love to continue to grow a community of like-minded individuals who see the value in parents and ultimately recognize the importance of prioritizing children's mental health. You know your kids are already on Tik Tok, we might as well join them!
If you are not on Tik Tok (you are seriously missing out on some great cat videos) we have uploaded all of our Tik Toks on Youtube! Whatever way you prefer to watch them they can be right at your fingertips.
2. Two mysterious tip sheets!
As a team, we are parents, professionals, writers, advocates, and so much more, but not necessarily world-renowned website designers. Our website is a labor of love and we are always finding new and exciting ways to make it a place where parents feel welcomed and supported. One thing that just came to our attention is that two of our tip sheets have not been visible on our tip sheet page. While this was a frustrating realization we do want to use it as an opportunity to bring those tip sheets to your attention.
The first tip sheet is all about staying connected to the children in your life even if you cannot physically be with them (either covid related or not). These are tips that could be helpful to aunts, uncles, grandparents, noncustodial parents, and more! We know that each family has different access to technology so it is broken up by tips to stay connected over tech, and ways to do it the old fashion way. It's more important than ever to be there for the children we love so check out the tip sheet here!
The other tip sheet that was accidentally hidden was one that focuses on trauma. It features 8 tips directly from parents on how to raise children who have experienced trauma. You have probably heard on the news that we are all experiencing a collective trauma during this pandemic and it could benefit your child if you check out the tip sheet and see how you could be helping to support them through it. Click here to check it out.
3. We don't turn a parent away - ever! Many parents worry that they won't meet our requirements to be able to get our help. They worry they may need specific insurance, their children may need to be a certain age, have a particular diagnosis, or that they don't live in the right county in order to be supported. This is NOT the case. We support parents from anywhere, with any aged child (we know your child does not stop being your child at 18 so this includes adult children as well). If a child is on waitlists for services we can support their parents while they wait. Working with an FSP is 100% FREE and CONFIDENTIAL service. You can share as little or as much about your situation as you want.
A parent also can call no matter where they are in their journey. There is no requirement that a parent must wait until the child gets diagnosed with a mental health challenge before they seek support from one of our FSPs. If you are just starting to worry that your child may have anxiety and want to know what to do next give us a call. If you are in the ER for a mental health crisis with your child, give us a call. There is no problem too big or too small that we won't support you through.
Even with "PA" at the very beginning of our name we still get calls from parents all across the country. Many of these calls start with the parent mentioning that they aren't sure if we can help but they're in a spot and trying everything they can. Our FSPs reassure every parent that their call is not a waste of time and we are here to help. If you're not sure if we can help, give us a call. As we said, we don't turn away any parent, ever.
We want to keep supporting every single parent who comes across us - but we need your help! As the need for children's mental health support is greater than ever funding has been cut for one of our FSPs. Please consider donating to us as a part of your end-of-year giving every dollar helps!