Melissa Deaton Cook LPC learning to do hard things! Child and Teen bilingual, trauma informed therapist in Harrisonburg VA.

Call, Text, or Email melissa@spiralroots.org Melissa today for child or teen therapy! 540-416-1528

EEEEK Doing new things can be so scary and FRUSTRATING!

Everyone’s learning curve is different. And that’s OK! What is easy for me may be hard for you.

Painting, creating, and colors are one of my happy places! It’s a space where I feel confident. Redo of the Growing Space bathroom. Child and teen therapist in Harrisonburg, VA.

Recently with a financial advisor I was lamenting the fact that numbers just don’t work in my brain. They send me into panic mode. Even simple “how many eggs do you need” can send me into confusion! I need a lot of hand holding, encouragement, and systems to remember numbers. This financial advisor laughed and said “well you wouldn’t want me to go paint a mural or help out with the high school play set, but I can handle the stats for high school sporting events!” I then laughed because I was actually about to go paint a mural in a bathroom! Painting, creating, and colors are one of my happy places! It’s a space where I feel confident.

But just because something is hard does not mean we cannot do it. Sometimes we just need to work a little harder, take a little more time, cry a little, and ask for help. Once we know this, it doesn’t change the situation, but it can help us keep things in perspective. I can now laugh at myself when I get number stumped! Of course, I might growl and cry a little!

Ok, so we have established that some things take some of us more time to do or learn and that things can be hard and frustrating. Especially when we are starting out. For me this week I am learning a new website platform and new blogging format. EEEk technology is up there with math for me. But I choose to keep working at it and plugging along like a snail. One day it will click. I am not sure when that is but it will happen if I keep working at it!

So, what do we do when we are trying really hard at something and frustration sets in? You know the “I want to scream, and yell, and throw things” type of frustration. The “my brain and body hurts” kind of frustration? “I want to quit” frustration? Then it is time to put into practice my 7 tips for handling frustration.

“HELP! I don’t know what I’m doing” Child and Teen therapist in Harrisonburg VA learning new things!

Call, Text, or Email melissa@spiralroots.org Melissa today for child or teen therapy! 540-416-1528

Melissa’s 7 Tips for Handling Frustration

1. Take a deep breath and slowly let it out. I like to do this at least 3 times.

2. Stretch! Rotate those shoulders! Stretch those arms. Make a silly face to stretch out the tension on the face!

3. Turn / Rotate your head from one side to the other. Look gently over each shoulder into the distance. (This can help calm the nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve.)

4. Move your body! Stand, dance, walk whatever you need to do to move (I just paused to dance to Step into Christmas by Elton John and Feliz Navidad#9A0A7B- I feel so much better and ended up singing out loud in joy – a positive way to be loud and let out pent up stress and frustration!)

5. Walk a way and take a break.

6. Always remember you can ask for help or talk to someone about the anxiety, frustration, anger, irritation or whatever feeling you are having regarding the new thing you are learning or doing!

7. Celebrate Accomplishing Your Task!

Melissa Deaton Cook LPC child and teen therapist in Harrisonburg VA celebrating succeeding at doing a new thing!

Remember these 7 things when you are learning new things or doing things that are just hard for you. You and everyone else around you will feel better. These tips will enable you to keep plugging along until you succeed. And (7) don’t forget to celebrate when you accomplish your task!

Now for me it is back to working on understanding a new website platform and learning how to post blogs on the new platform as well. Wish me luck and have patience with my website and blog errors! I am working on it! Deep breaths, stretch, look away, dance, walk away and drink water, search tutorials, repeat, And Celebrate my first imperfectly, perfect blog post on the new platform!

Remember these 7 Tips for Children, Teens, and Families to use when you are facing Frustration, Anxiety, Anger, Irritation, Stress, Tension and Overwhelm when learning new things! You and everyone else around you will feel much better. These tips will enable you to keep plugging along until you succeed. And don’t forget to celebrate when you accomplish your task!

Melissa Deaton Cook LPC is a bilingual expressive arts trauma informed therapist for children, teens, and families serving Harrisonburg, Staunton, and the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Melissa Deaton Cook LPC Child and Teen Expressive Arts Trauma Informed therapist in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Spiral Roots LLC

Call, Text, or Email melissa@spiralroots.org Melissa today for child or teen therapy! 540-416-1528

7 Tips for Children, Teens, and Families to use when Dealing with Frustration, Anxiety, Anger, Irritation, Stress, Tension and Overwhelm When Learning or Doing New and Hard Things!

EEEEK Doing new things can be so scary and FRUSTRATING!

Melissa’s 7 Tips for Handling Frustration

1. Take a deep breath and slowly let it out. I like to do this at least 3 times.

2. Stretch! Rotate those shoulders! Stretch those arms. Make a silly face to stretch out the tension on the face!

3. Turn / Rotate your head from one side to the other. Look gently over each shoulder into the distance. (This can help calm the nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve.)

4. Move your body! Stand, dance, walk whatever you need to do to move (I just paused to dance to Step into Christmas by Elton John and Feliz Navidad#9A0A7B- I feel so much better and ended up singing out loud in joy – a positive way to be loud and let out pent up stress and frustration!)

5. Walk a way and take a break.

6. Always remember you can ask for help or talk to someone about the anxiety, frustration, anger, irritation or whatever feeling you are having regarding the new thing you are learning or doing!

7. Celebrate Accomplishing Your Task!

All are welcome at Spiral Roots LLC ♡

7 Tips for Children, Teens, and Families to use when Dealing with Frustration, Anxiety, Anger, Irritation, Stress, Tension and Overwhelm When Learning or Doing New and Hard Things!

EEEEK Doing new things can be so scary and FRUSTRATING!

Melissa’s 7 Tips for Handling Frustration

1. Take a deep breath and slowly let it out. I like to do this at least 3 times.

2. Stretch! Rotate those shoulders! Stretch those arms. Make a silly face to stretch out the tension on the face!

3. Turn / Rotate your head from one side to the other. Look gently over each shoulder into the distance. (This can help calm the nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve.)

4. Move your body! Stand, dance, walk whatever you need to do to move (I just paused to dance to Step into Christmas by Elton John and Feliz Navidad#9A0A7B- I feel so much better and ended up singing out loud in joy – a positive way to be loud and let out pent up stress and frustration!)

5. Walk a way and take a break.

6. Always remember you can ask for help or talk to someone about the anxiety, frustration, anger, irritation or whatever feeling you are having regarding the new thing you are learning or doing!

7. Celebrate Accomplishing Your Task!

Every Holiday Season Is Not Full of Joy and Delight and That's OK! Three Things Care Givers Can Do to Help Your Child or Teen Through a Difficult Holiday Season

All are welcome at Spiral Roots LLC ♡