Modeling Emotional Health

11/25/2013

There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections.
John Lennon

In Donna Rafanello's article, "Show and Tell: Modeling Healthy Behaviors and Attitudes," in the Exchange Essential article collection, Training Teachers: Techniques, she points out ways teachers can model healthy emotional behavior with their children:

"Caring for young children is emotionally and physically demanding work. Recognize stress-related symptoms like tension headaches, neck and shoulder strain, irritability, digestive troubles, and frequent illness. Learn new strategies for managing time, space, and people. In this area, as with others, the focus is on prevention. Anger directed at children and physical abuse are more likely to occur when caregivers are experiencing high stress.

"Develop coping skills to help you manage job-related stress. Talking about stress with young children helps them learn to manage their feelings in healthy ways and to use play to reduce anxiety. Children learn what they live. When we demonstrate healthy ways of dealing with anger, sadness, envy, and other emotions, we teach children positive alternatives to negative behaviors and violence."

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