Relational Spaces

29/08/2023

📝 As we settle into a new school year, here are some takeaways from and during the Back to School Mental Health Event sponsored by The Black Physicians of Utah

👩🏽‍🏫 We enjoyed seeing the diverse representation of mental health advocates in our Black & POC communities.

💪🏿 We are happy to begin hosting BPOU’s Black Men’s Mental Health groups in Utah County at the Utah Center for Connection on the third Thursday of every month.

🗞️ Join BPOU’s newsletter & ours for more information on how you can be involved and receive support from qualified mental health professionals.

17/03/2022

Excited to contribute to the Division’s annual Multicultural Youth Leadership Day!

03/12/2021

Sounds like it’s turning into the most unnecessarily stressful time of the year with these school board meetings. 🥴

I’d like to help.

If you’ve taken my Relational Maintenance Course, this Prep & Debrief School Board Meeting Stress Series (say that 5 times fast) is the ongoing application, practice, processing & expansion on the Maintenance Skill by going through each of the Relational Stamina Stages.

Link in the bio. Registration Info at the link.

💰 Economic Barrier removal is included in each registration for members of BIPOC communities to attend the Series within Affinity Spaces.

✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽 DM me for details.

Let’s gear up for healthier conversations and ways of relating with each other & let’s do it intentionally.

Virtual for now.
In-person & Virtual at The UCC in January 2022.

Let’s create community that fosters connection.

~ 🧡 Dr LaShawn

28/11/2021

This is a great read & it’s what the “Building Relational Stamina: Maintenance Skills” Course prepares you to do with people in your life. 🙌🏿🎉

Before you can engage with or invest in them, you have to be able to maintain a relationship with them that decreases the opportunity for conflict to escalate.

Link to the course in the comments!
—-
“The new research shows that if you want to change someone’s mind, you need to have patience with them, ask them to reflect on their life, and listen. It’s not about calling people out or labeling them fill-in-the-blank-phobic. Which makes it feel like a big departure from a lot of the current political dialogue.”

"One way the internet distorts our picture of ourselves is by feeding the human tendency to overestimate our knowledge of how the world works," writes philosophy professor Michael Patrick Lynch.

23/11/2021

What does it take to maintain a relationship?

Actively reducing opportunities for conflict to escalate.

Many of us get exhausted emotionally, psychologically & physically by the presence of conflict in our relationships. We jump in to correct, fix & solve without ensuring that it’s the best use of our energy in the moment. Relationships are made up of thousands of interchanges between and among people. That means that this moment isn’t the only moment and it certainly doesn’t have to be THE moment.

Sometimes what’s best is to maintain a relationship until you can determine when, if, and how to engage the relationship. Reducing opportunities for conflict to escalate is the primary focus and goal when choosing to maintain connection in a relationship.

I created a quick online course as a pilot opportunity that shares this informational process. It’s available in my bio and open for feedback through the rest of the year! Thanks in advance for your support.

-🧡 Dr LaShawn

23/11/2021

Tis the season!

Wondering how to survive across the table when those “across the aisle” conversations begin? Maybe you’re out of a relationship that can’t really end due to circumstances outside of your control like shared bloodlines, lifelong history, family membership, professional connections, or co-parenting? Do you find yourself exhausted when interacting with specific people because it always turns into conflict that you don’t intend? Have you wondered if it’s truly possible to maintain healthy connections despite deep seas of difference?

Me, too.

Over time, I’ve noticed that there are a few healthy (and eventually comfortable) ways to ground ourselves, use our voices to share our “wills & won’ts,” all while staying connected to our values in the midst of these stress and anxiety-inducing connections.

I’ve put together a few quick mini-courses for you to explore what it means to maintain a connection across differences. This month, the focus is on identifying what maintenance is, what it means and which relationships need to be maintained in healthier, less exhausting ways.

This is the pilot version taken from my Interpersonal Relational Coaching Program offered virtually & in person. The polished version is coming soon! But for now? Done is better than perfect 🙌🏿 Stay tuned for more :) The link is available in the bio.

Let’s build and nurture our relational stamina!

~🧡
Dr LaShawn

12/04/2021

🎶 "What about your friends?" 🎶

Spring time will have us venturing out a bit more as the weather changes. Who are we bringing with us? Deal friends or Real Friends?

If your social life is leaving you unfulfilled, you might have too many deal friends, and not enough real friends.

29/08/2020

Do you have Littles that struggle with anxiety? This one is going on the shelf!

Today's A Mighty Girl Community Pick: "Ruby Finds A Worry" by Tom Percival. Ruby is a happy, exuberant girl… until she finds the Worry. At first, the worry, which is depicted as a yellow blob with a frowny unibrow, seems very small, but it follows her around, and as it does, it grows bigger and bigger. Eventually, it's so big that she can't see or think about anything else. It's not until she meets a boy with his own Worry -- and discovers that both of their worries shrink when they talk about them -- that Ruby realizes there are things she can do to keep her Worry from becoming overwhelming. This reassuring picture book explores anxiety in a kid-friendly way, and shows children how talking to others about their worries can help them feel better and back in control. Highly recommended for ages 4 to 7.

"Ruby Finds A Worry" is available at https://www.amightygirl.com/ruby-finds-a-worry

Percival is also the author of two related picture books, "Perfectly Norman" about self-acceptance (https://amzn.to/3d3SEGl) and "Ravi's Roar" about temper tantrms (https://amzn.to/2QjHvaK)

For books to help older kids understand and manage anxiety and worry, we recommend "What To Do When You Worry Too Much" for ages 6 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/when-you-worry-too-much), "Outsmarting Worry" for ages 9 to 13 (https://www.amightygirl.com/outsmarting-worry), and "The Anxiety Workbook for Teens" for ages 13 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-anxiety-workbook-for-teens)

If you're an anxious parent hoping to break the cycle of worry, we highly recommend the parenting book "Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous and Independent Children" at https://www.amightygirl.com/anxious-kids-anxious-parents

For more books to help kids and teens manage their anxiety, visit our blog post "When You Worry Too Much: 25 Books to Help Kids Overcome Anxiety, Worry, and Fear" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=22612