Totally Chill: My Complete Guide to Staying Cool: A Stress Management Workbook for Kids With Social, Emotional, or Sensory Sensitivities

by Christopher Lynch, Kathy Selvaggi-Faden (Foreword by)

Overview

Totally Chill: The Complete Guide to Staying Cool is a stress management workbook that is meant to be read, completed, and used as much as possible by children themselves. Its fun graphics and interactive style make it ideal for children grades 3 through middle school. Everyone feels stress adults and children alike. It is part of life. But life can be a lot easier when we learn new skills and ideas to help us handle the stress in our lives. When parenting, teaching and working with children who have social, emotional, and/or sensory sensitivities, we often put the emphasis on learning new skills. Countless hours are spent working on social skills, fine- and gross-motor skills, language skills, and academic skills, but stress management skills are often left unaddressed. This is unfortunate, as stress can create a multitude of challenges for learning and daily living. In other words, it can create barriers to the very things we are trying to teach. Besides, it can cause distress, which can lead to meltdowns and behavioral outbursts. In short, it is crucial that children learn and develop skills to help them to manage their stress as independently as possible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937473044
Publisher:	Future Horizons, Inc.
Publication date:	05/30/2012
Pages:	135
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	8 - 13 Years

About the Author

Dr. Christopher Lynch is a clinical psychologist who specializes in stress and anxiety management for children. He is currently the director of the Pediatric Behavioral Medicine Department at Goryeb Children's Hospital where he developed the aspirations life management program for children on the autism spectrum. Dr. Lynch has over fifteen years of experience in working with children. It is his ambition to continue to develop services and resources that provide children with the skills needed to both cope and thrive.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction for Parents, Teachers, and Therapists
Chapter 1 - What Makes Me Stressed?
Chapter 2 - The Science of Stress
Chapter 3 - Relaxation Part 1: Relaxing My Body
Chapter 4 - Relaxation Part 2: Relaxing My Mind
Chapter 5 - Flexible Thinking
Chapter 6 - Problem Solving
Chapter 7 - Getting Organized
Chapter 8 - Being Healthy
Chapter 9 - Getting Along With Other Kids
Chapter 10 - Using My Strengths
Conclusion and Celebration
Bibliography and Resources

Editorial Reviews

Dr. Lynch’s therapeutic skills, honed during many years of clinical practice, combined with his affable personality, have enabled him to author this workbook for older children and teenagers struggling with anxiety, stress, and sensory issues. By providing factual information to inform the various self-help tasks, encouraging choices, and giving feedback, he engages the intellectual curiosity of these youngsters while at the same time enabling them to begin to understand and take control over issues that are disruptive to their daily functioning. This book is a welcome addition to the ‘tool kits’ of these youngsters, their parents, teachers, and therapists.” – Harvey S. Bennett, MD, director of Child Neurology and Developmental Medicine, Goryeb Children’s Hospital; clinical professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

“Totally Chill: My Complete Guide to Staying Cool – A Stress Management Workbook for Kids With Social, Emotional, or Sensory Sensitivities tackles the complex web of stress and breaks it down into manageable pieces. Incredibly user friendly, the book is full of practical strategies for helping children and adolescents learn skills to manage the triggers and stressors in their lives. I highly recommend this comprehensive book as an indispensable guidebook for children and adolescents as they learn about themselves and ways to effectively handle life’s challenges.” – Lauren H. Kerstein, LCSW, child and family psychotherapist; adjunct professor, University of Denver – Graduate School of Social Work; author of My Sensory Book: Working Together to Explore Sensory Issues and the Big Feelings They Can Cause

“Dr. Lynch’s extensive experience with children and families translates effectively into innovative and practical strategies for relaxation and stress management in his book, Totally Chill. Keeping cool becomes fun.” – Janet Oberman, PhD, psychologist

“Christopher Lynch has created a valuable resource for children who experience stress and anxiety. The book teaches children relaxation techniques and other strategies that can help them cope with their stress throughout their daily schedule. This is a great resource for children, parents, teachers, and counselors.” – Melissa L. Trautman, MSEd, regional coordinator for the Nebraska Autism Spectrum Disorders Network; author of My New School: A Workbook to Help Students Transition to a New School and co-author of 2011 Hidden Curriculum One A-Day Calendar for Kids and The Hidden Curriculum: Practical Solutions for Understanding Unstated Rules in Social Situations

“I love the book’s focus on the feelings we all experience and ways to recognize when they might become a problem. The tools and strategies will be great aids in helping visual learners identify and problem solve around emotions and stress issues. I plan to recommend this book to families with ASD that I work with.” – Margaret Hefferle, BSN, RN, case manager, Special Child Health Services; parent of a young adult with autism

“Written in a very approachable style and with totally cool illustrations, the book offers a lot of ideas that will help my patients with social, emotional, and sensory sensitivities. While geared for readers ages 8 through 13, I think this workbook can also be used by older children, even adults. I love the way it includes healthy eating and sleeping habits as part of stress management. It will be a very helpful book for professionals working with all types of children with social, emotional, or sensory sensitivities.”– Tosan Livingstone, MD, neurodevelopmental pediatrician, Child Development Center, Morristown Memorial (Goryeb) Hospital

“In Totally Chill, Christopher Lynch has created a holistic approach to stress management that speaks directly to the challenges of meeting others’ expectations while regulating one’s own behaviors. Through a framework of self-awareness and factual information, readers are made to feel secure in their footing as they follow the path toward meaningful change. Can’t wait to include this in our programming for children and adolescents!” – Sherry A. Moyer, MSW, LSW, executive and research director, University of Toledo Center for Excellence in Autism; author of The ECLIPSE Model

From the Publisher