Blog

In recent years, use of technology and the internet by kids and teens has grown exponentially. With this growth has come some incredible benefits and some risk that needs to be recognized and managed. Across the board, we have never had more access to a wider breadth of information than we do at this time. Google, ChatGPT, and social media open up our world in a way that is unprecedented, and that can absolutely be used for good. Even so, when working with or raising kids, it’s important to be mindful of the ways that the internet can be harmful so that we can be proactive in helping foster a healthy relationship with being online from a young age.

The Center for Effective Therapy at The Baker Center for Children and Families places great value on providing the highest quality of evidence-based care for all. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a gold-standard treatment designed for children between the ages of 2-7 who experience behavioral challenges, ADHD, trauma, anxiety, ASD< attachment challenges, and social skills difficulties, and it was traditionally administered in person. The COVID-19 pandemic created unexpected shifts in the ways that our clinicians, and clinicians all over the world, provide treatment, and PCIT was no exception. Where sessions previously had taken place in clinics, PCIT was being delivered via telehealth to provide continued access to care during a global emergency.

We know that caregiver burnout can lead caregivers to feeling alienated, exhausted, stressed, anxious, and even depressed. When you’re taking care of others, it can sometimes feel like the demands never end, and your own well-being can fall to the wayside. When you’re already feeling burnt-out, being told to practice self-care can feel frustrating, because who has the time to do one more thing when you’re doing a million things for your family and your job already. Self-care can feel like another responsibility that you just don’t have the time for.

Being a parent can be stressful even during the best of times. Raising kids requires a lot of time and energy that goes into taking care of others emotionally and physically, in ways that naturally stretch beyond the care that you would just have to provide for yourself. Instead of scheduling just your own doctor’s appointments or cooking your own meals, you’re probably doing these things for your whole family. Instead of managing the time and finances of yourself, and maybe your partner, with kids you take on the responsibility of planning for them too. It can be easy to feel like your life has become about others, and to lose sight of your own well-being as you’re keeping the family afloat.

This is an interview with Tessa Palafu, Senior Implementation Research Assistant at our Implementation Research Division. Tessa recently celebrated two years working at The Baker Center!