Mental Health Issues in the K-5 Classroom: Practical Strategies for Helping Young Students Succeed at School – Cheryl Catron

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As the leader of a K-5 classroom, you know more about your students throughout the year than anyone in the building (and sometimes even the parents). Your careful eye is crucial to the academic, social, and emotional development of your students – and you know when something is “off.”

Students who are struggling with mental health issues are often first identified through their behavior, which, while developmentally appropriate, makes it hard to know how to respond effectively.

Join child/adolescent behavioral expert and former educator Cheryl Catron, M.Ed., LPCC-S, RPT-S, in this compelling recording that willtransform your perception of and response to emotional and behavior problems in your classroom, including:

• Tantrums and meltdowns
• Impulsivity
• Running out of the room
• Perfectionism and rigidity
• Suicidal ideation and behavior
• Sensory issues
• Refusal to do work
• Difficulty with transitions
• Disrupting others
• Irritability, lashing out, aggressive behavior
• Overt self-harm (head banging, hitting self)
• School avoidance

Don’t miss this unique training that’s sure to have you furiously writing down notes, ideas, and plans to transform your approach with the students who need you the most. Purchase today!

1. Differentiate between developmentally appropriate behavior and that which may be in response to a mental health condition.
2. Apply de-escalation strategies with students who are behaving in an oppositional manner.
3. Implement school-based strategies to effectively respond to behavioral issues that arise from mental health conditions.
4. Develop skills to identify signs of anxiety and/or depression in young students.
5. Apply the knowledge gained from the ACEs study to recognize and respond to students who may be experiencing traumatic stress.
6. Utilize effective communication skills for discussing risk of suicide with students, staff, and parents.

K-5 Students with Mental Health Issues

• When you know something’s going on, but you don’t know what it is
• Characteristics of at-risk students
• Why children are not small adults
• How skill deficits from mental health issues create behavioral difficulties
• The difference between “can’t” and “won’t”
• How maladaptive behavior serves as protection for the child
• Common myths and limitations about diagnoses

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

• What adults should never say (but usually do)
• How behavior reveals a need
• Are you (unintentionally) rewarding misbehavior?
• Kids who don’t feel bad
• Arguing with a defiant child – who is that about?
• De-escalation strategies that work

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

• The unique needs of children with ADHD
• More than a behavior problem: the neurobiology of ADHD
• How to increase confidence and leadership skills in kids with ADHD
• Decrease disruptions and impulsive behavior
• Improve transitions, social skills, and self-regulation
• ADHD medications: What do teachers need to know?

Anxiety

• What we know about kids who worry too much
• School anxiety – types, characteristics
• What to do about separation anxiety
• The perfectionistic student
• Drawing out the anxious student in a safe way

Depression & Mood Dysregulation

• How depression shows up in young children
• Helping students overcome helplessness
• When is it more than moodiness?
• Helping depressed kids change their inner self-talk

Trauma and Other Significant Life Events

• What the ACEs study has taught us about trauma
• The fight, flight, or freeze response in the classroom
• How to recognize and respond to traumatic stress
• What if you don’t know the child’s history?
• Incorporating trauma-informed practices into your day

Suicide, Self-Harm, and Bullying

• How we talk about suicide is important
• Head banging, hitting, scratching, and other “self-punishment”
• Helping ostracized children feel connected
• Why traditional discipline doesn’t work for bullies
• Making your classroom an emotionally safe space

Other School-Based Considerations

• Collaborating with student support staff and outside clinicians
• Working with non-cooperative/reluctant parents
• Identifying your own triggers, choosing your battles
• Discipline – IDEA, special education consideration
• Screen time in the classroom – why reward systems don’t work
• Limitations of research and potential risks