Children’s Emotional Development and Needs: An Interview With Mary Anna Walsh
As a children’s mental health therapist during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mary Anna Walsh noticed a rise in the emotional needs of children due to the loss of social outlets and disruption of settings and routines. In this podcast, she speaks of how children respond to their parents’ stress. “I noticed that the kids often fed off of that which…unintentionally caused a lot of worry and fear.” Mary Anna talks about signs of anxiety in young children and discusses coping skills and play therapy techniques such as deep breathing and sand tray play to help children control their emotions. She reminds parents to look at the root cause of challenging behaviors because children “haven’t had as much time in their lives as we have and don’t know how to handle those big emotions.” She stresses the need to intervene early to address mental health needs of children and their families and hopes that families find balance between keeping their children safe while living a normal life.
Resources
- American Psychological Association. (2022). Magination Press: What to do guides for kids series. https://www.apa.org/pubs/magination/browse?query=series:What+to+Do+Guides+for+Kids+Series&pageSize=50
- Big Life Journal. (2021). Home. https://biglifejournal.com
- Faber, A., & Mazlish, E. (2012). How to talk so kids will listen & listen so kids will talk. Scribner.
- Siegel, D. J. (2012). The whole-brain child: 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child’s developing mind. Bantam.
About the Interviewee
Mary Anna Walsh, LMSW, MSSW, earned her master’s degree in Social Work at the University of Tennessee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked at Branches Counseling Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as the Child and Adolescent Counselor, helping children work through emotional and mental health challenges using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Play Therapy, Sand Play, psychoeducation, trauma processing, grief recovery, and more. She recently moved to Colorado and is now a therapist at the Eating Recovery Center residential facility, helping adolescents recover from eating disorders.
Contact: maryanna.walsh5@gmail.com
Suggested Citation
Bolton, D. (2022, September 1). Children’s emotional development and needs: An interview with Mary Anna Walsh [Audio podcast]. imagine. www.imagine.musictherapy.biz
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