Three Ways to Support Suicide Prevention
Every year, thousands of individuals die by suicide and these numbers continue to increase. We can all help to reverse this trend. Here are three simple ways to be a positive force.Read More
Your Child and Virtual Learning
As summer ends the reality (whether parents, students, or school systems like it or not), is that most students are headed toward a mostly or entirely virtual fall.Read More
A New School Year: Expect the Unexpected
Figuring out how to safely reopen schools this fall is one of the most challenging decisions of the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
What Are You Doing with One of Your Most Powerful Superpowers?
Attention is power. It can bring us wellbeing and effectiveness. Left to its own devices, our attention can often flit about, at the mercy of our brain’s draw to stimuli. We can all be more conscious of the power of our attention.Read More
Employees Feeling the Stress?
Many are facing financial constraints with reduced work schedules or layoffs, making it more difficult to make ends meet or put food on their tables. As an employer, it is critical we extend empathy and grace to our employees during this time. Employee stress and mental health challenges are at an all-time high. Leaders should be prepared to recognize the signs of stress from their direct reports and provide tools to offer ideas and support.Read More
Better than Gazing at Grass
Do you remember the profound sense of boredom that could inflict you as a child? Perhaps with the influx of screens many kids access at will, they don’t have those loooong summer afternoons with nothing to do; the times when it’s on you to make up your own fun. Here we are in 2020, the plaintive “but what will we do?” is being heard again across our child welfare systems as families and kids interact socially distanced, through a video camera or outside. To answer that plea, we offer this list of activities you can do distanced, both with and without materials or objects.Read More
The Air Beneath Us
When asked, “How are you doing?” the answer is always some version of “as well as I can be.” Many things that we used to anchor our safety and security to are gone. And the initial strategy of waiting it out is simply inadequate. Like a child holding their breath to get their way, it just can’t last. As I needed to make peace with the fact that the ground is and will be about as steady as quicksand, I searched for a metaphor to get me through the tough times.Read More
Life after Foster Care
With celebrations, graduation parties, and preparing for college in the fall, many young adults completing high school are itching with anticipation to leave “the nest.” These young adults may feel a newly found freedom and take for granted their intricately woven support system that helps them along the way. For young adults in foster care who are graduating from high school, this transition often looks much different.Read More
Building New Families through Foster Care
The idea of providing foster care may be an exciting thought for some, but may bring about feelings of nervousness and discomfort for others. Nexus-PATH Family Healing foster parent, Mike Romans, and social worker, Megan Bjone, put those feelings to ease through sharing their stories and experiences in building families through foster care on the podcast, JJ Meets World.Read More
Fishing for Health
Sport fishing is the lifeblood of the Mille Lacs Lake area in Minnesota where one of our youth residential treatment facilities, Nexus-Mille Lacs calls home. The simple joys of fishing are apparent – fresh air, the simple beauty of nature, the thrill of “fish on,” and a little peace and quiet to name a few. But what about some of the deeper benefits that the sport of fishing has to offer? Things like relationship building, the importance of self-care – allowing one’s mind and body the opportunity to relax and develop positive coping techniques. Spending time in nature can reduce stress and anxiety and elevate your mood.Read More
