The BrightMind Bulletin

Rooted in the Spill Threshold model from Before It Spills – Real Talk.

By the time you reach the end of the holiday season, the goal is simple: keep the household from crossing the line where everyone spills at once. You have spent weeks managing moods, routines, financial strain, comparison pressu...

Built on the Spill Threshold model from Before It Spills – Real Talk.

Parents think they are doing a great job hiding financial stress from their kids. They lower their voices when talking about bills. They swipe the debit card with confidence they do not actually feel. They smile through tough dec...

Grounded in the Spill Threshold model from Before It Spills – Real Talk.

Every year, without fail, the return to school after the holidays hits teens like a brick. Parents assume the break should leave them recharged. It does not. If anything, the break pushes their Spill Threshold higher, not lowe...

Built on the Spill Threshold model from Before It Spills – Real Talk.

We spend a lot of time talking about how teens shut down, act out, or fall apart during the holidays. What we do not talk about enough is the other half of the equation. Parents hit their spill threshold too. And whether you like...

Using the Spill Threshold model from Before It Spills – Real Talk.

By the time the holidays end and the house finally gets quiet again, most teens are not starting the new year refreshed. They are starting it depleted. Everything they held in for a month comes crashing down the moment the decoratio...

Built on the Spill Threshold model from Before It Spills – Real Talk.

Holiday stress used to be simple for kids. They worried about whether Santa was watching and whether they were getting something good. But by the time kids hit middle school and high school, the season becomes a scoreboard they n...

Based on the Spill Threshold model from Before It Spills – Real Talk.

By the time the holidays end, most families are coming off a month of emotional noise. Kids are overstimulated. Parents are exhausted. Sleep schedules are wrecked. Everyone’s patience is shorter than usual. This is when the Spill...

Grounded in the emotional regulation tools from BrightPath Leader and the behavioral insights in Counselor’s Playbook.

Every family hits a point in December when someone in the house loses it. It might be a teen, a child, or even a parent who thought they were holding it together until a minor inco...

Drawn from the emotional regulation tools in BrightPath Leader and the communication strategies in Counselor’s Playbook.

There is a moment every parent of a teen experiences in December.
You call their name.
You ask a simple question.
You get a response that sounds like a tired elevator bell.

The ...

Every parent eventually walks into the living room, looks at their child, and realizes something is different. The holidays arrive and your kid changes. One day they are affectionate. The next day they have the emotional range of a brick. You ask a simple question and they respond as if you have rui...