Leah Prejserowicz M.A, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy & Parental Guidance

03/06/2024

Get Help Israel conference on treating PTSD. What a beautiful location. ❤️

13/06/2023

So true..

13/06/2023

So true..

This is so true

20/12/2022

Sevivon/Dreidel Game Revised – Relationship Booster.

To play the game you need - a Sevivon/Dreidel with the letters נגהפ and a small bag of snacks/beans/anything small. Spin the dreidel in turns.

1. 'Nun' - 'נ' - NICE. Say something nice to one of the players. It can be something about what they did over the last week, something you like about them (maybe they are funny or sweet) or something you like about their appearance, (great smile or awesome t-shirt).
p.s. we are trying to promote positive conversation which creates feelings of closeness.
p.p.s. It’s not always easy for all kids to do this and it sometimes requires practice.

2. 'Gimmel' - 'ג' - GIVE. Give one snack to each of the players
p.s. Sharing is one of the tools that promotes social interactions and we can try and encourage sharing while also reinforcing appreciation and thanks.

3. 'Hey' -'ה' – HABIT. Something you would like work on so that it will become a habit.
p.s. They say that in order to create a habit we need to practice something 20 days in a row. What would you like to be able to do easily, without it being too much of an effort?
What are each person’s goals?

4. 'Pey' - 'פ' – PROUD. – Tell the group something I am proud of. It can be something I did recently or a long time ago. It can be something I did for myself or for someone else.
p.s. We are trying to work on self-confidence and the ability to find positive things about myself.

Hope you love the game.
Wishing you a Channukah Sameach.

❤️ Ra'anana Therapy Centre

29/05/2022

What does SUCCESS mean to you?

So many people walk around with the feeling of being unsuccessful.
Whether it’s about financial success, family life (the ideal family), their kids’ academics or personal goals.
Success is something that means a lot to people and puts a kind of pressure on people’s lives.

We find ourselves comparing ourselves to others — grades, jobs, homes, free time… you name it.

Did you know that most successful people have failed multiple times?

Did you know that we all learned to walk?

If we had the mindset we had back when we were babies, we’d be in a better place.

If we believed back then that once we fall down we should just give up, none of us would be walking at this stage.

Let’s take this idea from babies when they learn to walk. They fall. Yes, they fail. Yes

But they keep on getting back up and never give up. Without that resilience and persistence, none of us would have learned to walk. None of us would have succeeded.

How can we apply this to our lives?
What’s one thing you’d like to achieve, no matter how many times you fall down?

Share with us.
Ra’anana Therapy Centre.

09/12/2021

New at Ra'anana Therapy Centre! Tip Corner!

This one is for pregnant women with any sort of mental health history contemplating where to give birth. We hope this is helpful!
For further information or to set a consult, please be in touch.

New at Ra'anana Therapy Centre! Tip Corner!
This one is for pregnant women with any sort of mental health history contemplating where to give birth. We hope this is helpful!

For further information or to set a consult, please be in touch.
052-577-4748 Leah
054-760-3094 Danielle

10/10/2021

some new groups opening up for kids :)

12/09/2021

Does your child refuse to apologize, even before Yom Kippur?

Many children have difficulty saying sorry. They tend to think they are right and like to end all arguments that way... by being right. This often escalates into arguments, anger and punishment. Let’s try and understand what may be happening. Children don’t intentionally try be be stubborn or rude. In all likelihood, it is a result of the child’s inability to process and analyze information when the event happens.

Children with Anxiety or ADHD often feel like all the people around them are “against them”. For a child to know what’s going on and take responsibility for his/her action a lot of processing of one’s thoughts, behaviours and emotions need to happen. The child needs to understand what he did, what he felt, what he thought that rationalized what he did, what happened to the other person, what the other person thought about it and what’s acceptable or unacceptable behavior. Many children, especially children with ADHD are often unable to figure this overwhelming amount of information out while being emotionally involved in the thick of it. This is often the root of many issues with ADHD children who are overwhelmed by their own intense emotions and are unable to see the other person’s reactions and understand them, or in other words, to show empathy. This ultimately prevents them from asking for forgiveness.

** How can we teach a child to understand how to say SORRY and mean it?
1. We need to allow time to process and understand the event. Often we want the child to apologize immediately, but when the child is caught up in his strong emotions, he isn’t able to understand what happened and why he needs to apologize. We want a genuine apology so forcing it prematurely when we ourselves are still stressed about what happened may cause the child to regret apologizing.

2. Set an example and apologize yourself for something you have done. What we do as parents has a huge effect on what our children do, and letting them see us model this behaviour will be more effective than explaining it to them.

3. Help your child process the event. Many children, and especially children with ADHD, have a difficult time processing what happened. Help them to understand or translate what happened in small stages will help them come to an appropriate solution on their own. In general separate between what the child felt (which is legitimate and valued) to what he/she may have done (the behaviour we are trying to change).

4. Be with the child and be able to translate what’s going on while it’s actually happening.

5. Work on your own reactions. Children with ADHD are typically stressed and often feel guilty about something happening. Try and explain in a calm tone without shouting or punishing. The lesson we want them to remember is how to act appropriately and what their actions mean, and not the punishment that they may not connect to their behaviour.

Hope you have a great new year and a gmar chatima tova!

Leah Prejserowicz M.A.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapist at Ra’anana Therapy Centre.
www.raananatherapycentre.com

12/05/2021

How is everyone doing?
Here are some TIPS for all those that have hearts that are racing a mile a minute from the sirens.

Firstly, know that your body is working properly. It’s trying to help you to escape something dangerous and it’s a survival tactic we have in our bodies. When our hearts race, we release adrenaline allowing us extra energy to be able to deal with danger. Your job is to get to a safe place, a shelter/miklat or a stairwell/2 floors lower than where you live.
Once you’ve done that, and now that you’re in that safe place, here are some techniques to calm yourself down.

1. BREATH. Pay attention to your body and specifically your racing heart. Try some breathing exercises. Inhale deeply into your stomach and slowly exhale your breath by either using a straw shape with your mouth or by saying “ssss…” as slowly as possible. When we exhale like that we are slowing down our heart from racing and therefore calming ourselves down.

2. HUG someone. Touch releases hormones that help us feel calm. If you have children, hug them and breath together. Your calm with help them deal with what they are feeling.
If you are by yourself, cross your arms and hug your shoulders. This has the same affect on releasing those calming hormones.

3. Keep your MIND busy, look around and find something blue, something orange, something round and something square.

4. Do NOT watch news all day. News is known to increase anxiety. Keep updated but limit yourself to not get caught up in it at all times. Do not expose children to graphic images, they respond differently to the way that we do.

5. Help separate the danger (when there is a siren) to when there is fear (that often stays long after the siren is here). When there is no siren, remind yourself you are safe. There is no immediate danger, you are ok and you have the strength to deal with whatever comes up.

6. BELIEF. Remember that we have someone watching over us, we have the Iron dome, we have an army to protect us and we will get through this.

Wishing you all safety, calm and love. We will get through this together.

Leah Prejserowicz M.A.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapist