Mindfulness Skills for Kids & Teens

The most comprehensive, practical and user-friendly workbook written specifically for teaching mindfulness skills to children and adolescents.

Best-selling mindfulness author Debra Burdick has blended the latest research and best practices to create this straight-forward guide for improving self-awareness, self-regulation skills, mental health, and social connectedness in kids and teens. This expertly crafted resource features a collection of more than 150 proven tools and techniques, presented in a simple, step-by-step skill building format. Perfect for mental health practitioners, teachers and all in the helping professions.

• Tools for explaining mindfulness and neurobiology in kids’ language
• Activities, games, and meditations that build basic through advanced mindfulness skills
• Guidance on parental involvement
• Step-by-step instruction on teaching and practicing mindfulness, meditation and reflection
• Guidance on choosing age appropriate skills
• How to apply mindfulness skills to specific childhood mental health disorders
• Journal prompts to help integrate learning
• Goal-setting charts for tracking progress
• Downloadable worksheets, exercises and reflections

 

 

Here’s what reviewers said:

“Outstanding, thoughtful, and well-researched guide for working with children. These methods are applicable to the treatment of children under stress who may be struggling with anxiety, depression, ADHD, post-traumatic stress disorder, medical illness, or other conditions. Excellent integration of neuroscience, child development, and mindfulness, with attention to the nitty-gritty of sound clinical work. Highly recommended for parents, educators, and healthcare professionals.”
– Richard P. Brown, MD
Associate Clinical Professor in Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical College
Co-author of The Healing Power of the Breath and Non-Drug Treatments for ADHD
www.Breath-Body-Mind.com

“Debra Burdick provides a very practical and easy-to-use guide for teaching kids and teens mindfulness techniques and practices. The self-regulation skills that are developed through these practices empower children (and adults) to improve their focus, mood, and emotional self-regulation while becoming more relaxed and less reactive to stress. This is an excellent workbook for clinicians and clients. Burdick breaks down the more than 150 tools and techniques she offers into categories based on age making it easier to choose the appropriate ones whether you are working with a 5 year old or a 15 year old. This workbook will also be useful for parents, educators and yoga teachers who want to integrate mindfulness practices into their work with children.”
– Lawrence Edwards, PhD, LMHC, BCN Senior Fellow
Founder & Director of OPTIMAL MIND®
Founder & Director of the Anam Cara Meditation Foundation
Author of Awakening Kundalini: The Path To Radical Freedom. books and articles on meditation www.optimalmind.net

“Debra Burdick provides invaluable tools that every clinician, teacher, and parent can use in caring for children with mental health issues as well as in helping kids and teens through normal developmental challenges. Thoughtful, clear, and concise, she shares practical techniques for teaching children awareness of their bodies, thoughts, and feelings as the stepping stones to improve attention, emotion regulation, self-esteem, and the ability to relate to others with kindness and compassion. A much needed guide for our children, our times, and ourselves.”
– Patricia L. Gerbarg, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry, New York Medical College
Co-author of The Healing Power of the Breath and Non-Drug Treatments for ADHD
www.Breath-Body-Mind.com

“I am pleased to have been given the chance to review Debra Burdick, LCSWR, BCN’s book Mindfulness Skills for Kids and Teens: A Workbook for Clinicians and Clients with 154 Tools, Techniques, Activities, and Worksheets. This is an amazing, practical addition to the growing resources to help children and adolescents with a range of neurodevelopmental and emotional difficulties develop specific skills to manage stress, tolerate frustration, and gain more awareness of blocks to obtaining what they want in life.

This book is clearly written and will be helpful to children of all ages. It is specific enough to help clinicians and teachers who have limited training in mindfulness integrate these strategies into their work and will be helpful for parents and kids as well. I am very excited to have this resource as difficulties with self- regulation and emotional and behavioral control contribute to clear distress and difficulties for kids as well as their care providers and professionals working to help them.

This resource will empower children and adolescents to learn skills that will serve them for a lifetime, no matter what their struggles are. Thank you for such a pragmatic, clear, and handy manual!”
– Laurie C. Dietzel, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Co-Author, Late, Lost, & Unprepared
Partner, Dietzel Butler & Associates, LLC

“Debra Burdick’s Mindfulness Skills for Kids and Teens provides a wealth of practical life skill building tips and tools for Clinicians who want to incorporate Mindfulness into their practice. This “user-friendly” book offers clinicians a wealth of “hands on,” practical step-by-step exercises and strategies, supported by numerous handouts to use with clients. Refreshing in its approach and well organized, this book will provide clinicians, teachers and even parents an excellent resource to impart skills of mindfulness to children and teens. Based on popular scientific and psychological research, distilled in a way that is easy to understand, these tips and activities can also be easily applied to working with adults. I will certainly add this book to my Therapeutic Toolbox!”
– Judith Belmont, MS
Author of The Tips and Tools for the Therapeutic Toolbox Series (Publisher, PESI) www.belmontwellness.com/

“Of all the experienced psychotherapy and neurofeedback practitioners I know, Deb Burdick (The Brain Lady) is the most talented and assiduous at providing the badly needed ancillary materials that all practitioners need! The skills in this book can be used in session or as “homework assignments” for younger clients and their families. They will insure that the skills acquired in the psychotherapy or neurofeedback session are integrated, assimilated and utilized! Hats off to Deb Burdick for her continued work in this (as yet) neglected–but oh-so-needed area!”
– Stephen Larsen, PhD
Author of The Neurofeedback Solution, The Fundamentalist Mind and The Healing Power of Neurofeedback

“At last we have an easy to use step-by-step guide for clinicians, parents, teachers and youth practitioners that provides solutions for kids of all ages to become more grounded, confident and successful. Debra’s book needs to be in every teacher’s possession so they can implement these mindfulness techniques in their day to day teachings and interactions with students.

Debra’s style is fun, engaging and relevant to the issues and needs of children of all ages. She gives clear, easy to follow instructions and activities that will ensure the success of everyone involved. With our fast paced world, Mindfulness has been left out of the equation in our homes and in our schools. Debra is taking it back to basics in her brilliantly written book that makes neurobiology fun and easy to understand! I am certainly using this book with my students and clients.”
– Julie Kleinhans,
Certified Law of Attraction Coach, Mentor for Youth, Parents and Teachers, Creator of Mind Focus Generation and Host of Successful Kids Revolution www.mindfocusgeneration.com

“Debra Burdick’s new book, Mindfulness Skills for Kids and Teens is a goldmine of on the spot tools and techniques that every clinician, teacher and parent will want to acquire. She takes you through all ages and stages of development with specific directions on how to use and implement her mindfulness techniques. This coupled with the explanation of neuroscience adds to the richness and beauty of this amazing book.”
– Susan P. Epstein, LCSW, Parent Coach.
Author of 55 Creative Approaches for Challenging & Resistant Children & Adolescents: Techniques, Activities, Worksheets
www.ParentingPowers.com