Aliza W. Pressman, PhD
Host of “Raising Good Humans” Podcast
Co-founder Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Division of Behavior and Development, Ichan School of Medicine
Opening Keynote with Aliza W. Pressman, PhD
8:30-9:30 am
How to Really Talk to Your Children to Connect: Building Trust and Setting the Stage for Difficult Conversations
The single biggest environmental predictor of resilience is having at least one loving and supportive caregiver with whom a child feels a connection. For many children, talking about feelings, both positive and negative, is difficult. Gain concrete tools as parents, caregivers, and professionals to assist in building the underlying connections that are imperative for establishing trust. Dr. Pressman will address specific ways to build bridges and recognize opportunities to facilitate dialogue with children. Learning how to engage in conversation with children, and offering ourselves as a model for our children, will help to set the stage for more difficult topics.
Mindfulness Workshop with Frankie Engelking, Director of Mindfulness & Service Learning & Kara Barber, Middle School Teacher
9:40-10:10 am
In this practical and participatory workshop learn about the many benefits of mindfulness. Experience first-hand how mindfulness activities can improve your focus, self-regulation, and reduce children’s stress and anxiety to improve academic and athletic performance. McLean School’s very own Frankie Engelking and Kara Barber will lead this workshop, referring to their own experiences using mindfulness in McLean’s classrooms and our guide, Mindful School. Mindful Community.: McLean School’s Curriculum and Guide for Educators Information, Resources, and Materials to Develop, Implement, and Sustain a K-12 Mindfulness Program.
Panel Discussion, 10:20-11:00 am
Decoding the Kid Code: What are some ways to recognize, identify, and implement connectivity with our children based on their personalities?
Join us for a panel discussion which will include prestigious members of our mental health community to help us “decode the kid code.” All children respond in a different manner when presented with the opportunity to discuss feelings including engaging willingly but superficially disengaging, and becoming angry. Our panel will discuss how to help parents read the signs our children are trying to send us, and will offer strategies from various developmental levels, professional perspectives, and age groups.
Closing Keynote with Aliza W. Pressman, PhD
11:10 am-12:10 pm
Foundational Skills to Combat Perfectionism and Promote Resilience
Dr. Pressman will walk through the specific skills to help combat a perfectionistic mindset that can be detrimental to building resilience. Several take home tools will be discussed to help increase resilience and decrease negative self-talk. Some of the topics to be explored include:
- Self Regulation: the ability to understand and manage your behavior and your reactions to feelings and things happening around you. Self-regulation includes being able to regulate reactions to strong emotions like frustration, excitement, anger, and embarrassment. It also includes the ability to calm down after something exciting or upsetting.
- Autonomy: the ability to be self-reflective of one’s personal wishes and intentions, and self-govern in a meaningful and independent manner.
- Motivation: the ability to understand the environmental, biological, and psychological factors contributing to motivation, a lack of motivation, and what makes maintaining motivation difficult.
- Empathy: our ability to recognize, understand, and connect with others’ feelings and experiences.
Aliza W. Pressman, PhD
Dr. Aliza Pressman is the Co-Founding Director and Director of Clinical Programming for the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, as well as an Assistant Clinical Professor for the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Pressman received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, her MA in Risk, Resilience, and Prevention from the Department of Human Development at Teacher’s College, and her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She was a research fellow at The National Center for Children and Families. Dr. Pressman is certified in Parent Management Training from the Yale Parenting Center. She has been a clinical instructor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the Department of Pediatrics since 2011. Dr. Pressman is also the Co-Founder of the SeedlingsGroup, a New York City and Los Angeles parent education group that uses evidence-based research and information to educate and guide families about their developing children. Visit the Parenting Center’s website here. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Pressman is known for her podcast, Raising Good Humans, a podcast for parents with a goal of helping to make the journey of being a parent less overwhelming and a little more joyful!
Please join Dr. Pressman every Friday for new episodes of Raising Good Humans.
Contact: raisinggoodhumanspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram: @raisinggoodhumanspodcast
Book Publication: October 2023
