Crossroads Counseling and Life Coaching, LLC

12/11/2025

🎙️ New Galesburg In Focus Podcast

“The Science of Staying Calm This Holiday Season”

The holidays can feel like a pressure cooker. WGIL's Chris Postin talks with Galesburg therapist Becky Mowers, LCSW (Crossroads Counseling and Life Coaching, LLC) about why holiday stress hits the brain so hard — and simple, science-backed ways to shut down the panic button and actually enjoy the season.

- Why perfectionism and family dynamics trigger fight-or-flight
- The vagus-nerve breathing trick that works in minutes
- Real talk about grief, sensory overload, and money stress
- Practical tips you can use starting today

🎧 Listen now: https://www.wgil.com/episode/podcast-science-of-staying-calm-holiday-season/

12/09/2025

Feeling the stress as the Holiday Season continues to ramp up? Check out this post with GREAT TIPS on how to manage stress and avoid holiday burnout!
https://www.appreciationatwork.com/blog/tips-for-managing-stress-and-avoiding-holiday-burnout/

The holidays. Two words packed with memories, images from beloved movies, long to-do lists and mixed emotions. The Hannukah-Christmas-New Year’s holiday season has begun, and if you are like me, it causes a rapid succession of excitement, anticipation, anxiety, wonder, and exhaustion ― all before I’ve even done anything. Link below.

https://www.appreciationatwork.com/blog/tips-for-managing-stress-and-avoiding-ay-burnout/

10/31/2025

Strategies for kids and teens who struggle with executive functioning challenges: https://www.thepathway2success.com/helping-kids-and-teens-who-struggle-with-executive-functioning-skills/

10/31/2025

It's National Sensory Awareness Month 🧡💙

What could you add to this list of fight response?

FIGHT, Flight, Freeze & Fawn

- noncompliant
- hitting and punching
- biting
- aggressive
- demanding
- angry and furious
- controlling
- crying
- argumentative
- hyperactive

Sensory Processing Disorder Parent Support
sensoryprocessingdisorderparentsupport.com

10/31/2025

It's National Sensory Awareness Month 🧡💙

What could you add to these flight responses?

Fight, FLIGHT, Freeze & Fawn

- stimming
- anxious and panicking
- fidgeting
- having tantrums
- hiding
- avoiding
- feeling trapped
- wandering
- running away
- wanting to escape

Sensory Processing Disorder Parent Support
sensoryprocessingdisorderparentsupport.com

10/31/2025

When a child’s emotional brain takes over, logic and reason switch off — and connection becomes the bridge back to calm.

These phrases don’t fix the feeling; they regulate the brain behind it.
Save this as part of your calm-down toolkit and share with anyone who supports children through big emotions.

You can find more brain-based strategies like this in The Child Brain Toolkit — download from The Contented Child via link in comments or Linktree Store in Bio.

10/29/2025

A child’s nervous system can’t regulate well when their body’s needs aren’t met.

Sometimes the most powerful support is meeting the physical need first.

Download our Managing Big Feelings, a Toolkit for Parents & Educators - link in comments ⬇️ or via our Linktree Store in Bio.

10/29/2025

VOICE OF THE CHILD:
“When I am mid-meltdown, I need…”

So often, a child’s behaviour during a meltdown is misunderstood as defiance, attention-seeking, or lack of discipline.
But what’s really happening is distress — not disobedience.

This visual gives a glimpse into what a young person might wish they could say in those intense moments, if they could find the words.

Our Managing Difficult Feelings Toolkit helps parents and educators understand what’s underneath these moments — and how to respond in ways that calm the brain, protect connection, and build emotional safety.
Download your toolkit at link in comments or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

What helps your child most when they’re overwhelmed? Let’s share ideas that make those moments a little gentler for everyone.

10/29/2025

Before a child can calm themselves, they first need to experience calm with someone.
Co-regulation is the bridge — it’s how children borrow our calm to find their own.

When adults stay steady through storms of big feelings, we’re not just managing behaviour — we’re wiring the brain for emotional safety and self-control.

Explore practical ways to support co-regulation and help children manage big feelings with our Managing Big Feelings Toolkit for Parents & Educators. Link in comments or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

10/26/2025

And so it is...
Creator unknown- shared with Gratitude.

The Wyse Woman

10/24/2025

WHEN I COME OUT OF SCHOOL…

I’ve held it together all day — smiling when I didn’t feel OK, copying others so I could fit in, keeping my stims small and hidden.

So when I come out of school…
Please don’t ask me to talk straight away.
Please don’t tell me how good I was.
Please just let me rest, be quiet, and feel safe again.

Want to understand more about masking and neurodivergent wellbeing?

Explore the full Masking Toolkit by The Contented Child for visuals, guides, and practical tools that help uncover what’s behind the mask — and support children to feel safe being their true selves. Link in comments ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in our Bio.

NOTE
Some children do mask so competently that it can be hard to get a diagnosis - that is why I created Meet My Brain: Power & the Tricky Bits. Link in comments.