Each year during the month of May, organizations like and , raise awareness and highlight the importance of mental health through local events, media, and health screenings. The unfortunate reality is there is a growing number of Americans who are living with mental illness or have been impacted by trauma. This, in turn, can significantly affect their physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Mental health organizations, like NAMI, work to support, educate, and advocate for policies that assist children, families, and communities.

As an organization, 优蜜视频 is also dedicated to serving the holistic development and needs of gifted youth by recognizing that they have important aspects of themselves, including intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical. These unique facets of gifted youth must be met for them to find balance in their lives and actualize their full potential. We know that some of these young people are more vulnerable to facing social and emotional challenges that stem from being gifted and trying to navigate a world that doesn鈥檛 readily accept or understand them.

In support of National Mental Health Month and to acknowledge the importance of mental well-being among our gifted youth, we鈥檝e compiled a list of mental health professionals and organizations who understand and have experience working with gifted families and communities.

Licensed and SENG-certified psychologist, Dr. Vula Baliotis, is based out of the Los Angeles area and specializes in working with gifted, creative, and highly sensitive youth and their parents. She offers psychotherapy and consultation for children and parents and assessment for twice exceptionality, learning disabilities, and emotional, social, or behavioral difficulties.

CFC utilizes a connection-based model that provides more comprehensive services for families, with independent professionals ranging from psychotherapy to parent education to neuropsychological assessments, from physical health and educational therapy to occupational therapy, and more.

The Center for the Gifted, located in Philadelphia and led by Dr. Suzanne Schneider, was established in 1983 to meet the needs of gifted people of all ages. Services include counseling and psychotherapy, gifted identification, vocational interest testing and guidance, and workshops and publications focusing on the needs of the gifted population.

The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. They work to deliver the highest standard of care, advance the science of the developing brain, and empower parents, professionals, and policymakers to support children when and where they need it most.

Gloria Sandford MA, LMHC specializes in Marriage and Family Therapy and has worked with a variety of issues concerning adults, children, marital issues, families, and support groups. She is a professional member and trained Parent Facilitator of and a Certified Lifespan Integration therapist.

The Daimon Institute for the Highly Gifted provides psychotherapy and educational consulting to support the overall development of exceptionally and profoundly gifted people. Located in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, their practice implements the Integral Practice for the Gifted model which addresses all aspects of the gifted individual: intellectual, emotional, moral, spiritual, social and physical.

Gunn Psychological Services is a group of professionals dedicated to providing the highest quality psychological services and referrals, including developmental, psychoeducational, and intellectual giftedness assessments, as well as individual, family, couples and group therapy.

Linda Powers-Leviton is a licensed Marriage, Family and Child therapist who specializes in counseling for the gifted. Since 1974, she has developed and taught programs to help parents and educators best reach children with learning and emotional challenges. Her expertise with the gifted population, particularly twice-exceptional youth, has prepared her to offer a unique specialized program to address the needs of this community.

As a clinical psychologist in practice for over 30 years, Dr. Post specializes in gifted adults and adolescents. Through private practice, she offers individual, couples, family and group therapy for adults and adolescents; consultation and supervision for treatment professionals; and educational consultation services for gifted children and adolescents.

SENG is a national organization which seeks to inform gifted individuals, their families, and the professionals who work with them, about the unique social and emotional needs of gifted persons. SENG supports programs that foster in gifted individuals the mental health and social competence necessary for them to be free to choose ways to develop and express their abilities and talents fully.

Summit Center provides educational and psychological assessments, consultation, and treatment for children, their parents, and families. Summit works with all kids 鈥� including those who are gifted, those with learning challenges, and those who are twice-exceptional.

Terry Bradley is a gifted education consultant specializing in the social and emotional aspects of giftedness. Her services include a full-day workshop training for school personnel and mental health professionals on facilitating discussion groups for gifted K-12 students; a professional development training on the affective needs of the gifted; and a presentation for parents on what to know when raising gifted youth.

Tyler Institute provides high-quality mental health services by qualified professionals to children, adolescents, adults and families. Anne Tyler, its founder, is devoted to helping children, adolescents, families and adults work through mental health challenges in order to live up to their potential and manifest their talents and strengths in a more vibrant way in everyday life.

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Patty has provided individual, couple, family, and group counseling to gifted and profoundly gifted individuals across the life span, from very young children to people in their elder years. Her therapeutic orientation is holistic with a relationship focus.

For additional resources, visit our online (GRC) which contains an ever-growing and robust listing of over 800 resources appropriate for gifted learners from pre-k through high school.

Want to share a resource? Email GRC@educationaladvancement.org or comment below!

Your child is emotional. Anxious. Melting down. Telling you that you鈥檙e the worst parent. Ever. Not in so many words, necessarily. But still. You know that you鈥檙e the worst parent. Ever.

鈥淗ow can such a smart kid behave this way?鈥� you wonder. 鈥淗ow did I screw up so badly?鈥澛�

I hear this often聽from parents of gifted children. Here鈥檚 what I tell them:

1. Gifted kids are EMOTIONAL. Their passionate聽natures can be as large as their intellects. You can respect their emotions while setting boundaries around inappropriate behavior. They鈥檒l be calmer if they know that you鈥檙e compassionate and聽in charge.

2. Helping your children contain emotion is different from repressing or denying those feelings. Containment is useful, especially when you鈥檙e out in public places where screeching will be frowned upon. They can visualize a beautiful object or a cabinet or a tree or whatever their creative minds can dream up that will lovingly hold their emotions when it鈥檚 inappropriate to let them flail about. A great聽resource for visualizations is .

3. Because smart kids are very perceptive, little things that others don鈥檛 notice will affect them. That includes the sounds of people chewing or the scent of your detergent. They鈥檙e not neurotic. They鈥檙e sensitive. They鈥檒l also be finely tuned in to you. They鈥檒l know when you鈥檙e worrying about their grades and pretending that you鈥檙e not worrying about their grades. It鈥檚 often best to confess the truth.

4. If we鈥檙e talking about 15 year old girls (more or less) and their moms, don鈥檛 ignore the awesome power of hormones. Let us all give hormones our utmost respect. They will win every time. Sometimes all you聽can do is ride the wave or聽go read a good book. (or visit your naturopath, acupuncturist or doctor)

5. Recognize when you start channeling your parents. This is not usually helpful. If you find that your mother鈥檚 criticism is coming out of your mouth or your father鈥檚 anger is simmering below the surface, consider . A good therapist can help you dig your own voice out from under the rubble.

6. Avoiding will be hard if your children think faster than you do. Use the 鈥淟et me think about it and I鈥檒l get back to you鈥� method. Give yourself time to make decisions so聽you don鈥檛 feel pressured. It鈥檒l be easier for everyone to stay calm. Including you. Remember that聽your child will feel safer if you鈥檙e in charge.

7. You may be a problem solver and action oriented. When your children are聽in pain, it鈥檚 hard to not want to stop the pain immediately. Instead, start listening. Reflect back what you hear. Validate feelings. Ask them if they want your help problem solving. If you鈥檙e listening well, they can often come up with their own solutions. At first, this may feel awkward and contrived. Explain to your kids what you鈥檙e trying to do and they鈥檒l be patient with you. You may think that you鈥檙e already listening and that it鈥檚 not working. Ask your children if they think you鈥檙e listening and then believe them when they tell you that you aren鈥檛. (That said, set limits on how long you listen if your child tends to go on and on and on.)

8. If your own childhood was less than ideal, you might lose patience when your child is freaking out, especially if you were never allowed to complain, cry or fall apart. Give yourself some grace around your reactivity. Find a way to allow the child in you to express her or himself. A journal can be a great way to safely complain, cry or fall apart. Then again, if you need more help, look for some good resources or seek out聽your friendly local psychotherapist.

9. There are聽no perfect parents. Your mistakes are an opportunity to show your child how to learn from mistakes, how to understand that a mistake is not the same as a failure, and that even failure is an opportunity for growth.

Your child is emotional. Anxious. Melting down. Gifted. And so are you.

This post originally appeared on and has been reprinted with permission.

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