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Program helps parents and children deal with stress

News-Topic - 6/9/2022

Jun. 7—LENOIR — A program is available to help parents and children deal with stress, anger, and anxiety through relaxing stories.

Old Me New Me is a series of 12 healing stories for children and teens, ages 5 to 17.

"Kids today are in trouble, and parents are frustrated," said Mimi Lupin, developer of the program. "They don't really know how to help the kids. This program is something for kids to stop and think about and for parents to reinforce. Because sometimes parents are at their wits end and nobody seems to help them."

Lupin is a retired school psychologist and counselor. She received her master's degree in psychology at the University of Houston and has worked with children and parents in the Houston school systems for over 35 years.

Her Old Me New Me program has been used by therapists, children's hospitals, parents, and schools nationwide to help children heal from the effects of trauma, PTSD, and anxiety, as well as to decrease negative behaviors.

Lupin said this program is highly effective for kids who have ADHD or behavioral issues.

"This information is powerful," she said. "I have a psychologist up in Virginia who uses it with a group of young people who have been on drugs or alcohol, and she has said that she could not work with these kids without this program."

Parents can use this program with their children at night before they go to bed to help them sleep, or it can help parents and children form a stronger bond.

"The kids love it," said Lupin. "They like to listen to it. The stories are not very long, about 15 minutes or so, just long enough to hold their attention."

Through these calming, meditative stories, children are taught how to handle stress more effectively.

The main idea is that kids will transform their negative feelings of aggression, frustration, low self-esteem, hyperactivity, oppositional behavior, and anxiety into more positive feelings of resiliency, self-control, self-esteem, confidence, concentration and ability.

"I'm trying to get back into offering this because I know the value of it," Lupin said. "We need to help children, specifically those who are really in need of help. So many kids apparently don't have that connection they need with their parents, that really protects them, and parents need to be aware of that, too."

Old Me New Me is available for purchase online at www.oldmenewme.com. The research-based series of stories use imagery and positive self-talk to teach stress management and life skills. This program is proven to decrease hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggression, anxiety, and stress while increasing concentration.

The full audio program with 15 tracks costs $39. This album of relaxing stories includes such titles as "Trip to the Beach," "Trip to A Star," and "Yes I Can."

In "Trip to the Beach," the listener is taken along for a short walk on the beach. It is calm and quiet. The listener is asked to imagine picking up a sea shell and holding it to their ear to hear the roar of the ocean.

This audio program encourages children to take slow, deep breaths to calm their stressful thoughts.

In "Trip to a Star," the listener is told they feel very safe and peaceful as they gaze at the night sky filled with stars and the light of the moon.

This track engages with children by helping them let go of their worries.

"I really want to help kids," said Lupin. "That's my life's goal. So many kids have been helped, and parents have been helped. And the parents really do approve of it."

For more information, visit www.oldmenewme.com or send Lupin an email at mimicounselor@gmail.com.

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