Dr. Donna Housman on Mental Health and Wellbeing

Today on the podcast, we’re chatting with Dr. Donna Housman, a Clinical Psychologist and founder of the Housman Institute, a Boston-based early childhood training, research and advocacy organization. This institute also features its own lab school, Beginnings.

In these challenging times, Dr. Housman has been providing insights to parents who are having to not only adjust to the stress of having to self-quarantine and social distance but also become full-time teachers and caregivers to their children.

Key Takeaways:

[:10] About today’s episode with Dr. Donna Housman.
[:50] Welcoming Dr. Donna Housman to the podcast.
[1:02] Dr. Housman shares about her work and background.
[2:35] Why teachers are becoming increasingly stressed and burned out; and how they can get the help, support, and feedback they need in order to be able to serve students and their schools.
[6:26] Dr. Housman highlights a study.
[8:26] A big piece to why teachers are stressed right now and why they need, more than ever, SEL.
[9:45] What teachers need to do in order to be available for the children that they teach.
[10:38] Strategies, advice, and hope in moving forward during this time.
[13:56] The importance of relationships, especially between teachers and their students during this pandemic.
[14:48] About Housman Institute’s ECSEL Program and how it benefits both teachers and students.
[18:38] Rebecca thanks Dr. Donna Housman for joining the podcast.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Housman Institute
• Housman Institute’s ECSEL Program
• “Teachers Are Anxious and Overwhelmed. They Need SEL Now More Than Ever.” (YCEI with CASEL) April 7th, 2020
• Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI)
  Collaborative for Social Emotional and Academic Learning (CASEL)
• Getting Smart Podcast Ep. 202: “Jared Cooney Horvath on Cognitive Neuroscience”
• Getting Smart Podcast: Asaf Bitton and Beth Rabbitt on the State of Health and the Parabola Project