'Mighty Makers' program helps children regulate emotions through games

A free program at Parkside Psychiatric Hospital helps kids recognize and self-regulate different emotions through various clinically designed games. Therapists say this program is offering families better communication and hope.

What is "Mighty Makers?"

1. "Mighty Makers" is a program designed by therapists at the Parkside Psychiatric Hospital to teach children how to better understand their emotions.
2. Therapists say they began to notice a need for younger intervention for children who struggle to self-regulate their emotions and launched "Mighty Makers" in August of 2024.
3. The program is designed for children with ADHD, anxiety, aggression, low self-esteem, anger issues, emotional control issues, and more.

How does it work?

1. "Mighty Makers" is an 8-week program for children and families to learn to recognize and regulate emotions that may lead to difficult situations.
2. It is broken down into two parts, family focus and bio-feedback.
3. Families will attend therapy sessions once a week that will help parents learn to better communicate with their children when it comes to these emotions. Together, parents and children will learn to name and help manage difficult emotions and situations.
4. Bio-feedback consists of tracking heart rate while the children play various video games. During the program, the children are given a heart monitor and a tablet that has games designed by the Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital.
5. During playtime, the children can become dysregulated in their feelings and are encouraged by the games to use different coping skills to calm themselves down. At the same time, the children will wear a heart monitor that will track their stress level during playtime and notify the child when that level begins to increase.

"This teaches them to notice in real-time and feel in their bodies that they're getting upset and so they can learn to self regulate their emotions and as a family they can learn to name the emotions and manage them better," said Parkside therapist Denise Gogolin.

Who can apply?

1. The program is designed for families with children ages 5-12 and is completely free.

How to apply:

1. Parkside is currently accepting applications for the program. Those interested can call 918-586-4291.