CREOKS Insight e-news January 2022
Make New Year’s resolutions you’ll actually keep
Making a New Year’s resolution is like setting any other type of goal. You have to choose wisely if you want to achieve something significant. Remember that a good resolution, like a solid goal, usually has a few definable characteristics:
  • Focus. Set a definite target: “Lose 10 pounds by June 1” is better than “Lose some weight.”
  • Challenge. Your resolution should be neither too hard nor too easy.
  • Support. Share your resolutions with others who will help you work on them.
  • Presence. Write down your resolutions in detail and post your list where you’ll see it often.
  • Vision. Visualize the results you want to achieve every day.
Help Children Struggling with Depression

Children aren’t immune from depression. According to an infographic from the World Health Organization, the changes involved in growing up can be challenging, from starting school to going through puberty and beyond.

The symptoms can vary according to age. In younger children, they come in the form of headaches or stomach aches, loss of interest in play, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. For older children and teens, depression can present as sadness, irritability, withdrawal from friends and family, loss of interest in school and activities, fatigue, and more.

Remember that depression isn’t weakness. Here’s what you can do to help:
  • Talk to your child. Ask them how they’re feeling and if anything is bothering them. Listen closely, without downplaying the validity of their feelings.
  • Pay attention to life changes. Keep a close eye on kids when they start a new school, enter puberty, or go through any kind of major life transition.
  • Encourage good habits. Make sure your kids eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, stay physically active, and otherwise do fun things they enjoy.
  • Spend time with them. Whatever their age, children need quality time with their parents. Find activities you both enjoy to strengthen the bonds you have.
  • Speak with others. Talk to teachers and other people you trust who know your child. Don’t break any confidences, but ask whether they’ve noticed any changes in their behavior.
  • Talk to your child’s doctor. Don’t hesitate to call their pediatrician to ask for advice on behavioral or emotional issues.
  • Be your child’s advocate. Protect them in situations where they may experience stress or abuse. Stand up for them as necessary.
  • Take action. If your child expresses any thoughts of self-harm, seek immediate help from his or her doctor or emergency medical services. Get rid of drugs, knives and other sharp objects, firearms, and anything else they could conceivably use to hurt themselves.

CREOKS Tahlequah Toy Drive

Each December, 5-C's Car Club holds an annual toy drive for area children in need. This year's event was held at New Life Church who fed everyone who donated. Our PAT/HUGS team in Tahlequah helped to organize the event.
 
2,850 toys were donated this year for families. CREOKS collaborated with Tahlequah Public schools, DHS-foster care and Help-In-Crisis to disperse the gifts to families in need this holiday season!
 
Special thanks to the 5-C's Car Club for their continued generosity to our community's children.
CREOKS Shawnee Ugly Holiday Sweaters

Looks like a fun time was had in Shawnee last month.

Back left to right: Shaun Grange, LPC and Monica Pacheco, LPC
 
Front: Darla Lorance, Assistant Site Director, Brynyn Brown, Peer, Pam Ray, Lead Case Manager and Angela Hurley, LPC
CREOKS Diversity Council
What You Should Know About Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

(Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking before the Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1968.)
The history behind MLK Day, and how you can celebrate it.

Who was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is best known for his leadership during the American civil rights movement of the ‘50s and ‘60s (a wave of activism contesting racial segregation, discrimination, disenfranchisement, and injustice). From 1955 to 1968, Dr. King lead several efforts to eliminate Jim Crow laws and other forms of systemic racism that hindered the mobility of people of color in the US. From sit-ins to marches, Dr. King championed demonstrations that combined nonviolence with direct action.

What do these terms mean?
Diversity, inclusion, equity—it’s easy to get confused by what words like these actually mean. They’re not interchangeable, even though they’re often used together. Forbes offers these handy definitions so you can use each term accurately when discussing the issues:
  • Diversity. Recognizing and supporting differences and encouraging representation.
  • Inclusion. Acceptance, welcoming, and belonging.
  • Equality. Providing equal resources to everyone, regardless of their identity.
  • Equity. Equal access to opportunities and advancement
January is National Codependency Awareness Month
Codependency is often passed down from one generation to another, affecting an individual’s ability to have healthy, mutually satisfying relationships. People with codependency most often form or maintain relationships that are one-sided, emotionally destructive, and/ or abusive verbally or physically. Does this sound like you or someone you know? If you suspect you are codependent in your relationship and you're struggling to create positive change, seek professional help.
Holiday Recovery: Get back to work without stress
The holidays are over, but you may not feel ready to dive back into the grind. Your job (and your boss) won’t wait, though. Here’s how to get past the holiday madness and New Year’s doldrums:
  • Review your goals. Look back at what you accomplished the previous year. Then spend some time setting new objectives for the coming 12 months. This should help you get charged up for the future.
  • Adjust your energy level. Log your activities for a few days and identify tasks that waste time and leave you feeling drained. Eliminate what you can, and look for strategies to manage what you’re stuck with.
  • Set priorities. Look at what’s most important to get done now. Achieving a fresh goal will improve your spirits and remind you of what you’re good at.
  • Hold a debrief. At the end of your couple of weeks after the holidays, review that time. What did you accomplish? What remains to be done? What’s up for next week? You’ll be able to make plans in an organized fashion.
  • Commit to work/life balance. Make one of your resolutions to balance the demands of your job and your personal life more equitably. You’ll be less likely to crash after a holiday if you’re not stressed out before it begins.
2022 Children’s Mental Health Symposium
Celebrate Play Therapy Week with Eleven
FREE RPT CE’s Feb 7-11* with paid
Registration for 6 CE for CMHS
Keynote: “Play Therapy: Creative
Interventions with Disruptive Behaviors”
Presenter Scott Riviere, LPC, RPT-S
February 12, 2022
Stoney Creek Hotel Broken Arrow, OK
and Virtual.
Grins and Giggles
A Few One Liners

These are either really brilliant or just dumb:
  • I'm great at multitasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at once.
  • A told my friend she drew her eyebrows too high. She seemed surprised.
  • Did you hear about the guy who stole a calendar? He got 12 months.
  • Don’t you hate it when someone answers their own question? I do.
  • I'm not sure if I lost my camo pants or if they're just doing a really good job.
  • Will glass coffins become popular? Remains to be seen.
  • I was wondering why the frisbee kept getting bigger and bigger, but then it hit me.
  • A healthy sleep not only makes your life longer, but also shortens the workday.
  • A dog has an owner. A cat has staff.
  • I knew a guy who was going to open a pastry shop. But he couldn't raise the dough.
  • Working in a mirror factory is something I could totally see myself doing.
Spring Creek is a community-based crisis stabilization facility that provides a broad array of services design to assist individuals, 18 years and older, with the mental health stability and recovery.
The facility includes a walk-in Psychiatric Urgent Care with 8 recovery recliners and a 16-bed, private room recovery center.    
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