Mightier

Occupational therapists are trained in helping children learn how to regulate their emotions in order to prevent meltdowns and negative behaviors impacting a child’s everyday life. Our OTs at All Care use several tools to help our patients successfully learn what emotions feel like and how to manage these feelings in an appropriate way. Mightier is a new tool developed and tested at Harvard Medical School which uses video games and a heart rate monitor to teach self-regulation. The game alerts the player when their heart rate increases, indicating an emotional reaction to the challenges of the game, and prompts the child to practice techniques to lower their heart rate and calm their body. We use Mightier at All Care to teach kids what it feels like inside our bodies, using the biofeedback from the heart rate monitor, when we get upset. We then provide the child with tools to practice self-calming strategies, such as taking deep breaths. Research has shown that using the Mightier program helps children manage their emotions better, as evidenced by reducing outbursts, decreasing oppositional behaviors, and decreasing parent stress. If you are interested in whether or not the Mightier program would be beneficial for your child, feel free to discuss your concerns with any of our occupational therapists.

Reference: https://www.mightier.com