Ways Gratitude Can Improve Emotional Health for Special Needs Parents

Ways gratitude can improve emotional health for special needs parents include increased focus on the positives in life and life satisfaction.

As we take time to focus on the positive, we can reset our emotional state. Gratitude also helps special needs parents reduce barriers to self-care.

Let’s take a look at how special needs parents can use gratitude practices. The goal is to boost positive thoughts and feelings. Once you are in a more positive state of mind, you can more clearly see your situation. It can also be easier to see possible solutions to areas you would like to improve.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is an emotion. It is the feeling of appreciation and thankfulness.

I like to think of having an attitude of gratitude or being prone to appreciating one’s surroundings. We can express gratitude for the people and things in our lives. We can have gratitude for small gestures and things as well as the bigger things in life.

What Are the Benefits of Gratitude?

There are several benefits of gratitude practices.

Benefits of gratitude include:

• Increased happiness
• Increased psychological wellness
• Improve relationships
• Help us manage stressful situations
• Decrease depressive symptoms

Here is a link to another article on the many benefits of gratitude.

How Can Gratitude Help Special Needs Parents?

Special needs parents can benefit greatly from practicing gratitude. Some ways gratitude can improve emotional health for special needs parents in particular include:

Stress reduction

Special needs parents deal with high levels of chronic stress. Practicing gratitude has also been linked to dealing better with stressful situations. You can read more about this neuroscience of gratitude in this article from Positive Psychology.

Looking for more ways special needs parents can address stress? Try some strategies from our article Ways to Reduce Stress-Related Side Effects for Special Needs Parents.

Improved relationships

Raising a child with challenging behaviors and emotional/psychiatric disabilities can put strain on relationships in the home. It can also impact relationships within the larger family dynamic, in the community, and at work.

Isolation and loneliness are also common stressors special needs parents face.

Taking steps to improve relationships is beneficial for special needs parents. Read more about this topic in our article Finding a Good Support System.

What are Common Gratitude Practices?

Common gratitude practices include:

• Counting your blessings
• Keeping a daily gratitude list or journal
• Sending thank you notes 
• Focusing on what is going well in the moment

Ways Special Needs Parents Can Use Gratitude Practices

Counting Your Blessings

Taking a few minutes to think of things you are grateful for can be done anywhere and anytime. Start by catching yourself dwelling on a negative thought or a worry. Then pause. Take a breath and think of things that you are thankful for.

This sounds simple. You have probably already heard this common advice. But, this takes practice. For example, we have all heard to put your air mask on first when flying. But, this is said because we need to hear the reminder. Counting your blessings is also easily forgotten, but it is very powerful.

Our brains are wired with a negativity bias. Knowing this allows us to take steps to counteract this. Actively focusing on the positives in our lives can offset negativity bias.

You can also add this gratitude into your other mindfulness practices. Try some from our article Getting Started with Mindfulness.

Keeping a Daily Gratitude List or Journal

Keeping a daily gratitude journal is another great practice. Even if you struggle with more traditional journaling. I find this practice is like journaling. For example, I can look back and remember things I had listed from the day.

There are several ways you can use this technique.

• Set a five minute time and list everything that comes to mind. Repeat every morning or night.
• Write a set number of things each day.
• Aim to fill a page a day
• Use one of the guided gratitude journals listed below

You can also keep a journal in your self-care kit. You can write in it or take time to review.

Here are some guided journals available on Amazon to get you started.

Sending Thank You Notes

Receiving thank you notes is wonderful. You can also benefit from writing and sending them. For example, you can thank someone for a specific deed or gift. You can also send a “just because” thank you note!

Bonus: Sending thank you notes can also help strengthen your relationships and support network!

Here are some beautiful cards to inspire you!

Focusing on What is Going Well in the Moment

When stressful situations become overwhelming, pause and think of one thing that is going well at the moment. Your child may have just had a meltdown on a shopping trip. But, you can be grateful that you are back in the car driving home.

This technique can also help you reframe situations. It can also help with offsetting your brain’s negativity bias.

Maybe the immediate moment is not going well. But, try to focus on events as current as possible that are going okay. This can be helpful when dealing with aggressive behaviors. For more techniques to help with aggression, read our article on When Your Child is Physically Aggressive.

Unique Ways to Add Gratitude into Your Day

Surround Yourself with Gratitude

In the Fall, my family enjoys hanging “thankfulness leaves” on doors in our home. We cut out paper leaves and write things we are thankful for on each one. It allows us to be thankful each time we write on the leaves. It also reminds us of our gratitude when we see the leaves hanging on doors. This can also be done for other seasons.

Random Acts of Thankfulness

Challenge yourself to thank each of your family members at least once per day. Try to be specific.

You can also challenge yourself to giving a smile and a thank you to at least one person outside of your home each day. Another way you can do this is ending emails with a thank you. This also models gratitude for your children.

Gratitude is Contagious

Surround yourself with gratitude. 

For example, at dinner you can each share something you are grateful for that day. If mealtime is a challenge, car rides or bedtime routines are another time to try this activity.

You can also read motivational books that focus on gratitude. Here are some examples.

Ways Gratitude Can Improve Emotional Health for Special Needs Parents: Summary

We hope you will try some of the suggested ways gratitude can improve emotional health in your daily life.

You may be interested in trying some additional practices to improve emotional health. You can read more about mindfulness in our article Getting Started with Mindfulness for Special Needs Parents.

Affirmations are another great way to boost emotional wellness. You may also enjoy trying some ideas in our article Affirmations for Special Needs Parents.

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