By: Ann Helmus, Ph.D.
NESCA Founder/Director; Clinical Neuropsychologist
As I’ve gotten more serious about pursuing fitness, I’ve become increasingly aware of how powerful the connection is between mind and body. When I’m exercising regularly and eating healthily, I have less anxiety, fewer negative thoughts/judgements and my mood and concentration are better. In this state, I’m more motivated to exercise, and the positive spiral continues. The opposite is also true: I can easily get into a downward spiral of not exercising, which invariably leads to the deterioration of my mood/increase in anxiety, and loss of motivation for exercising and eating healthily. I’ve found that staying in a positive spiral requires a high level of commitment as well as outside support, which I get from a personal trainer and a Pilates class.
Knowing first-hand how important it is to have support in establishing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle as the basis for physical and mental health, I’m pleased to have a wonderful team here at NESCA to support children and adolescents – not only to build healthy habits but also to learn about the mind-body connection.
Billy Demiri is a Health Coach and Personal Trainer who offers a range of services and supports for children and adolescents at NESCA. He is a highly experienced certified personal trainer (CPT) and works directly with children and adolescents on physical conditioning – agility, strength, coordination, and endurance. In these sessions, Billy extends himself beyond the physical training to help his clients find their internal motivation and share or develop personal goals. Billy is also a certified health coach who works with adolescents and young adults to develop the motivation and take the initiative to reach their goals. Through structured exercises, he helps his clients discover the underlying limiting beliefs that may have held them back in the past and teaches them strategies for developing a more positive mindset. If you’d like to learn more about this coaching, please join us for a webinar on July 15 at 12:30 PM ET Finally, Billy is certified in Precision Nutrition and can provide nutritional coaching to help adolescents and young adults reach weight loss or other nutritional goals in a healthy manner. For more information about Billy’s coaching services, he can be reached at: bdemiri@nesca-newton.com.
Danielle Sugrue, M.S., is a licensed mental health counselor and a certified yoga teacher who works with children and adolescents through individual yoga instruction to learn how to calm the mind and relax the body. The tools that she teaches through yoga, such as mindfulness, are powerful coping strategies for managing stress and anxiety. Danielle is also able to work individually with clients whose learning or emotional issues might make it difficult for them to participate in more traditional yoga classes so that they can derive the benefits of increased body awareness and relaxation. To learn more about Danielle’s yoga offerings, she can be reached directly at: dsugrue@nesca-newton.com.
The research is clear that exercise and breathwork are powerful tools for improving emotional well-being. When we teach children and adolescents about the connection between their minds and bodies, we help them build a foundation of coping skills that they can rely on throughout their lives.
About the Author
NESCA Founder/Director Ann Helmus, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical 
neuropsychologist who has been practicing for almost 20 years. In 1996, she jointly founded the Children’s Evaluation Center (CEC) in Newton, Massachusetts, serving as co-director there for almost ten years. During that time, CEC emerged as a leading regional center for the diagnosis and remediation of both learning disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders.
In September of 2007, Dr. Helmus established NESCA (Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents), a client and family-centered group of seasoned neuropsychologists and allied staff, many of whom she trained, striving to create and refine innovative clinical protocols and dedicated to setting new standards of care in the field.
Dr. Helmus specializes in the evaluation of children with learning disabilities, attention and executive function deficits and primary neurological disorders. In addition to assessing children, she also provides consultation and training to both public and private school systems. She frequently makes presentations to groups of parents, particularly on the topics of non-verbal learning disability and executive functioning.
To book an evaluation with Dr. Helmus, NESCA Founder and Director, or one of our many other expert neuropsychologists or therapists, complete NESCA’s online intake form.
Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents (NESCA) is a pediatric neuropsychology practice and integrative treatment center with offices in Newton and Plainville, Massachusetts, as well as Londonderry, New Hampshire. NESCA serves clients from preschool through young adulthood and their families. For more information, please email info@nesca-newton.com or call 617-658-9800.
