Coronavirus Fact Sheet for Kids
Child-friendly information about the coronavirus. Kids age 8 and up can read it themselves. Parents can read it with younger primary school kids. Click here to download the Coronavirus FACT sheet for Kids
What goes on in the therapy room?
Here are some examples of the therapeutic work I do with children. The movie Inside Out provides great clips for exploring the usefulness of emotion and the importance of helping our emotions to work together as a team. (Worksheets are for ages 8 and up.) Learning and expression through play helps the younger children develop trust and find their voice. Sometimes the play is related to the referral concerns, other times it is a way to…
Victoria’s Wild Weather and Anxious Children
There have been some worried children around Victoria lately. Fear of rain and storms is a common source of childhood anxiety. Their fear is real; they don’t have an adult understanding of Emergency Services, safety plans, government warnings that keep us safe, or of geography in general. My 8 year old is worried there will be a tzunami! BEFORE you rush in with logic and explanations, make sure you’ve respected their fear and communicated understanding and acceptance. “Yes, it can…
Parenting Panic? Remember to Press Pause. (9/12/15)
I recently used my Facebook page as a platform to ask parents what they do when their children’s behaviour gets too much to handle. Every response identified the need for the parent to calm themselves before dealing with the child’s behaviour. Strategies to do this varied greatly but the understanding was universal: a “break” of some sort is essential. We have all heard or been told to calm down when we’re angry; to count to ten; to build a bridge,…
So, how was your day?
What do your children say when you ask them how their day was at school? “Fine.” “Yeah. Good.” “>grunt<” And when you want to know about their class work or friendships? “Nothing.” “Ok.” There are several articles doing the rounds with some helpful tips on connecting with your children so they’ll open up and share their school world with us. I’d like to add a few more ideas. Volunteer at school- if you’re in the classroom, on the playground, or…
Thought-stopping
I am concerned that a whole new generation of children are being taught the same unhelpful thought-stopping strategies that we were. You know, the ‘throw the bad thought away” one. Or the updated version “delete that thought”. Some people are taught to wear a rubber band and snap it when they have upsetting thoughts to remind them to get rid of that erroneous, irrational thought. These strategies have actually been shown to increase rumination (excessive dwelling on unhelpful thoughts) and…
Starting Childcare (@16 months and older)
Brief Tip Sheet Play games such as peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek to teach your child that you always come back. Plan to visit the centre twice a week for two or three weeks before starting. At home, use absences from your child (even a trip to the toilet!) to teach your child that you always come back. Transition him slowly by leaving him for increasingly longer periods of time starting with ten minutes and building up to half an hour. When…
Parenting Ourselves
A new mother slumps before me, eyes filled with tears as she shares with me her despair and exhaustion. Her baby is lying on a rug between us. Mum wipes away her tears and attempts to smile. “I don’t want him to see his mummy cry. I’m so stupid for wallowing this way. No one else finds this as hard as I do.” I know she is silently adding that she is failing at motherhood. I also know that she…
Temper Tantrums: some are unavoidable but these are important times for relationship building and learning about managing strong emotions.
It was time to get out of the bath, but two- year old Tamara wanted to play a bit more. Daddy (John) said “OK, one minute more” and gave her back the toy she had been playing with. After a little play, Tamara handed the toy back and put her arms up. John lifted her out of the bath. As soon as Tamara’s feet touched the floor she changed her mind and demanded “More bath”. The water had already…
Kids: Stinking Thinking!
Do you ever think or say any of the things on this list? If you do these thoughts might be making trouble for you! They are Stinking Thinking thoughts and they do things like make you sad or angry, get you in trouble, and make you lose friends. Check this list and see if these Stinking Thinking tricks are taking over your thoughts. I am bad at everything I know what everyone is thinking about me Only bad things happen…