Welcome to our latest posts… we hope you enjoy!
What the heck is going on with young people?
What the heck is going on with young people? There is an increase in youth facing significant mental health problems. It seems that anxiety, depression and a general sense of young people and children not being able to cope is widespread in our community. How can we build resilience in children?
Look into my eyes
Look into my eyes a look at the marked decline in children’s ability to obtain their parents’ attention, because their parents appeared to be more and more focussed on their devices.
Building resilience before bullying occurs.
Let’s not wait until they’re bullied to prepare our children for other’s meanness. What if we strengthened our children to cope with the high probability that they will face others meanness before they inevitably experience it.
Three tips for helping children deal with frightening world events.
As events of violence and terrorism are apparently being more regularly reported, an increasing number of children are being affected by exposure to these frightening stories. Many parents are wondering what they can do to protect their children from the effects of vicarious anxiety provoked by these media reports.
Why over 100,000 Australian children are on antidepressant medication and what we can do about it.
The startling rise in the number of children on antidepressant medicines which has doubled in the last six years is likely to be related to a recent tendency to blame children’s brains for their behaviour rather than to figure out which environmental factors might be influencing a child’s mood or anxiousness.
Not succumbing to our own anxiety about risk
Not succumbing to our own anxiety about risk building resilience in children. Letting children take some risks builds resilence. In recent times, insurance companies have directly influenced educational systems to make them safer and less risky. Parents have also demanded that pre-schools and early years settings keep children safe 100% of the time. Certainly, since my children were at pre-school, raised cubby houses, tree houses and play equipment have been lowered or even removed to meet accrediting bodies’ demands.
Why normal childhood behaviour is being mistaken for ADHD and autism
Why normal childhood behaviour is being mistaken for ADHD and autism.
I’ve been working in the area of child and family psychology for over 30 years. I have interviewed children in clinical settings and in legal settings. I’ve had to prepare hundreds of assessments regarding children, who have not been able to ‘sit still’ or who look like they ‘worry a bit too much’. In these circumstances, any experienced psychologist will ask whether or not this child’s behaviour is normal (or not) and then, how this can be treated to ease the child’s distress or the distress of the parents.
Beat the back to school blues
By Parentshop. It’s that time again, you’ve made it through the hot, long summer holidays and it’s time for packed lunches, book covers, new uniforms and a routine to start again. The start of every school year could potential mean a spike in your child’s (and your)...
Equipping children with coping skills for the years ahead
By Michael Hawton, former teacher, psychologist (MAPS) and Parentshop founder. The issue of how to develop emotional hardiness in children has become an area of much interest in recent times. Added to this, none of us wants to be seen to be just standing by or letting...
Beating Stress During the Holidays: How to Create an Easy Routine
by Daniel Sherman Beating stress during the holidays can be tricky, especially when you have a full schedule and a family who needs your time and attention. For parents of small children, the holiday season goes hand in hand with more sweets and excitement than usual,...
Best Tips for Travelling with a Child with Special Needs
Article courtesy of Lillian Brooks lillian@learningdisabilities.info Are you and the kids craving a holiday? Taking a family vacation can often get pretty complicated, especially if your child has a disability. However, you can ensure everyone’s needs and desires are...
Is Australia Failing its Children?
by Michael Hawton, MAPS According to the recent release of Unicef’s Children's Report, the number of children entering and remaining in out-of-home care has more than doubled. The report also stated that one in six Australian children are living in poverty, that...
