Parent STOP
What do we mean by Children’s Mental Health? What is it?
Mental health is the way children and young people think or feel about themselves and the world around them. Its related to how children cope with Life challenges and stresses.
What does good mental health in Children and young people look like?
Children and young people with good mental health:
- Feel happy and positive about themselves
- Enjoy life
- Learn well
- Have healthy relationships with family and friends
- Can manage negative feelings: sad, worry, angry feelings
- Can bounce back from tough times
Children and young people need good mental health, so they can develop socially, emotionally, mentally and physically. Good mental wellbeing in childhood also provides the foundation for better mental health and wellbeing later in life.
How can parents and Guardians support their children’s mental health?
Families and parents are important in helping children to develop and maintain good mental health and well-being. Sometimes it can be the simple things, that can make the biggest difference to a child or young person who is struggling to deal with their emotions. If you think your child is struggling, try the following things:
- Create a safe environment where they feel safe and loved
- Take an interest- in their hobbies/past times/things they like
- Show them love-Give them a hug
- Embrace their strengths and acknowledge when they do something right/positive
- Make time for them- allocate time to give them your full attention
- Show them we all make mistakes and model effective ways in dealing with the mistake
- Ensure you have boundaries and discuss with your child consequences if boundaries broken
- Encourage communication- talking, reflecting on emotions, writing feelings down e.g., diary
- Goal setting- set achievable goals togethers
- Model how to take care of your own physical/mental health-be a positive role model
Sometimes the challenges/struggles a child or young person is dealing with may need further support. Knowing how to talk to your child about their mental health, or recognising the signs that they might be struggling, can be really hard. Knowing how to talk to your child about their mental health, or recognising the signs that they might be struggling, can be hard. Often the first step to a child or young person feeling better, is feeling connected and knowing that someone is alongside them.
Empathy helps children and young people connect. Empathy involves acknowledging what your child is feeling, trying to understand things from their point of view and avoiding judgement. Empathy is usually more helpful than giving advice or trying to ‘fix’ their problem. If you are still worried Mindz that matter Parent stop service, can give you help and guidance of what to do next, we can help you support your child with a variety of therapies or point you towards other sources of help.
“Mindz that matter” Parent stop.
What we do to support you developing your child’s mental health:
1 – Training for Parents
Workshops and bespoke training sessions are delivered to help you to support your child at home. Workshops are created to ensure that you feel empowered and informed. Training sessions are linked to key areas e.g.: school refusal, anxiety
Workshops and bespoke training sessions will provide you with the skills and tools you need to help your child/ren manage his/her emotions. Join our workshops and train with us with us so that you can build the foundations to your child’s mental wellbeing.
2 – One to one support:
With Parent: Support/mentoring can be tailored for parents who are finding behaviours or issues challenging. Advice, guidance, and techniques can be taught to address issues faced by parent(s)
With Child: Our support is assessed via a free consultation with your child so we can ensure support is beneficial and uniquely balanced to meet your child’s needs.
One to one support can be delivered privately, face to face in our bespoke therapy room or via online face to face sessions. Some children feel safer communicating through non-physical means. Our “one to one zoom” service is creative and flexible to meet the needs of children who find face-to-face sessions frightening. This means children can have more control over their environment and feel less worried about attending a session. If you feel your child would benefit from online therapy service, please contact us. (Link to contact page)
3 – Workshops for your child:
Workshops are delivered over a period of 6 weeks covering a variety of topics, which support your child and their mental health. Workshops cover a variety of topics and help children deal with feelings or situations. Workshops can be delivered for sibling/family groups, school groups or community groups. Please contact for more information about community workshops that are running and how to sign up or for enquiries re the delivery of workshops.