Deborah Jepsen
Visiting a Psychologist for the first time can be a bit overwhelming for children.
I have created a presentation here for young children to help explain in a child friendly way what we do!
It is called Zoe visits the Psychologist: A tale about getting help.
I hope this is useful! You can view the presentation here: Zoe-Visits-The-Psychologist.
This week I had two clients tell me that their kids had been given detentions at school and I started thinking about the usefulness of detention. This led me to ponder the differences between punishment and effective discipline.
Kids need to to be taught right from wrong. They need to understand that actions have consequences and that certain rules have to be followed.
But how can this be taught without causing more harm than good?
I must admit I am constantly appalled at the number of highly questionable products and services advertised which claim to diagnose or treat learning disorders but which lack scientific credibility.
Even more disturbing is the way that some organisations are misleading the public by claiming their interventions are effective and citing pseudo-scientific research in support of their dubious claims.
In some cases parents are being persuaded to spend thousands of dollars on programs that claim to treat dyslexia or other learning disorders!
Parents naturally want to find solutions to help their children overcome learning problems, but it’s important to realise there are no “quick fixes” and any such promises should be taken with a very large grain of salt.
Dyslexia is a commonly used term for a difficulty with learning to read or with interpreting words, letters, numbers and other symbols.
Such problems may be manifested as poor reading fluency or comprehension, difficulties with maths and ‘delayed processing’ (the inability to rapidly name letters, symbols or numbers). Some people with dyslexia even report that letters appear to “move around the page” when they try to read.
(More recently, the disorder has been relabelled as a “specific learning disorder in the domain of reading” in the upcoming 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statstical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-5.)
The term dyslexia is commonly used, but often poorly understood.
In fact, it has taken me nearly ten years as an educator and a psychologist to be able to effectively diagnose the disorder, explain to parents what it means for their child and provide targeted recommendations to help improve their child’s learning skills.
Here are my top nine tips to help your child with dyslexia improve their learning skills:
Since November 1st, 2006, the “Better Access to Mental Health Care” initiative has allowed many Australians to access Medicare rebates for counselling services. Such services must be provided by registered psychologists (who must use certain approved evidence-based approaches), following referral by a GP, paediatrician or psychiatrist.
Medicare rebates are currently available for up to ten individual counselling sessions per calendar year (and up to 10 group sessions, although these are generally more appropriate for adults).
(You can find more about the scheme in this handout for patients.)
So how do you go about getting a referral to a psychologist for yourself and/or your child, so that you can claim Medicare rebates for counselling?
Kids are hard work!
They bring us, as parents, so much joy and laughter and so many smiles … but also an overwhelming sense of responsibility for their welfare.
Then there comes that time in their early years when your child starts child care. And so along with the joy of caring for a young toddler, there comes the joy of letting them go (at least for the day)!
My son is now in child care for two days per week at the moment and I HATE drop offs! The first day was the worst. He was so upset…but I put on my brave face and did a quick good bye. I cried myself on the way home.
Success: we all want it, we all strive for it … and we certainly want it for our kids.
But how can we help our children to be more successful … at school and in life?
The following resources offer some valuable insights.
Got any questions before you book? Click here to request a phone call and a psychologist will call you at a convenient time (prospective clients only). Please keep in mind we are often busy with clients but we do our best to respond to all enquiries within one business day. :-)
(*As of 24th July, 2019.)