Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Self-Sabotaging Behaviours in Students

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Many students across all levels of academic ability engage in “self-sabotaging behaviours”.

For example, the student who waits until midnight the night before an assignment is due before making a start. Then, when they receive a low grade, will shrug and say “oh well, I left it until the last minute”.

Now in some cases it is intentional but in many cases, it is driven by underlying issues such as anxiety.

Behind presumed lack of organisation or presumed lack of skill, students who engage in self-sabotaging behaviours often have high needs for self-worth protection.

Here are some of the most common self-sabotaging behaviours students engage in:

Preparing To Use A Scribe For Exams

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

For students who really struggle with putting thoughts to paper, one of the things we usually recommend for VCE and university exams is the use of a scribe.

There are many reasons why a scribe is particularly helpful for some students. For students with specific learning disorder in the area of Reading (dyslexia) and/or written expression (dysgraphia) writing is a burden and causes anxiety.

Similarly, there are many students who experience slow processing speed (skills in the speed of mental problem solving, attention and hand-eye coordination). Generally, these students have difficulties completing work within expected time limits and they write very slowly.

Slow processing speed is a part of many clinical presentations (including specific learning disorder, AD/HD, and autism spectrum disorders), but it also affects people who do not have any diagnosable disorder.

Psychological and Therapeutic Benefits of Loom Bands

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Loom bands are possibly just another passing childhood fad but here at Melbourne Child Psychology, we’re fans of the Rainbow Loom for their many therapeutic benefits.

So next time you’re pulling yet another handful of rubber bands from the vacuum cleaner and wondering if this is all just clever marketing, here are some points to ponder to (retrospectively) justify your purchase!

Why Do People Engage in Self-Harm?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Counselling a child to help them to stop their self-harming behaviour is hard work.

Many bewildered parents and novice therapists are unaware of, or overlook, the fact that the behaviour has very powerful psycho-physiological rewards.

Self-harm (or self-injury) is known to slow down heart rate and breathing rates, and floods the body with feel-good endorphins.

Is Your Child Experiencing Nightmares or Night Terrors?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Nightmares occur during the dream (Rapid Eye Movement, REM) stages of sleep, usually very late at night or in the early in the morning.

After a nightmare, a child will usually be responsive, will know who you are and be reassured or soothed back to sleep.

The child may or may not remember the content of the dream, but if you ask them about it the next morning, they’ll usually remember that they had a nightmare.

Competitive Milestone Checking

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

There are many apps available to check your infant or child’s developmental milestones. While these can be useful tools, it’s important not to become obsessed about the timing of your child’s milestones.

Many of these purchasable apps provide an indicator of ‘red flags’ for when your child is not meeting a milestone at the expected level. Parents need to be very careful about not letting these apps contribute to unnecessary anxiety and stress.

6 Ways Reassurance Can Actually Make Children’s Anxiety Worse

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

For children who are anxious, constantly asking for reassurance or repeating worrying thoughts is a typical part of daily family life.

Of course, it’s natural to want to reassure your child when they are worried about something…

But when the worry is irrational, constant reassurance could actually be making it worse.

Here are six ways that excessive reassurance can worsen anxiety in children:

Rethinking Childhood Disabilities – Happiness vs Healthiness

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

This inspiring TED talk by Para-Olympian, Karni Liddell, has really got a lot of people thinking about how we look at disability.

She begins by drawing our attention to the conversations so many parents-to-be have when they are asked “What do you want to have – a boy or a girl?” and the socially-acceptable answer they tend to respond with: “All I want is a healthy baby”.

Nothing particularly shocking in that exchange, right?

But, Karni asks us to consider “Does a healthy baby necessary equal a happy baby?”.

AD/HD in Girls – Recognising The Symptoms And Choosing Treatment Options

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Research indicates that Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) may be more prevalent in girls than what is currently recognised.

Compared to boys, girls are more likely to present with AD/HD inattentive type, rather than with the hyperactive or combined type, which includes the more classic symptoms of AD/HD – hyperactivity and impulsivity.

Girls with AD/HD tend to have difficulties with:

Maintaining focus and concentration
Organisation
Planning
Decision-making
Goal-setting

But compared to boys with AD/HD, girls are less likely to show disruptive behaviours and to have impulsive outbursts that draw attention in the classroom.

The Impact of Inflated Praise on Motivation

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

“Wow, Tommy that is the best drawing I’ve ever seen!”

“Jessie, you are the best in the class at maths, you did that sum so quickly!”

As parents and educators, you are told that giving a child praise is a great way to improve their motivation, their self-confidence and their perseverance when things get difficult.

“Be specific with your praise!”

“Praise can be even more motivating than rewarding with material things”, many experts espouse.

But recent studies have shown that praise in certain formats may actually have the opposite effect to that which we are trying to achieve.

Researchers looked at the impact of “inflated” praise on children with both low and high self-esteem and found some interesting things:

How can we help?

Book your initial parent consultation to get the right advice for your child's needs

Why have 2,866* parents chosen us?