Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Helping Childhood Anxiety with a ‘Worry Box’

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

The prevalence of childhood anxiety has more than doubled in the last twenty years.

And while we all experience anxious feelings at times, certain children will suffer more greatly, with their anxieties interrupting the functioning of their daily lives.

This could mean that it affects their sleeping, their socialising, or their ability to concentrate at school.

We’ve discussed a number of techniques for dealing with childhood anxiety on the blog…

But a useful tool for very young kids dealing with anxiety can be introducing a ‘worry box’ into their daily routine.

Practical Tips for Helping Your Child Through Exams

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We’ve discussed a lot of issues surrounding the final years of high school on the blog over the years…

How to help your child survive the VCE, part 1, part 2 and part 3;

How to deal with the pressures of year 12 (by reducing them);

Motivation and success during VCE; and

How to help your child pick their final year electives.

But for many of you, you will now be in the grips of the climactic point of your child’s high school education: their final exams.

So Australia’s leading online mental health organisation for young people — ReachOut — has published some practical tips for parents, to help you help your child through this stressful period.

Dealing with the Immense Pressures of VCE

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We’ve talked about motivation and success when it comes to study and examinations.

But an increasingly important issue surrounding these ideas is the pressure that is put on our students…

By the education system, by parents, and by the students themselves.

Studies show that in Australia, we are bordering on an adolescent mental health epidemic.

Instances of anxiety and depression in young people are becoming increasingly and alarmingly common.

And a huge source of these conditions is stress from schooling.

The pressure is even taking a toll on parents, with a mental health organisation setting up extra counselling services for parents of high school students.

So how do we help our kids, and ourselves, to deal with the pressure?

VCE Motivation: Bribery, Threats and Restrictions, but at what cost?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Our staff psychologist Christina Rigoli was quoted on page 3 of The Age today, discussing the tactics parents use to motivate their kids to study.

Among them — bribing with $18,000 holidays, threats of boarding school, and house-wide technology freezes!

The parents confessing to these ‘motivation tactics’ said their efforts paid off, but this is more a matter of chance than formula.

The key distinction in this equation is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to motivation…

What may work in encouraging one child could backfire and have the opposite affect on another.

So how do you know what the right method of motivation is for your child?

Does Your Child have a Technology Addiction?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We recently addressed the issue of ‘screen time’ in children’s and adolescents on the blog.

Most of us are guilty of becoming increasingly reliant on our telephones and computers for communicating, working, paying bills and even getting from A to B…

But there is a difference between reliance on technology and addiction to technology.

And if you think your child may be in the latter category, the sooner you address it the better.

So what are the signs of a technology addiction, in children in particular?

How Do We Help Children to Deal with Grief?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Losing a loved one is a heartbreaking experience at any age.

And watching our children go through the process can make the experience even more devastating.

It’s a parent’s natural urge to want to shield their children from pain and sadness.

But this isn’t realistic — not during childhood, and not during adulthood.

Loss and sadness are inevitable parts of life, but teaching your children positive and productive coping mechanisms will help them through the process in the short and long term.

So how do we deal with a grieving child?

Evolutionary Psychology – A Way for Kids to Understand Their Anxiety

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Most of us will understand the concepts of evolutionary biology:

The theory that all species have developed from earlier species, and have continuously adapted to the environment through a process of natural selection.

Evolution has been instrumental to developments in our understanding of science and medicine, but it has also led to developments in ‘life sciences’, such as psychology.

And although evolutionary psychology has its skeptics, it can provide a foundation for understanding why we think, feel and behave the way we do.

These explanations can be particularly useful in creating self-awareness and acceptance in children.

Especially when it comes to anxiety.

Choosing VCE Electives — Remembering the Fixed vs. Growth Mindset

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We’ve discussed the Fixed versus Growth mindset model on the blog a few times.

It’s something worth noting and considering in many aspects of parenting.

But keeping the principles in mind when helping your kids pick VCE electives can be particularly beneficial for their long-term goals.

A recent article in The Atlantic discusses how a Fixed mindset inadvertently affects our children in their future study choices.

The Supermarket Study: Education in the Real World

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We tend to think of school as the main source of our children’s education.

However, for many children, formal classroom time only takes up around 20 per cent of their lives!

And while it’s the role of teachers to take charge of your children’s education, there’s so much you can do to encourage learning and important cognitive developments outside of school.

And the supermarket — surprisingly — is a great place to start.

Is Your Child Suffering, or are You?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

An interesting article in The Age recently brought up concerns regarding parents who may be unnecessarily anxious about their children’s health.

The article cited a recent survey that showed that 75 per cent of pediatric specialists said many of their referrals could have been handled exclusively by the referring GP.

The relevant issue at hand here is that parents are increasingly seeking out specialist support for normal issues in childhood development…

Common issues such as bed-wetting, constipation, and even concerns about their children’s height.

This speaks to an increasing anxiety among parents, and their quest to ensure their child is developing ‘normally’.

Understandably, this kind of pattern of anxious parenting comes up not only in the physical development of the child, but also their emotional and psychological development.

So how can we know when we’re self- or over-diagnosing our children?

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