Mental Health

Progress in Treatment – Are You Ready For Change?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

A common pitfall I used to make in my first year out of grad school was to agonise over clients who didn’t seem to be making any progress.

In one extreme case, I worked with a teenage girl and her family for 12 months and at the end of time together, I was left seriously questioning whether I’d made any difference.

The girl suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and, in hindsight, it was quite a severe case. Her OCD got in the way of a lot of things in her life, including her ability to make progress in treatment.

She could chat about what treatment for OCD would look like and listen to the research and success stories, but when it came to actively engaging in strategies, it just never happened.

After our fourth session I asked her if she wanted to try another psychologist and reassured her that I wouldn’t be offended if she felt we weren’t clicking.

Parents: How to Look After Your Own Mental Health When Your Child is Struggling

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

I think it’s safe to say that most parents want to do whatever they can to support their child.

Now, imagine that your child has been diagnosed with a learning difficulty, with Aspergers Syndrome or Autism, maybe they are experiencing bullying at school, have anxiety or depression or another mental health issue.

Whatever the case, it is instinct to want to give your child a big cuddle and then get straight onto calling up the school, confronting the bully, researching interventions and generally doing whatever you can to rectify the situation or at least ease their struggles a bit.

You can be racked with guilt about “where” and “how” the problem came about in the first place and why you didn’t notice it sooner.

You may lie awake at night trying to figure out how your darling angel must be feeling and spend hours analysing everything they did and said that day…

Cannabis use and Psychosis in Adolescents

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Recent news of a teenager charged with the murder of one of Melbourne’s homeless citizens has many people worried. News has speculated that the accused young man had recently started using cannabis, and this changed his behaviour.

It’s important to remember that media portrayals of mental illness tend to be inflammatory, and can often imply a causal link between drug use, mental illness and crime.

Nevertheless, it’s a timely reminder for parents and their adolescents to improve their awareness of evidence-based research in the area of cannabis use. There is an association between cannabis use and mental illness, but it’s not a causal link.

This means that cannabis use has not been shown to directly ‘cause’ mental illness, but there is a potential for it to exacerbate difficulties in someone who is already vulnerable to mental illness.

The Benefits of Stress

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

“Stress is bad for you! Too much of it will kill you!”

Google a few vague symptoms and the word ‘stress’ and simply wait for the words ‘cancer’ and ‘death’ to flash up on your screen…!

Stressing about stress is getting out of hand…

But there is actually another way to think about stress. There is an alternate, but equally true reality in which stress can make a positive influence in our lives.

An article I read suggests that it’s not stress itself, but stressing about stressing which is zapping our happiness, and detracting from our peak performance. The researchers were from Yale (Alicia Crum & Peter Salovey) and Harvard alumni (Shawn Achor), so I’m confident that they know a thing or two about stress.

Crum and Salovey found that by changing someone’s perception of the stress that they were under, they could actually change how stress affected them physically.

Childhood Trauma – How to Help Children Who Have Suffered From a Traumatic Event

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Many children will experience fearful situations, but they also have remarkable resilience and an ability to bounce back.

The experience of a traumatic event itself (such as a death or accident) does not necessarily mean that your child will experience any ongoing symptoms. However, in some cases where children struggle with the experience of a trauma, Psychologists look to the following guidelines for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the DSM-5*:

The Importance of Being Grateful

by Deborah Jepsen

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. and this got me thinking about gratitude and how wonderful it feels to be thankful and appreciative, even for the small things we experience in everyday life.

And it turns out there is a growing body of research which shows there are many psychological benefits to being grateful, including feeling happier and lowering stress, depression and anxiety.

And of course feeling good about helping others feel good too!

Not only that, there is also scientific evidence that expressing genuine gratitude on a daily basis can improve physical health as well by improving quality of sleep, cardiovascular (heart) health and immune function.

Premature Babies

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Sunday 17th November was World Prematurity Day. A baby is considered to be preterm or premature if born before 37 weeks gestation.

Each year 15 million babies are born prematurely worldwide and about 25,000 of these babies are born in Australia.

Currently, up to 50% of Victorian preterm infants suffer from one or more developmental difficulties in early childhood.

Premature birth can be associated with multiple traumatic experiences for both mum and baby, which means that parents are at an increased risk of poor coping, anxiety and depression.

Practical tips for Parents of Premmies: How to help yourself, or someone you love

Read more

What Should I Do If My Child is Resistant to Counselling?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

One of the most common questions we encounter as Child and Adolescent Psychologists is “What can I do if my child doesn’t want to come to counselling?”.

This is very common and the child’s attitude can range from a little bit of trepidation to full blown refusal.

It can be tempting to give in and hope that all the concerns you have about your child’s emotional and mental wellbeing will just blow over and resolve themselves. But, more often than not, the very fact that the child is resistant to counselling is a sign that something is troubling them that they might find uncomfortable to face.

So, what should you do and say to them? And, of equal importance, what should you NOT do or say?

What to do if Your Teenager Self-Harms – Immediate Strategies For Parents

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

If you have a teenage son or daughter, you might have heard the term “self-harm” whispered in hushed tones by another parent or a teacher.

Some people think it is just a trend which is not to be taken too seriously. But research suggests that self-harm is a a very real and ongoing phenomenon.

Recent estimates report the rates of hospitalisation for self-injury at over 7,000 people per year in Australia. In the decade from 1996 to 2006, the rate of hospitalisation for self-harm went up by 43 percent overall, and this was even higher for females.

And, considering that self-harm is one of the biggest predictors of youth suicide, it is certainly not a problem to sweep under the carpet.

For parents it can be very difficult to understand where this type of behaviour comes from. In fact, it is probably not something you would have even heard about when you were growing up.

Read on to find answers to common questions about self-harm and some practical advice about what to do if your child is self-harming.

Is Your Child’s Anxiety Making You Anxious?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We all experience some degree of anxiety from time to time.

Anxiety is a general, unpleasant emotional and physical state of heightened arousal. It may be caused by thoughts about a past or current event or a potential future threat.

When faced with a genuine imminent danger or threat, being anxious is a completely normal reaction. The so-called “fight-or-flight” response primes the body for action and enables a quick and powerful response.

In fact, at low-to-moderate levels, anxiety can be useful and adaptive. Occasional levels of mild anxiety can even help to improve performance.

However, when a child is suffering from sustained levels of anxiety that interfere with their daily activities or healthy development, this is a more serious problem that must be addressed to avoid more serious long term harm.

So what is an excessive level of anxiety?

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