psychology

How and Why Kids Need to Learn Resilience

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Put simply, resilience is the ability to respond positively to adversity.

But how is this ability developed?

Are some people simply born with it or can we teach it to children? (And if so, how?)

We’ll address all of these questions in a moment.

But first let’s quickly recap what’s been discovered about resilience so far…

The first person to extensively research resilience was the developmental psychologist, Norman Garmezy.

In his research Garmezy noticed particular children who succeeded in the face of adversity.

These children experienced severe disadvantage or even neglect yet somehow still managed to flourish at school and in later life.

You see, prior to this research, psychologists tended to only look at the negative impact of stressful or traumatic experiences.

And while it is clearly important to help children deal with stressful events after they occur…

If resilience is able to “insulate” children against the negative effects of stress before they experience such challenges?

Helping children become more resilient at an early age may very well be the best long term strategy.

So why do kids need to learn resilience?

7 Behaviour Management Tips for Every Parent

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Kids will be kids!

And the notion of a perfectly behaved child — for most parents — is unrealistic.

But if your child’s behaviour is making things difficult for you or your family…

You may want to consider implementing some changes.

And the best place to start is at home.

There are many reasons a child may misbehave (which we’ll get to further on in this post), but for a start — start small.

Below are some easy ways you can try to regain some ‘law and order’ in your household, and improve the behaviour of your kids.

9 Ways Our Psychologists Help Children Reach Their Full Potential

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Did you know that, according to research conducted in 2015, around half of all mental health issues start by age 14?

That’s why early intervention is so important.

And it’s why our main focus is on helping kids develop the practical skills they need to tackle their daily challenges…

And most importantly, these skills are not “quick-fixes”.

Rather, they are “life skills” that remain relevant and beneficial through adolescence and adulthood.

Here are 9 ways our psychologists can help:

How Does Educational Psychology Help Children’s Learning?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

When you mention psychology most people think of counselling as a treatment for emotional issues, such as anxiety or depression…

And while all psychologists have training in these areas, our team has specific postgraduate training in Educational and Developmental Psychology, which is a branch of psychology focused on learning and development.

Educational Psychology draws from other fields such as neuroscience and often involves standardised testing to obtain information about children’s learning skills and abilities.

This information enables us to gain insight into how children learn and process information and what their learning potential might be.

And it enables us to recommend specific learning strategies and supports for home and school to help them to reach that potential.

So what does this actually involve and how can it help children with learning?

WIAT-III: Assessments for improving your child’s learning potential — Part 2

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Learning assessments help to ease the frustrations or concerns parents may have about their child’s academic performance.

And importantly, learning assessments can help your child to achieve their full potential during their school years.

By assessing the major areas that impact learning, our psychologists get a comprehensive insight into your child’s ability, potential, and any barriers stopping them from achieving it.

From there, the best approaches and solutions can be put in place to help a child thrive school.

In our first post of this series, we delved into one of the key tools for assessing learning potential — the WISC-V assessment.

In this post, we’ll give you a run down of one of our other core assessment tools — the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test — and how it can help your child.

What you need to know about 13 Reasons Why

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

If you have teenagers — or even if you don’t — you’ve probably heard about the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why.

It is one of the most talked about television shows on social media ever…

Generating 3.5 million social volume impressions in its first week of release alone.

And while the show has resonated with audiences, and been very positively received by critics, it has been heavily criticised by mental health and youth organisations around the world.

The show is based on the best-selling novel by Jay Asher, and depicts the suicide of 16-year-old Hannah, who creates a series of audiotapes addressing the 13 reasons why she committed suicide.

It ends with an incredibly graphic and distressing depiction of the act itself.

And parents, educators and critics around the world are asking the question:

Is this show dangerous?

Why We Need Empathy, and How We Teach it to Children

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

There is an increasing dialogue in social organisations — in schools, workplaces, court rooms, governments — on the importance of empathy.

Empathy is what sets us apart from machines and even from many other animals.

It’s what enables us to relate to other people and their experiences…

It’s what enables us to understand them.

And it’s what makes us compassionate.

So it’s little wonder why it’s so integral to the social experience of schooling and childhood.

But empathy is not innate — it’s learnt.

And like most things, it’s best learnt during childhood.

And the best teachers are adults.

A New Way to Look at Depression

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Evolutionary psychology proposes ways of helping us to understand our cognitive processes by looking to the past.

Just like human beings have physically adapted to our environment in order to survive, evolutionary psychology suggests that we adapted cognitively the same way…

And that many mental and emotional reactions have served an important evolutionary purpose.

Now some psychologists are offering a new way to look at depression through an evolutionary lens.

Tips for Raising Moral Children — From Harvard Psychologists

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We’ve talked about how to raise motivated children children on the blog…

How to help them develop good habits, how to be happy, how to thrive in school, how to avoid becoming too materialistic…

But the question of how to raise moral children is a different ball game.

Just like these other positive qualities and habits we hope to encourage in our kids, morality isn’t something we’re born with — it’s learnt.

And the fact of the matter is that sometimes, teaching our children moral lessons will get in the way of their immediate happiness.

Think People Can’t Change? Think Again

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

They say a leopard can’t change its spots.

But according to the longest personality study undertaken of all time — they absolutely can.

The study started collecting data from 1,208 fourteen-year-olds in 1950…

And more than 60 year laters, 174 of the original participants agreed to be tested again, with surprising results.

So why do kids need to learn resilience?

So what does this actually involve and how can it help children with learning?

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