What is a promise? Promises. When we are little we little, we are repeatedly asked ‘do you promise?’, or told ‘I promise we will….’ or ‘I promise we can…’, but what is a promise? In the dictionary, a promise is defined as: (n) a declaration or assurance that one will do something or that a …
Self-esteem refers to the value that we place on ourselves. This includes our self-worth and levels of self-respect and influences our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, as well as our emotional well-being. When our self-esteem is high we can find that we are more receptive to our connections with others, feel more satisfied in life and …
We talk a lot about self-esteem, and supporting children to recognise their own value. However, many of our systems have not yet adapted to support children to develop this vital skill. We hear a number of people talk about the influence of ‘social media’ and ‘influencers’ making children feel bad about themselves, and whilst they …
Do you practice gratitude? Or do you label is as ‘woo woo’ Or are you still stuck on the fence? In recent years, research into the power of gratitude has identified the importance that practicing daily gratitude has on our sense of happiness and well-being. When we practice gratitude consistently, and over a duration of …
Do you ever wonder if we have gotten confidence completely wrong? As I get older, I have had to continually question the concept of confidence, and how it has been sold to me as a human being, from childhood to adulthood. Let’s start with the basics, what is confidence? Confidence is described as ‘the feeling …
I frequently meet children, adolescents and the occasional adult (I focus my therapy and coaching work on young people) who will comment that they: Don’t know who they are Do not feel like themselves Feel like they do not fit in I often explore the concept of congruence with them, as it is an important …
When we feel dysregulated, having tools to help us reduce our stress, and help us create focus, are invaluable. However, they do not need to be expensive, and you can make them at home. Stress balloons can be great fun, their ability to stretch, twist and move are a perfect regulation for school aged children. …
Children’s Activity: Make your own stress balloons Read More »
In our Level 4 Diploma class session this week, we were reviewing the impact of shame on children’s mental health, well-being and self-esteem. Shame is the feeling of embarrassment or humiliation that children (or adults) experience in response to the perception that they have done something wrong. Essentially, when shame is imparted onto children, it …
Our brains listen to EVERYTHING that we say, as though taking instructions from us. If we tell ourselves that we are stupid, silly or useless, our brain believes it and our confidence and self-esteem begins to drop. If we tell ourselves that we are kind, clever and capable, our brains take that as an instruction …
Procrastination is described as ‘the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something, despite knowing that thee will be negative consequences’. In its simplest form, procrastination is a decision to stay in my current emotions and state, rather than push myself into a more uncomfortable or challenging one, despite knowing it will cause me …
