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 […]
Children’s Activity: Positive Affirmations Read More »
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
4 ways to tackle procrastination Read More »
Whilst we have made huge strides forward in our awareness of mental health and its impact on children and young people, particularly since the lockdowns, therapy still sits on an interesting line. Frequently, I talk to so many young people, parents and professionals who still find that whilst we talk about ‘Mental Health Matters’, it
5 Reasons why we need to see therapy as self-care Read More »
Where our thoughts go…. our feelings flow…. When we get caught up in day to day life, if things are going wrong it can affect the way that we view all other aspects of our worlds. Suddenly, our hyperfocus is on the negative, rather than the balance. So, this week, we are looking at ‘heart
Children’s Activity: My Heart Checklist Read More »
There are so many things that we need to teach children, from mathematics to reading and writing. However, the last few years have also shown us the importance of helping children to build self-esteem and resilience, to support their mental health and well-being. I work with hundreds of children every year in my therapy work,
3 mindset tools we should teach children Read More »
Feel Good Jar Children can sometimes find it difficult to recognise their strengths, whether they are skills, traits or behaviours. Helping children to recognise their positives supports them to raise their self-esteem and therefore their well-being. So, this week we are looking at ‘Feel Good Jars’ to help children record their positive traits and recognise
Children’s Activity: Feel Good Jar Read More »
Valuing ourselves Supporting children to recognise their strengths and positive traits is a great first step to supporting them to develop their self-esteem. That can start with positive conversations, where we encourage children to recognise and validate their own strengths and positives. Helping them to build heir confidence in recognising what is wonderful about them,
Children’s Activities: Self-esteem Mirrors Read More »
When children struggle with anxiety, it can feel like the kindest thing to allow them to avoid the situation that is affecting them. However, we quickly discover that the list of things that they need to avoid becomes bigger and bigger, and their world becomes smaller and smaller and smaller. Safety Behaviours When we use
Why supporting avoidance is not kindness Read More »
Self-esteem Self-esteem is the value we place on our own worth. It is the opinion we have of ourselves. The way we view our worth in the world. It can be positive or negative, and the level of our self-esteem impacts the way that we see the world and the events that occur in our
Children’s Activities: Grow your own Garden Read More »
Previously, I spoke about the child behaviour iceberg (find it here), so in this article, I want to look at the ABC of behaviour. When I started my career working as an early years practitioner, later as a Nursery Manager and then a lecturer of early years, (before eventually finding myself as an inspector) I would
Why we need to look beneath child behaviour Read More »
