One of the most common reasons that parents contact a child psychologist is for help in dealing with an anxious child. When a child is anxious his or her clearly visible distress is felt by parents, but not always understood. The child is often fearful about situations that had never even crossed this parent’s mind as a problem when he or she was a child. Good advice that parents may give on how to deal with anxiety-provoking situations is often not taken up by the child and the pain seems to grow year by year. [Read more...]
Pandora’s Box
September 1, 2011 By 1 Comment
We all enjoy experiencing positive emotions and actively seek them out. We go out for a good time, plan activities to have fun, gather with family for closeness, and many people when asked their goal in life will say, “I just want to be happy.” But other emotions are felt as bad experiences and we often go to great lengths to avoid them – feelings of anger, disappointment or fear. Sometimes we are taught that certain emotions are somehow “bad” and we shouldn’t experience them. We believe that “big boys don’t cry” or “nice girls don’t get angry”. Nonsense! Big boys and nice girls are normal people too, and to experience the whole range of emotions is perfectly normal. When we seek to suppress certain emotions we only run into trouble. [Read more...]
Trauma and its Effects on Mental Health
January 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The recent disastrous cylone and floods in Queensland have had a huge impact, not only on those in their pathway, but also on those who have been looking on in disbelief. There’s an enormous amount of work to be done to bring the state back into normal operation and we are being told it could take years. But what about the people? They will have various reactions to their ordeal, but when will they return to normal every day life? We know that people who live through wars, cyclones, bushfires and the like are prone to becoming mentally ill with posttraumatic stress disorder. Will flood-affected people suffer mental health issues?
Working Through Grief
December 17, 2010 By 4 Comments
We spend much of our lives working towards having great relationships, a good job, a comfortable home, nice possessions, and all those things that make life rich and meaningful. But what happens when we suddenly lose one of them? Grief is as natural to every person as breathing. It is inevitable.
Loss comes in many forms. It might be the death of someone you love, a best friend moving away, losing your job, having your car written off, your marriage breaking down, losing your house, or even realising that something you were looking forward to just isn’t going to happen. Everyone feels their loss in a different way, and if you don’t react in the same way as someone else it does not mean that there is something wrong with you (or with them). Some losses are experienced as deep despair, others as a tragedy, and some strike us with feelings of panic. However, many people tend to follow a general pattern after a loss and work through a range of emotions. [Read more....]
Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem
December 4, 2010 By 2 Comments
Self-Confidence
A person who is comfortable with who they are and believes in their own abilities has much fewer problems in life. Every parent would like to bring their child up with self-confidence, to avoid being the target of bullies, to have good friends, to be able to resist peer pressure, to have a go at a variety of activities, and to achieve what they are capable of doing. Some children are naturally shy, hesitant to try things, a bit anxious and limited in some abilities. So how can you encourage your child to become self-confident? [Read more...]
Handling Depression
August 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
It is normal to feel upset when things go wrong, and for a person to feel very down for a few days after suffering a series of setbacks. But most people bounce back once they have had time to think about it and get things into perspective. Depression is far more serious than just feeling down in the dumps for a while.
The most common symptoms of depression are feeling tired, not caring, having no energy, not sleeping normally, feeling sad a lot, being unable to concentrate, losing interest in life, and not having a normal appetite. Some people get so down they think about ending their lives.
There are a number of causes of depression. It can occur in people who suffer from a mental illness, it can be caused by a chemical imbalance, or it can be hereditary. However, for the majority of people who develop it depression is often part of a reaction to unpleasant events.
Such circumstances can include losing a job, the breakup of a relationship, being seriously ill or injured, being treated badly, experiencing a trauma, the death of someone close, a big financial loss, and many other triggers. Many people can go through difficult times like these without developing depression. This is called resilience. [Read more...]
Work Stress
August 17, 2010 By 1 Comment
Because the world of work is such a major part of our lives it plays a significant role in how we feel. Just as we can be in optimum physical health or knocked sideways by a health problem, we can be mentally healthy or there may be times in our lives when we struggle with mental and emotional distress. People with good mental health are able to develop and sustain personal relationships and to empathise with others. They can face and deal with problems, laugh, play and also enjoy solitude. Mentally healthy people possess self-esteem and confidence. Mental health problems, on the other hand, can limit the extent to which a person experiences life. [Read more...]
Weight Loss
August 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We all know that being overweight is detrimental to our health in many ways, including risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease. And we all desire to look slim and trim so we can go out and feel confident. Unfortunately, we are often conscious of embarrassing fat in all the wrong places. The battle of the bulge often seems futile. Weight loss programs that do wonders for the superstars just don’t have the same effect on mere mortals, and any weight loss victoriously achieved in one year just sneaks right back on the next. Add to this the fact that every adult Australian is progressively gaining weight by more than a kilo every two years and it seems that fate wants us to be fat. Why is long-term weight loss so elusive? [Read more...]