Blog Posts

Taming your own ANGRIES: When frustration with your child surfaces and how to cope

1/8/2018

As a parent, we will undoubtedly encounter moments of frustration towards our children. It could be awoken by the simplest of circumstances, such as needing to repeat ourselves like a broken record, intervening with siblings squabbling over a toy, or because we are stressed by other things and our tolerance for managing challenging behaviours is limited.

However, as many of you might already have experienced, when we respond with anger this often only escalates the situation with our child, and they too may then respond in a similar manner. While many of us have regrettably resorted to shouting, questioning or punishments out of anger, what is important to remember, first of all, is that you are human.

Anger is a normal part of the spectrum of human emotions. Anger isn’t bad, it reminds us that we are passionate about something like perhaps wishing to raise respectful, emotionally regulated and empathic little humans. So when less than desirable behaviours are observed in our children, we want to help them develop ways to self-manage, through teaching and implementing boundaries.

Sometimes though, when we have been teaching and redirecting our children all day, our waning tolerance for their tantrums or perceived “defiance” can move us to anger. This article aims to outline some tips about how to tame our own “angries” so that you can engage with your children in a mindful and empathic way.

I've previously shared Dr Dan Siegal's video explanation of what happens in the brain when we get angry and how the thinking part gets shut down. So how do we get our “thinking brain” back online so that we can respond in a more helpful way for our children? The following are several brief tips I often use in parent consultations to support this process:

When the breath is calm, the mind will follow: When we are in the throes of our own anger, the simplest and quickest way to re-engage the thinking brain is to take slow deep breaths. Once the “alarm system” part of the brain has been switched off through breath, we are better able to engage in rational thought processes, thus increasing our capacity to respond to our children in a more mindful manner.

Step away and come back to the situation. If anger is coming up for you, and as long as your child is safe, it is best to step away for a moment, regroup with a few deep breaths, and then ponder what you would like to teach in that moment. Getting your thinking brain back online before responding will help you engage more positively, and help you guide and offer redirection. It is important to inform your child about what you are doing. This will also help them understand that this is an adaptive way of managing anger.

Think about what kind of parent you want to be: Sometimes taking a pause before responding reactively to your child by pondering what kind of parent you want and how you would like your child to remember you, can help to shape your response. For example, if you’re prone to yelling, what will this teach your child about how to manage anger, and will this move you towards or away from the parent you want to be.

Rupture and repair: Dan Siegal states that ruptures in the relationships with our children are inevitable and can occur when we respond in highly emotional and reactive ways. But all is not lost, and repair can assist in creating a healing reconnection with our child. Repair also provides a space for letting your child know that you are human, we all experience anger and that if we say or do something that hurts another’s feelings, we can work through these experiences and reconnect.

Repair involves:

Insight into your own emotional overreaction
Taking a moment to analyse what is really going on in the situation
Tuning in emotionally to what is happening for your child and naming it
Making efforts to let your child know that it was an overreaction, and providing recognition of our effect on them
Problem solving with your child about how you might manage this situation in future

Reframing: It may be the case when we have “flipped our lid” and we are feeling angry with our children that we have thoughts of “he is so defiant”, or “my child is manipulative”. But when we become fused with these ideas, this can often create further frustration. What if we were to instead reframe these thoughts so that we could then reduce our own distress and respond more empathically? For example, instead of thinking “she is deliberately trying to frustrate me”, try to reframe the observed behaviour by asking ourselves “what is my child trying to communicate to me?”

Focus on the desired behaviour: Instead of paying attention to what the child is doing “wrong”, try changing your language to help the child understand what it is you would like them to do. For example, instead of saying “Don’t spill it”, you could say “carry it with two hands”. This may take some conscious effort to re-word our initial response to our children but may assist in reducing frustration by way of giving our child direct instructions about what behaviour you would like to see.

We can’t always be an emotionally regulated parent, and we shouldn’t expect this of ourselves. Even if we do take our anger out on our children, there are many things we can do to minimise the likelihood of this happening in future. If we can tame our “angries” by recognising our emotional state, taking a pause before responding, and regulating ourselves before attempting to regulate our child, we are modelling adaptive and healthy ways of managing anger.

Megan Mellington is a Hopscotch & Harmony Psychologist who works with parents in the perinatal period, She also supports young children and families with managing various challenges, including help with managing big feelings, such as anger or anxiety, navigating friendships and social challenges, building self-confidence, or adjusting to major life changes such as changes in family relationships.

What's really happening when you flip your lid!

25/7/2018

Megan Mellington, Psychologist

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Dan Siegal talks about the parts of the brain involved in emotion regulation. He also coined the term, “flipping your lid” as a metaphor for our experience of being in the throes of anger, and what happens in our brain when anger takes hold. This Hand Model of the Brain clip demonstrates this idea beautifully.

As Dan Siegal outlines, there are two main parts of the brain involved in anger; the pre frontal cortex or “thinking brain”, and the amygdala or “alarm system”. In my next post, read how we get our “thinking brain” back online so that we can respond in a more helpful way for our children.

How Does Deep Pressure Increase Sensory Processing Ability?

18/7/2018

Paula Dadson, Occupational Therapist

First: What is Sensory Processing?

Sensory processing is when the body takes in sensory input, such as a bright light or a noisy classroom, and has the ability to process and interpret that information and react in an appropriate way. Sensory processing difficulties occur when this information does not get organised into an appropriate response leaving the person to feel the sensory input more or less than others would. A person may be seeking or avoiding environmental stimuli, or they may be constantly distracted by some input. Where some may not register the amount of stimuli around them.

This can make it very hard for people to complete daily activities when they are constantly under or over stimulated by their environment. It often leads to trouble engaging in a task and being able to concentrate. An example of this is when a child has sensory seeking preferences and is given a task that requires concentration while they sit still at a desk. This child will find it very difficult to focus and complete this task while they are not receiving this sensory input for a long period of time.

Why Deep Pressure?

One technique that is proved to increase attention and help organise a response to sensory stimuli is deep pressure.

It is hard to understand how deep pressure would help people who are seeking sensory input as well as those who are avoiding this input.

Deep pressure provides proprioceptive input which calms and regulates the Central Nervous System. The Central Nervous System includes both a parasympathetic and sympathetic systems which work together to regulate our body. Deep pressure decreases the sympathetic activity that causes your “fight or flight” reaction to stressful situations. It also increases parasympathetic activity which will slow down high energy functions like heart rate, and blood pressure. This will help regulate the body to interpret sensory input and increase attention and concentration. Deep pressure also helps release serotonin and dopamine hormones which increase mood, and stimulates melatonin release to help with sleep. Therefore Deep pressure should help people with sensory processing difficulties to complete those activities they were having trouble with.

Some Examples of Deep Pressure

Bear Hugs
Weighted blankets
Rolling an excessive ball over a person’s back, arms, and legs
Deep massage
Wrapping a person up in a blanket like a ‘Burrito’
Squishing a person between two large pillows

A Parent’s Guide to Cognitive Assessment

11/7/2018

Stella Franzese, Psychologist

We can all agree that the ‘school world’ children live in today is completely different to ours ‘back in the day’. There are notable differences in the subjects studied, classroom layout (assigned desks vs flexible learning spaces), interests (outdoor cricket vs Minecraft), jargon used (“the bomb” vs “lit”), technology available and teaching methods provided to students (blackboards and paper vs interactive whiteboards and iPads). Consistent with these changes, there has been a shift in the way we think about and assess children’s progress, thinking and learning in school settings.

Imagine that you have a son named ‘Johnny’ in Grade One. He is a vivacious and affectionate boy who loves sports and enjoys going to school. His teacher has completed her usual assessments to determine Johnny’s progress in fundamental subjects (reading, writing and maths). From Johnny’s previous school reports, you’re concerned that he’s performing below standard and don’t want him to fall behind further. One day, Johnny’s teacher and Assistant Principal sit you down and ask you to sign a consent form as they believe that given Johnny’s difficulties he may benefit from a Cognitive assessment and/or Oral Language assessment. At this point you’re thinking, my son would benefit from what? Why? How is this going to help him?

The ‘What’. What are they talking about?

First off, let’s define cognition.
Cognition is our mental process of not only acquiring information, but making sense of it.

Do these assessments have a name or is it just ‘cognitive assessment’?

The most commonly used cognitive assessments in Victorian schools are:

Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) for children aged 2.6 to 7.7
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V) for children aged 6.0 to 16.11

For children in Years 11 and 12 there is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) for individuals aged 16.0 to 90 years 11 months. However, it is rare that cognitive assessments at this age are administered for educational purposes.

Cognitive assessments (or intelligence tests/IQ tests) are used in school settings to assess a child’s level of overall cognitive (aka mental) ability, learning capacity and identify their cognitive strengths and weaknesses (for example, does your child thrive with visual information? Are they good at problem solving? Do they better deal with verbal information?).

What do these assessments measure?

These assessments measure cognitive abilities within 5 primary indexes, or ‘areas’ of intelligence:

Verbal Comprehension: A child’s ability to not only understand verbal information, but use their own long term knowledge and vocabulary to accurately express themselves.
Visual Spatial: A child’s visual/spatial/non-verbal reasoning abilities.
Fluid Reasoning: A child’s ability to think flexibly to solve a new problem using problem solving, planning and their own skillset. The ability to detect underlying relationships between concepts and ‘rules’ in a task to solve this novel problem (aka, can they pick up on what the pattern/ rule is and what strategies they need to tackle a novel visual/abstract problem?). It involves seeing the “bigger picture”, figuring out how things relate to each other and how everything works.
Working Memory: a child’s ability to pay attention, take in multiple bits of information, mentally work with it and hold onto it long enough to produce an outcome (the best example of this is trying to memorise the digits of a phone number by repeating them over in your mind until you can write it down).
Processing Speed: A child’s speed and accuracy of visual scanning, mental processing, motor coordination and visual decision making.
The Full Scale IQ: Your child’s IQ score and overall estimate of their cognitive abilities based on their performance across the indexes.

There are many other ‘ancillary’ or ‘other’ indexes that can also be calculated, however it’s not a ‘need to know’ for now. If relevant to your child’s case the Psychologist can explain it to you.

The assessment within a whole process

The cognitive assessment itself is actually NOT the only thing Psychologists do when they conduct a cognitive assessment. Here is a brief dot point summary of the process:

Parent Consultation: To gather developmental history, to gather information about the child’s current functioning, build relationships with the parents and gain an understanding of parent concerns/specific requests of the parents.
School Consultation: To gather history of difficulties, gain a thorough understanding of the child’s academic functioning.
Behavioural Observation: To see the child ‘in action’. How do they respond to task instructions? Can they keep up with the demands of the class? Do they experience difficulty in one subject? How do they socialise with other kids? How does the child’s quality of work compare to their peers?
Cognitive Assessment Behavioural Observations: Here we observe and take note of your child’s behaviour during the assessment itself. For example, do they make sufficient eye contact? Do they use concrete language? Can they participate in an interactive conversation? How do they describe school/home life? Can they respond to instructions? Can they pay sufficient attention to meet the assessment demands? How do they tackle tasks? How do they self-soothe when they find a task challenging? Can they be encouraged if they are overwhelmed? Are the child’s results impacted because the child is unmotivated or tired? < These observations are invaluable and are a part of the reason why I have managed to make quality recommendations to schools.>
Cognitive Assessment: Involves non-academic, interactive activities (particularly for the younger children). The Psychologist and child build rapport and most commonly complete 10 subtests (or presented as “fun activities” to the child).
Feedback Session with the parents: Meeting with the child’s parents/school to discuss the results and what it means for the child.

Now, depending on the unique situation of your child, there may be other things that occur alongside this ‘standard process’. For example, if you’re looking to obtain funding through the school system for Intellectual Disability, a Psychologist would have to complete other assessments AS WELL as this and write a separate funding report.

Cognitive assessment, part of a formula

It is quite often that the entire cognitive assessment process (from parent consult onwards) is paired with other standardised assessment for different referral questions. Here is a brief snapshot.

Intellectual Disability: Cognitive Assessment + Adaptive Functioning Assessment
Language Disorder: Cognitive Assessment + Language Assessment
Specific Learning Disorder: Cognitive Assessment + Achievement Assessment (sometimes memory assessment and phonological awareness testing is also included)
Giftedness: Cognitive Assessment + Gifted Rating Scales or other information gathering

The ‘does this ring a bell?’ game

A good way to understand the abilities that cognitive assessments measure is to know what the “strengths and weaknesses” in these skills actually look like in school aged children. Have a look at this table and see if any of these ‘ring a bell’ or ‘ring true’ to your child.

Now that we understand what it measures, how do I make sense of these results?

A lot of scores come out of cognitive assessments, however I feel that parents should be knowledgeable of two things:

Percentile Ranks
Percentile ranks reflects how a child performed compared to children the same age. Let’s say we lined up 100 boys the same age as Johnny in order of ‘ability. The little boy sitting at position 1 would be the worst performing and 100 the best. If I told you that Johnny was sitting at the 50th percentile, it means that he is RIGHT in the middle and performing as he should be for his age OR that he is performing better than 50% of children his age. With cognitive assessments, the Average Range falls within the 25th to the 75th percentile.

Standard Scores
Put simply, standard scores are these converted scores that Psychologists use to determine where Johnny’s cognitive abilities lie in comparison to other children his age and what range of ability he falls under. You’ll see ranges associated with standard scores for the indexes and Full-Scale IQ. As an example, any standard score between 90 and 109 falls within the Average Range.

Here is a general scoring guideline table for quick reference:

What do schools do with cognitive assessment results?

Psychologists make recommendations that teachers can use to develop a personalised learning plan for the child. These recommendations are made based on your child’s strengths and weaknesses. As a very simple example, Johnny might have a personal strength with visual-spatial skills but weaknesses in working memory.

The psychologist might then recommend that all instructions provided to Johnny in the classroom be concise, clear and provided to him one at a time. The psychologist might also recommend that instructions or demonstrations in the classroom be highly visual in nature when being delivered to him or that verbal instructions are paired with visual stimuli.

Depending on the reason for the referral, these results and the report might be passed onto a paediatrician or submitted as evidence for a funding application within the Victorian school system.

The cognitive assessment process is a highly rewarding one. It provides educators and parents with the opportunity to better understand the learning needs of the child involved, and also to address your concerns as parents about why they are falling behind academically.

At Hopscotch and Harmony, we have a team of Psychologists including myself who are highly experienced in conducting cognitive assessments and thoroughly enjoy collaborating with parents and educators to achieve the best outcomes for children.
To make an appointment, please don’t hesitate to ring the Werribee Clinic on (03) 9741 5222.

I have developed a “Guide to cognitive assessment: A cheat sheet” as a resource for schools and parents. This provides a brief snapshot of the contents in this blog post. I hope you find it useful!

Stella Franzese is a Hopscotch & Harmony Psychologist who is particularly passionate about working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and children with academic difficulties. Her love for working with children is fuelled by her belief that quality early intervention significantly improves a child’s functioning and sets children up for their future.

Video games: Are they harming us or helping us?

4/7/2018

Jesse Diggins , Psychologist

With an estimated 90% of children and adolescents playing video games (Lenhart et al.2008), the impacts that video games have on users is a fierce and ongoing debate in academic literature. There is a wealth of literature that reveals that there are both positive and negative outcomes associated with gaming.

Positive Impacts

Some academics hold the perspective that gaming is a modern form of play and should be considered as a contemporary means of psychosocial development. With the increasing social connectivity built into modern video games, playing online provides an opportunity to connect and cooperate with peers. Social connection is an often cited as a positive outcome for users. Yet, researchers have discovered various other benefits too.

Playing ‘shooter’ games has been shown to promote some specific cognitive skills. This is likely to do with the visually rich environments and rapid attentional demands within modern games. Recent literature has shown that ‘shooter’ video games have been associated with enhanced attention allocation and enhanced spatial abilities (Green & Bavelier, 2012; Uttal et al., 2013). These cognitive benefits remained over time and generalized to other contexts. Gamers that are strong in these cognitive skills are advantaged academically in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) (Wai, Lubinski, Benbow, & Steiger, 2010).

Another - admittedly more speculative - area of benefit relates to motivation. A recent study (Ventura et al., 2013) found that the extent of video game use significantly predicted how long participants would demonstrate persistence in attempting to solve difficult puzzles.

Many psychologists and educators are familiar with Carol Dweck’s seminal ‘Growth Mindset’ philosophy which posits that persistence and continual effort are key to success (Dweck & Molden, 2005). The finding by Ventura and colleagues (2013) links to the ideas purported by Dweck and is particularly interesting in light of the popularity of the recently released videogame, Fornite.

In Fortnite, success involves outlasting other players. With the likelihood of winning being small, a substantial amount of persistence and determination is required for players who seek to win. Some researchers speculate that players of video games, such as Fortnite, can develop a ‘persistent motivational style’ which may have beneficial generalized effects in school or work contexts. Though this relationship is merely correlational and needs further empirical evidence.

A final benefit, which is more robustly researched, is that of social benefits. Research has found that video game players can develop prosocial skills when they play games that are designed to reward effective cooperation, support, and helping behaviours (Ewoldsen et al., 2012).

The critical dimension that seems to determine whether video games are associated with helping and prosocial behaviour is the extent to which they are played cooperatively versus competitively.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS

A day spent searching for research papers debating the negative impacts of gaming would yield dozens of papers with wide ranging and opposing findings. Thankfully, we have meta-analyses. Meta-analyses are a type of research review that combines the findings of many other studies. Further, we have great research bodies that do meta-analyses of other meta-analyses, combining the results of hundreds of individual studies.

One such research body is the American Psychological Association who has recently released a major review of research into the impact of violent video games. To conduct their review, the APA contacted approximately 130 of the most frequently published researchers and experts in the field of gaming and requested nominations of the 10 strongest empirically based studies on this topic. This process yielded four meta-analyses which took into account more than 150 individual studies.

The review produced robust evidence that violent video game exposure was associated with increased aggressive behavior and increased aggressive thoughts. The review also clearly evidenced that video game exposure produced desensitization to violence and decreased empathy. The review concluded that violent video game use is a risk factor for adverse outcomes.

There are also factors that have been found to influence and interact with the development of aggression in gamers. Some researchers have suggested that it is the competitive features of certain games that produce the aggressive effects (Adachi & Willoughby, 2011). As mentioned above, this is contrary to cooperative games that can have prosocial benefits.

Past research has identified a number of risk factors that can moderate and influence the development of aggression, such as: pre-existing aggressive traits, low socioeconomic status, harsh parental discipline practices and experiences of peer rejection and bullying (Dodge, Coie, & Lynam, 2006; Herrenkohl et al., 2000). The APA review was able to determine that in the majority of studies, even after these factors were controlled for, violent video games still independently predicted aggression. Existing research suggests that higher amounts of exposure are associated with higher levels of aggression and other adverse outcomes. The conclusions of the APA review relate to children, adolescents and young adults.

This is far from an exhaustive list of outcomes that result from gaming. The intention of this paper is to inform the public of a range of valid findings from either side of the debate.

SUMMARY POINTS

Positives include:

Increased social connection
Gaming being a ‘modern form of play’
Enhanced attentional and spatial abilities
Potentially enhanced motivation and persistence on other tasks
Prosocial skills if games are cooperative

Negatives include (restricted to games which are of a violent nature):

Increased aggressive thoughts and behaviour
Decreased empathy
Desensitization to violence
The above outcomes are more likely to develop if gamers have pre-existing aggressive traits, live in low SES status, have experienced bullying or harsh discipline from parents

REFERENCES

Calvert, S. L., Appelbaum, M., Dodge, K. A., Graham, S., Nagayama Hall, G. C., Hamby, S., ... &    Hedges, L. V. (2017). The American Psychological Association Task Force assessment of    violent video games: Science in the service of public interest. American    Psychologist, 72(2), 126.

Dodge, K. A., Coie, J. D., & Lynam, D. (2006). Aggression and antisocial behavior in youth. In N.    Eisenberg, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3.    Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 719–788). Hoboken, NJ:    Wiley.

Dweck, C. S., & Molden, D. C. (2005). Self-theories: Their impact on competence motivation and    acquisition. In A. J. Elliot & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation    (pp. 122–140) New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. American    psychologist, 69(1), 66

Green, C. S., & Bavelier, D. (2012). Learning, attentional control, and action video games.    Current Biology, 22, 197–206. doi:10.1016/j.cub .2012.02.012
Herrenkohl, T. I., Maguin, E., Hill, K. G., Hawkins, J. D., Abbott, R. D., & Catalano, R. F. (2000).    Developmental risk factors for youth violence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 24, 176–   186.

Lenhart, A., Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., Macgill, A. R., Evans, C., & Vitak, J. (2008). Teens, video    games, and civics: Teens’ gaming experiences are diverse and include significant social    interaction and civic engagement. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from    the Pew Internet & American Life Project website: http://www.pewinternet.org/    Reports/2008/Teens-Video-Games-and-Civics.aspx

Uttal, D. H., Meadow, N. G., Tipton, E., Hand, L. L., Alden, A. R., Warren, C., & Newcombe, N. S.    (2013). The malleability of spatial skills: A meta-analysis of training studies.    Psychological Bulletin, 139, 352– 402. doi:10.1037/a0028446

Ventura, M., Shute, V., & Zhao, W. (2013). The relationship between video game use and a    performance-based measure of persistence. Computers & Education, 60, 52–58.    doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.07 .003

Wai, J., Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., & Steiger, J. H. (2010). Accomplishment in science,    technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and its relation to STEM educational    dose: A 25-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 860 – 871.    doi: 10.1037/a0019454

Jesse Diggins is a Hopscotch & Harmony psychologist who works closely with children, teens and parents to make sense of emotions and challenging behaviour. He has been recognised at local and state levels for his counselling work and his passion to empower young people and enable them to flourish. You can make an appointment with Jesse at Hopscotch & Harmony's Belmont practice on 5241 6462.

Eating-Related Challenges in Childhood

14/6/2018

Evrim Ulusoy, Psychologist

There are many reasons you might feel frustrated if your child is experiencing eating-related challenges. For example, when your child:

Is refusing to sit at the dinner table during meal times;
Is not open to trying non-preferred food items;
Is hiding food around the house;
Is asking for dessert late at night or refusing to go to sleep without dessert;
Refuses to eat healthy food packed in their lunchbox; and,
Is preoccupied with their body or continuously scrolling through sites promoting unrealistic body image goals

Preparing for Healthy Eating Habits

Here are some things to consider as a way of developing healthy eating habits in the home environment:

Model healthy eating at the dinner table;
Involve your child in the preparation of meals/shopping lists;
Aim for mealtimes to be around the same time each night;
Eliminate distractions such as screens;
Allow around 20-30 minutes for the family meal;
Encourage your child to remain seated at the table until other family members are finished. Do this by engaging them in conversation or by introducing a gratitude ritual.
Don't talk about food as good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. Instead, discuss how we eat some foods because they help us grow strong and we eat other foods because they taste good (and these are sometimes foods).
Encourage your child to set up the table with you;
Avoid giving dessert as a reward for eating fruits/vegetables. Food shouldn't be used as a reward as it gets in the way of a child's ability to regulate their eating. It also encourages them to eat when they're not hungry as a way to reward themselves.

Professional Support for Eating-Related Challenges

It is important to check-in with your child and explore the reasons your child may be experiencing eating-related challenges. Young children may be experiencing power struggles at home. Pre-teens might be preoccupied with their body or friendship groups as they develop and become exposed to unrealistic body goals. Children may also be preoccupied with screen time during meals or feeling stressed about upcoming tests or social events at school.

An alternative to constantly reminding your child to ‘just sit and eat’ or ‘finish everything on your plate’ is to take a skill building approach. A psychologist or paediatric dietitian can help the child build on the following skills that may be linked to eating-related challenges:

Handling novelty
Persisting on challenging tasks
Maintaining focus
Regulating emotions when feeling distressed
Seeking attention in appropriate ways

Speaking with a psychologist may help you to identify and support you through age-related challenges that your child may be experiencing, and which skill development areas can be considered in a treatment plan.

Children can learn to practice relaxation and eating new food mindfully in sessions with the psychologist or dietitian. Parents can also be provided with helpful resources around mealtimes and addressing challenging behaviours.

Evrim Ulusoy is a psychologist at Hopscotch and Harmony, and her work involves play-based therapeutic interventions with preschool aged and primary school aged children. Evrim provides a supportive and engaging environment for children to share their challenges and the impact on their personal wellbeing and relationships. Call 9741 5222 to make an appointment at our Werribee practice.

Promoting Infant Mental Health: Understanding and Responding to your Infant’s Cues

13/6/2018

Sarah Gatt, Psychologist

Infant mental health refers to how well an infant (newborns to the age of three) develops socially and emotionally. Specifically, this refers to: developing the ability to form close and secure adult and peer relationships experiencing, managing and expressing a full range of emotions exploring the environment and learning

How to promote Infant Mental Health

Infant mental health can be nurtured through a secure and stable relationship with their caregiver. This is done by what caregivers do, the things they say, as well as through the environment created at home.

It includes even small things that caregivers may do without even noticing it, such as talking to your infant and spending time with them. In particular, noticing and responding to your infant’s cues can help to nurture your relationship with your infant as well as support their mental health.

Learning to understand your infant’s unique cues
Cues refers to the sounds and movements infants make. These can include facial expressions, vocalisations, body movements and reactions. Cues can be as subtle as an opening hand or widening their eyes.

Cues let us know something about the infant’s needs, their emotional state and physical
state. In other words, cues are an infant’s way of communicating with us. Caregivers can
learn to understand what an infant is trying to communicate by:

Observing and paying close attention to their facial expressions, body movements, and body reactions for cues about their needs.
Observe and pay close attention to the types of sounds that your infant makes.
Notice the type of touch that your child likes.
Notice the environment that your baby enjoys, including the types of sounds and movements.

Each infant has their own cues and it takes time to learn these cues. You do not have to
understand your infants cues every time! However, become a curious observer of your
infant and their cues. Continue trying to understand what your infant is trying to
communicate.

Responding to you infant’s cues

As cues are a way for your infant to converse, it is important for caregivers to respond to these cues. This involves responding sensitively and promptly. By responding to your infant’s cues, it helps the infant make sense of the world. It lets them know that their caregiver will respond to them when they are feeling insecure, it makes them feel safe, creates a predictable routine and creates trust.

Understanding and responding to your infant’s cues is just one way that you can promote your infant’s mental health. It is also very important that caregivers take care of themselves and their own mental health, in order to continue to build a secure and stable relationship with their infant.

If you would like support regarding your infant’s mental health or your own mental health, please contact Hopscotch and Harmony to discuss further.

Sarah Gatt is a Hopscotch and Harmony Psychologist passionate about providing early intervention services to young children in order to help aid their development and reach their full potential. She creates a warm and safe therapeutic environment for children, by providing therapy in a creative and individualised manner. Sarah consults from our Werribee practice.

3 Tips for Nurturing Playfulness

6/6/2018

Kate Hardiman, Psychologist

Humans are biologically wired to play. Play creates feelings of joy at all ages and stages, including adulthood. Play helps us to connect with others. Play is used to safely explore the world and learn about emotions. Play supports the development of healthy nervous systems and to regulate the excitement and calming systems in our bodies.

Think of a time you felt a strong connection to someone else, it may be a child or an animal. What were you doing in this moment?
Think back to when you were a child, what did you like to do on the holidays and weekends? What were your hobbies or interests? When was the last time you did one of these playful activities.
Create a list of jobs you would be interested in doing if you had a parallel life. Then, think about a small action that you could try out for fun. For example, if you once dreamed of being a pro surfer, take a swim in the ocean. If you fancy the idea of farming, grow something in the backyard.

Kate Hardiman is a Hopscotch & Harmony psychologist who works closely with children, teens and parents to support behavioural challenges, emotional outbursts, social withdrawal, or fears and worries about everyday things.

Mindful moments – how to experience more of them in your day

30/5/2018

Leanne Smith, Psychologist

Anyone, at any time, anywhere can engage in mindfulness. This is the beauty of
it. Mindfulness is about paying close and undivided attention to one thing, such
as bringing attention to a flavor when eating, noticing the color or curves of a
leaf, how warm water feels on your hands, the weight of your body or the flow of
your breath.

When we practice mindfulness, we bring our attention to the current moment, without reflecting on the past or looking into the future. It is a time for stillness and calm in the mind.

How can we create more space for mindful moments?

Choose a time to be mindful

Think of a time during the day or night that you can devote to yourself and your
mindful practice. At times it is a tight squeeze to find the space to completely
stop. Ask yourself if you can do this within your daily routine.

Will you use mindfulness while washing the dishes; paying attention to the warm water on
your hands and the motions of the cloth? Will you practice as you drink your
morning coffee or tea; noticing the feel of each sip? Will you practice as you
shower; reflecting on the warmth of the water as it sprinkles onto your feet?

Use the outdoors and nature

Take time out to enjoy a mindful walk close to nature. Sit close to a plant or
grassed area and center your attention to your breath. Observe an indoor plant if
you do not have a garden close by. This doesn’t need to be for long, even 5 or 10
minutes will do.

Consider a modern approach

With a rise in technology and broadening availability of resources through it,
let’s use this to our advantage! Mindfulness can be confidently guided and
practiced with Apps, Podcasts or even through YouTube. These can be used on
your phone, an iPad, computer or other devices.

One of my favorite mindful Podcasts for kids is ‘Peace Out’ written by Chanel
Tsang. For adults, the Bhudify app can be a great guide.

One of our talented Hopscotch and Harmony clinicians, Kessia Ianzano wrote a
great article for Apps to use for mindfulness very recently for Mindful May.
Check it out here.

A great article by our Clinical Psychologist Georgina Psomiadis is also presented
on our blog if you would like some tips on the benefits meditation for you and
your children. Find it here

Include essential oils

Including essential oils safely in your routine can increase the opportunity for
mindful moments. Oils can be diluted into a spray bottle, a roller ball, or into an
aroma diffuser.

It is recommended to consult a trained aromatherapist when considering the use of essential oils for you and your family. Aroma can be the focus point of the mindful moment, noticing how the aroma smells, and the way our body feels when we are in its presence. Small aroma diffusers can be great for the office or car too (Ebay or many other online stores sell these). Using aroma can become a routine and can remind us to take some time each day toenjoy a mindful moment.

By selecting a few of the tips from above, you will be able to find small ways in which you can bring mindfulness into your home and your life. Happy Mindful May everyone!

Leanne Smith is a Hopscotch & Harmony Psychologist who has a special interest in helping young children develop social skills and emotional regulation. She supports parents and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder to learn life skills and improve well-being. Leanne consults from both Belmont and Werribee.

5 Top Apps for Children's Meditation and Mindfulness

23/5/2018

Kessia Ianzano, Psychologist

In a society where technology is everywhere, there is now a phone app for just about everything! Meditation and mindfulness for children and adolescence is no exception, and there are currently hundreds of apps available.

Below are the top 5 apps I recommend to my clients who need a little extra help with worries, getting better sleep, focusing in the classroom or when they might become a little too angry.

Smiling Mind
Smiling Mind's programs are divided by age, starting at 7-11 years. If you have children who are struggling with their emotions, this app may be a helpful addition to the current methods you and they are using.

DreamyKid
The DreamyKid meditation app offers meditation, guided visualization and affirmations curated just for children & teens. It uses proven techniques that teach your kids methods to guide them towards a happier life through mindfulness.

Calm
Calm is the perfect meditation app for beginners, but also includes hundreds of programs for intermediate and advanced users. Guided meditation sessions are available in lengths of 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 minutes so you can choose the perfect length to fit with your schedule.

Stop, Breathe & Think Kids
Stop, Breathe & Think Kids offers children a fun and easy way to identify and process their emotions. From counting breaths to friendly wishes or frog jumps, each activity brings fun rewards to keep them engaged.

Headspace: Guided Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation made simple. Guided meditations suitable for all levels from Headspace. Meditation can help improve your focus, exercise mindful awareness, relieve anxiety and reduce stress.

Kessia Ianzano is a Hopscotch & Harmony psychologist who provides mental health support to young people as well as to athletes of all ages across a diverse range of settings including elite national environments, state level teams and local community organisations. In addition to working with athletes, Kessia has worked as a school psychologist and consults at Hopscotch & Harmony at our Werribee Practice. You can book online here.

<<Previous

Forward>>

Taming your own ANGRIES: When frustration with your child surfaces and how to cope

What's really happening when you flip your lid!

How Does Deep Pressure Increase Sensory Processing Ability?

First: What is Sensory Processing?

Why Deep Pressure?

Some Examples of Deep Pressure

A Parent’s Guide to Cognitive Assessment

The ‘What’. What are they talking about?

Do these assessments have a name or is it just ‘cognitive assessment’?

What do these assessments measure?

The assessment within a whole process

Cognitive assessment, part of a formula

The ‘does this ring a bell?’ game

Now that we understand what it measures, how do I make sense of these results?

What do schools do with cognitive assessment results?

Get your Cognitive Assessment Cheat Sheet!

Video games: Are they harming us or helping us?

Positive Impacts

NEGATIVE IMPACTS

SUMMARY POINTS

REFERENCES

Eating-Related Challenges in Childhood

Evrim Ulusoy, Psychologist

Preparing for Healthy Eating Habits

Professional Support for Eating-Related Challenges

Promoting Infant Mental Health: Understanding and Responding to your Infant’s Cues

3 Tips for Nurturing Playfulness

Mindful moments – how to experience more of them in your day

5 Top Apps for Children's Meditation and Mindfulness

Categories

our services

Our practice values

contact us

First: What is Sensory Processing?

Why Deep Pressure?

Some Examples of Deep Pressure

The ‘What’. What are they talking about? ​

Do these assessments have a name or is it just ‘cognitive assessment’? ​

What do these assessments measure?

The assessment within a whole process

Cognitive assessment, part of a formula

The ‘does this ring a bell?’ game

Now that we understand what it measures, how do I make sense of these results?

What do schools do with cognitive assessment results?

Get your Cognitive Assessment Cheat Sheet!

Positive Impacts

NEGATIVE IMPACTS

SUMMARY POINTS

REFERENCES

Evrim Ulusoy, Psychologist

Preparing for Healthy Eating Habits

Professional Support for Eating-Related Challenges

Categories

our services

Our practice values

contact us

The ‘What’. What are they talking about?

Do these assessments have a name or is it just ‘cognitive assessment’?