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How To Cope As A Parent With Children`s Emotions, Feeling And Mental Health
An article for parents about how they could enable their children to manage children`s feelings and emotions
Date : 11/12/2023
How to handle Mental health of our children is crucial in difficult situation as well as in “any normal day”. Children can feel overwhelmed with their feelings and emotions, which can cause them to feel sad, confused, anxious, angry or even tired. Depending on their age their response may vary. Some may become overly attached or even withdraw, whilst others may become hyperactive may feel bored, scared or teary.
Here are my five tips to help manage feelings and emotions in children.
Breathing exercise – Ask your child to focus on their breathing and take five long and deep breaths. They can inhale, wait five seconds and exhale. Or, ask your child to blow out a candle, reminding them not to touch the candle. Perhaps, you can also play relaxing/mindful music.The increased oxygen helps their brain to calm and relax.SPOT, STOP, SWAP (Shetty, 2020) - Help your child to recognize how to spot when they feel a negative thought or feeling. This will help them to accept the feeling and give them an opportunity to decide what to do next. Stopping the activity or moving to a different environment or place will help them to stop that negative thought or feeling that bothers them. Next, they can swap the feeling for positive thought - for example, if a child gets very upset because they miss their friend from school, whenever they feel this way, they can talk about it. This will change the environment, and after the conversation they can record a short video for their friend to say hello or they can write a letter or draw a picture for their friend. 😊 SPOT the negative thought, STOP that thought and SWAP it for a better or positive thought.Listen and talk - Listen to their concerns and show them your support. Talk to them and explain what`s happening and reassure them that it is OK not to feel OK sometimes. Love and understanding – Show them how much you love them and care for them as you always do! 😊 Ensure they know that you understand their feelings and spend quality time with your child by playing their favourite game or organising a treasure hunt at home or in the garden.Coping strategies – Children can distract themselves by talking, creating art, colouring, mindfulness exercise, writing about their feelings or express their feeling through dance, sport or drama. This is also called self-expression. Remind them to think positively and plan something to forward to during the weekend/half term.😊
Top tip what not to do:
Avoid negativity in the house, such as complaining, comparing and criticising, because these are contagious and create more negative thoughts. Instead share love and positivity - for example, at dinner every member of the family can share what they liked about that day and what made them smile - and ensure you praise each other at least once a day (Shetty, 2020).
References: Shetty, J. (2020). Think like a monk: train your mind for peace and purpose every day. 1st edition. Simon Schuster: New York.
Here are my five tips to help manage feelings and emotions in children.
Breathing exercise – Ask your child to focus on their breathing and take five long and deep breaths. They can inhale, wait five seconds and exhale. Or, ask your child to blow out a candle, reminding them not to touch the candle. Perhaps, you can also play relaxing/mindful music.The increased oxygen helps their brain to calm and relax.SPOT, STOP, SWAP (Shetty, 2020) - Help your child to recognize how to spot when they feel a negative thought or feeling. This will help them to accept the feeling and give them an opportunity to decide what to do next. Stopping the activity or moving to a different environment or place will help them to stop that negative thought or feeling that bothers them. Next, they can swap the feeling for positive thought - for example, if a child gets very upset because they miss their friend from school, whenever they feel this way, they can talk about it. This will change the environment, and after the conversation they can record a short video for their friend to say hello or they can write a letter or draw a picture for their friend. 😊 SPOT the negative thought, STOP that thought and SWAP it for a better or positive thought.Listen and talk - Listen to their concerns and show them your support. Talk to them and explain what`s happening and reassure them that it is OK not to feel OK sometimes. Love and understanding – Show them how much you love them and care for them as you always do! 😊 Ensure they know that you understand their feelings and spend quality time with your child by playing their favourite game or organising a treasure hunt at home or in the garden.Coping strategies – Children can distract themselves by talking, creating art, colouring, mindfulness exercise, writing about their feelings or express their feeling through dance, sport or drama. This is also called self-expression. Remind them to think positively and plan something to forward to during the weekend/half term.😊
Top tip what not to do:
Avoid negativity in the house, such as complaining, comparing and criticising, because these are contagious and create more negative thoughts. Instead share love and positivity - for example, at dinner every member of the family can share what they liked about that day and what made them smile - and ensure you praise each other at least once a day (Shetty, 2020).
References: Shetty, J. (2020). Think like a monk: train your mind for peace and purpose every day. 1st edition. Simon Schuster: New York.
This resource was uploaded by: Alena