BLOG: Children's Mental Health Week 2025

05th, Feb 2025

This Children's Mental Health Week, we spoke to Dr Kerry Sweeney, Consultant Clinical Psychologist who shares her tips on how to regulate, relate and reason with children and young people.

1. REGULATE

Encourage your kids to be active, to be calm and alert. Help your child to explore, play outside or inside in activities involving movement like climbing, crawling, pulling/pushing and swinging can be a help when big feelings are emerging and help with concentration!

Also encouraging your child to engage in various activities regularly, which help with regulation; swimming, cycling, trampoline, running, dancing, music, gymnastics and yoga can make a difference.

 

2. REGULATE AS PARENTS

To be responsive parents- breath first and figure out your self-regulation activities every day to manage emotions especially evoked by parenting!

 

3. RELATE

Once we are feeling calmer and our children have been supported to regulate, we’re ready to relate. Physical connection with children is essential and especially at times of upset, so hugs or sit alongside, touching their arm, hair can help set up the stage of talking.

 

4. RELATE WITH PACE & Don't jump to solutions!

Be playful, accepting, curious and empathic with children. Remembering that emotions and behaviours are a way of communicating hidden needs, anxiety /fear, so wondering about what is maybe going on for your child and showing empathy comes first.

 

5. REASONING

Only when everyone is calm to talk about the difficult feelings, actions and behaviours, opportunities arise to think through what happened. This is important for scaffolding understanding of emotions and relationships. Solutions for next time are helpful at this point.

 

6. ROUTINES

continue to implement consistent family focused routines around mealtimes and bedtimes and make time for fun and relaxation.

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If you would like to book an appointment with Dr Kerry Sweeney, please call 028 9066 7878 or book online at kingsbridgeprivatehospital.com

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