Children's Mental Health Blog

In the first year of the pandemic, the “global prevalence of anxiety increased by a massive 25%,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This increase includes children. In recognition of Children’s Mental Health Week, here are five simple strategies you can try when a child is experiencing anxiety.

Parenting x-ray vision allows you to look beneath the difficult behaviour and peer inside your child to figure out what is driving or fueling the behaviour.

Anxiety is a typical reaction to perceived danger. It tells us something potentially scary is about to happen and helps our body get ready to respond to the danger by triggering the fight-flight-freeze response. Below are some tips to try when experiencing anxiety.

Emotion coaching is how we get back to the ground floor. It can help to increase cooperation, de-escalate situations, and teaches emotion regulation. Through our words and tone of voice, we can demonstrate empathy and that we “get it” and can try to co-regulate those big feelings.

Imagine you are about to celebrate your child’s 21st birthday. What kind of person do you hope they will be? What kind of relationship do you want with them?

Shame is common and one of the ways we keep ourselves safe. It notifies us when we behave in unacceptable ways and prompts us to correct the situation, but sometimes shame takes over. Here are 4 tips to overcoming shame.

“You just don’t understand”. “My parents don’t get it”. “No one knows how I’m feeling”.

Taken at face value, these statements make it seem like youth are pushing us away or being anti-social. Under the surface though is a driving need for connection and validation. For many youth, music meets both of these needs.

We may find ourselves, our coworkers and our friends and families having trouble coping. Globally, we are all experiencing the affects of COVID-19 in some capacity. Here are four ways to manage your mental health during a pandemic.

Mental health can be a scary topic for some to discuss. There can be unknowns regarding mental wellness and in some ways, the subject has only more recently been embraced by society. For youth, discussing this may be intimidating as they may feel that they lack specialized knowledge or experience to begin a conversation about this important subject

Two Spirit, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming identities are becoming more visible. Such people have always been with us; however, there has been growing acceptance and recognition that these ways of being are legitimate and worthy of celebrating.