Peninsula Paediatric Psychology PTY LTD 3ppsychologies
Paediatric Psychology Support, Training and Supervision Services
SPECIAL EDITION -Working Online WEBINAR SERIES 2
As a result of an evolving working context where many are opting to deliver services online, a group of psychologists have come together to deliver a webinar series on online working.
Webinar 1 – Person-Centred Thinking – Colin Newton, 8th April 7am Melbourne (7th April 10pm London, 11pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
At a time when assessment work may not be so feasible, there are many other ways to support clients. In this workshop we provide an overview of service centred thinking with person centred model approaches to planning. This may be perceived as an alternative to a medical model approach.
Person Centred Planning was first developed in the 1980’s by a small number of people including John O’Brien, Connie Lyle O’Brien, Beth Mount, Jack Pearpoint, Marsha Forest and Michael Smull. It was developed as a way of enabling people – children and adults – to move out of special segregated places schools, hospital and institutions into mainstream life – schools and communities. Person Centred Planning is built on the values of inclusion and looks at what support a person needs to be included and involved in their community.
Person centred approaches offer an alternative to traditional types of planning which are based upon the medical model of disability and which are set up to assess need, allocate services and make decisions for people. Person centred planning is rooted in the social model and aims to empower people who have traditionally been disempowered by ‘specialist’ or segregated services by handing power and control back to them.
This session will be graphically facilitated with a second presenter Elliot Newton. 20% reduction in book purchases for all participants joining this webinar. Simply email Inclusive.solutions@me.com with proof of attendance and we will send book and invoice details.
Webinar 2 – Supporting Global Migrants Online– 10th April 7am Melbourne (9th April 10pm London, 11pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
Daniela will talk about her online work with the globally mobiles. She will also discuss her work with the globally mobile population particularly linked to identity formation under this unique lifestyle and the unique challenges this population have during this challenging times we are living due to the coronavirus.
Webinar 3 – Working Online Supporting Anxiety and Feeling Helpless – 14th April 8am Melbourne (13th April 11pm London, 12pm Paris, 6pm New York/Montreal)
Bonnie will talk about her work online supporting expats in gaining a sense of mastery over situations that are worrying and creating anxiety. She will also explore Anxiety and Feeling Helpless how we can learn to recognise the intrusive thoughts that may trigger our anxiety and worry. Types of worry will be explored to help people learn how to manage these thoughts and change their mindset in order to gain a sense of mastery over their situation.
Webinar 4 – Person-Centred Planning In Action – 17th April 7am Melbourne (16th April 10pm London, 11pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
In this workshop we demonstrate what this approach looks like in action. With stories and live videos plus detailed reflections on person centred facilitation this work is cutting edge.
Inclusive Solutions have been using these processes since 2001 in an ever widening range of situations including planning for education, looked after children, inclusion in schools, social care environments, transitions, whole team planning and work with families and around children and young people of all ages.
This session will be graphically facilitated with a second presenter Elliot Newton. 20% reduction in book purchases for all participants joining this webinar. Simply email Inclusive.solutions@me.com with proof of attendance and we will send book and invoice details.
Webinar 5 – Transition to Working online – top tips, strategies, counselling techniques for working with teams and managers through Employee Assistance Programs – Natalie Flatt – 20th April 8am Melbourne (19th April 10pm London, 11pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
Natalie will be presenting about her innovative approach to creating support for employees, teams and managers. In this current context, this is a particular issue needing attention.
Webinar 6 – Resilience framework when working with children and families in this current context – Dr Pascale Paradis – 22nd April 8am Melbourne (21st April 11pm London, 12pm Paris, 6pm New York/Montreal)
Pascale will present a resilience framework when working with children and families. This is to support children and families going through a difficult time currently. The resilience concept, risk and protective factors will be outlined as well as tools and strategies.
Information about the webinars
Webinars will last approximately one hour and allow Q&A time at the end. You can join live or register to watch these webinars at your leisure in a purposefully designed learning platform which includes resources, links, feedback form and a certificate after completion.
To join the webinars, please follow this link for registration. Due to the current context, we acknowledge this may be a difficult time for you, so we are offering coupon discounts for participants of the Working Online Webinar Series.
https://learning.3ppsychologies.com/courses/working-online-webinar-series-2
Based on this registration, you will have access to ALL 6 webinars for 50 days. After registration, you will be sent a link that you need to follow to give you access to the webinars and learning platform.
About the Speakers and Facilitator
COLIN NEWTON is an Educational Psychologist in the UK who trained in Newcastle and worked in Nottinghamshire, East Anglia and Essex. Before that Colin was a primary school teacher in East Anglia. From 1998 – 2001 Colin was Principal Educational Psychologist of City of Nottingham Local Education Authority (LEA) where he contributed to the consultation on and successful development of an inclusive education policy across the LEA. Colin is the co-author of a number of person-centred planning resources: ‘Circles of Friends’, ‘Circle of Adults: A Team Approach to Problem Solving Around Challenging Behaviour and Emotional Needs‘ and ‘Restorative Solutions – Making it Work together’ and Managing Change in Schools, a practical handbook, Keys to Inclusion, Person Centred Planning Together.
Colin’s career has been values driven, but also practical using applied psychology in training and real life problem solving with schools, families and individual children and young people. Colin is a proud parent to two sons and a daughter.
DANIELA TOMER is an Israeli and Belgian licensed Clinical Psychologist. Her nomadic lifestyle led her to co-found GNW- Global Nomad’s World a consultancy dedicated to help individuals and organisations around the world with different challenges, through Psychology and Sports. Daniela also serves as FIGT- Families in Global Transition Counseling and Coaching Affiliate Chair. She is a leading force of a growing movement of mental health professionals who are working to create resources that will help people around the world to better deal with the complex issue that arise when they migrate.
Daniela has lived in Latin America, Israel, Europe and since August 2016, Boston USA. She is fluent in English, Spanish and Hebrew and speaks conversational French. She is the proud mother of four TCKs.
Dr BONNIE WIMS is an Expat Therapist and Counselling Psychologist. She has a private practice in New York and works exclusively online. Dr. Bonnie Wims received her training while living as an expat in the United Kingdom. It was in London that Dr. Wims had a traditional private practice and worked with a variety of client presentations including depression, anxiety, grief and more. After moving back to the states, first Boston and now New York, Dr. Wims began working more and more with expats and has developed both workshops and courses on cultural transitions and the challenge they bring to our sense of “self”. In addition, Dr. Wims took her private practice completely online and is committed to removing obstacles to mental wellness through online counseling.
Dr NATALIE FLATT Ph.D is co-founder of ConnectPsych Services in Australia. Natalie has extensive experience in Solution-Focussed Cognitive Behavioural presentation and interventions to assist with anxiety, resilience, stress management, relationships, workplace conflict and compassion fatigue. Her therapeutic work offers practical, evidence-based solutions to assist professionals to overcome a wide variety of difficulties to ensure ongoing emotional resilience, wellbeing, and improved self-confidence; resulting in higher work life satisfaction and productivity.
Natalie’s area of work focuses on online Employee Assistance Program, “Creating Successful Online Employee Assistance Programs for Employees, Teams and Managers”.
DR. PASCALE PARADIS is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist working in schools, private practice as well as working in a university training clinic. As well as using online tools due to her global migration journey, Pascale has developed two websites with many resources for families, schools and professionals and a series of child/school psychology resources webinars. Pascale provides online individual and group supervision to psychologists and professionals working with children, families and schools.
Member of the British Psychological Society (MBPsS), Australian Psychological Society (MAPS) and the College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists (FCEDP), Pascale has developed specific interests in the following fields of psychology: school adaptation, resilience, cross-cultural issues and migration, positive psychology and, leadership and organisational psychology in schools. With 25 years in education, Pascale worked in different childcare and educational settings, notably, summer camps, primary school and secondary schools, independent schools, further education colleges and childcare centres in Quebec, Scotland and England. She also worked for local authorities developing specialised education and services for children and families.
#RESOURCES 54: 10 MORE ACTIVITIES WITH CHILDREN FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS WORKING ONLINE
As I was writing my previous post on the topic (https://3ppsychologies.com/2020/03/21/resources-51-online-tools-and-10-activities-for-psychologists-working-with-children-online/), I came up with other suggestions so I thought I would these together here.
- Watching a video together – You can do that by sharing your screen with the child and present the video. In YouTube, you can search for different videos related to the colours of the Zone of Regulation program such as videos about anger when searching for red zones of regulation. Make sure you watch the full video prior to ensure it is appropriate for the age of the child. There are different videos for younger and older children. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXXlw5bZYnCqtq03LaaeNuxAcHozkUfag
2. Puppets or little people – You can ask the child to get some teddies or little people they have in the house and develop stories with these. You could also have puppets and talk through the puppets during the session. You can develop a story or write a story together with different characters and perspectives.
3. Cartoon strips – You can develop together (either on the whiteboard or on paper) scenarios of different situations that happened and then change these into a different scenarios with either a different social response or a different thought. This can really the child to see a situation in a different way as well as the therapist being able to exactly depict what happened in a specific situation.
4. Eliciting strengths – You can design a character with a specific strength – like a kind character, a playful character, etc. and then discuss in what situation the character could help. Similarly, you can draw together a poster with different bubbles outlining the child’s strengths.
5. Lego – You could ask the child to build something out of Lego either a house, a school, etc. and then build a story around it with different characters, little people or Lego people. You can the parents to prepare a box of Lego for the session.
6. Information and Activities – You can send some worksheets/activities prior to the session for the child to have a look at. Please do not assume the family is able to print, if they do, that’s great. If they cannot print, you could still use the template to guide your session and talk about the topic. You can even make your own with the child either on the whiteboard or on paper. Whatever you do, you can send via email at the end of the session. If the child draws or does an activity, you can ask the parents to store it safely or put it in a place where the child feels comfortable with.
7. A Calming Drawing Activity – You can set up a drawing activity, they draw and you draw something different or similar, depending on the situation. For example, you could both have a mindful drawing sheet, different (one found in the house) or similar (one sent prior to the session). Whilst you are drawing, you can be talking to each other, “How was your day, how are you, what about Mum, Dad”, etc. and be together sharing a “space”.
8. Sing together or watch a Sing and Dance video – for example, a child may like the Wiggles, you can share this video on the screen and watch it and dance together.
9. Posters – Create a poster for the fridge or the bedroom – together on whiteboard or the child does it alone and you are commenting. This could be an emotional regulation poster with different strategies for example.
10. Closing the session – It is important to set a rituals to say goodbye. You may want to think how to set this up like a ‘5 minute to the end’ message, agreeing on the next steps during the week and next session time, helping the child to think about what’s next in their day to support the transition and closure of the session. You can decide together how to say goodbye online, like a virtual high five, a special wave, thumbs up, a special ritual to end of the session will help create predictability and reduce anxiety of leaving and saying goodbye.
Additional Resources and Online Webinars/events
http://www.safehandsthinkingminds.co.uk/covid-anxiety-stress-resources-links/
Different activities for psychologists – https://www.meehanmentalhealth.com/the-playful-therapist-blog/telemental-health-and-children-20-free-minimal-supply-activities
Mindful Musings for TeleTherapy https://www.facebook.com/events/214309229807510/
Working Online Webinar Series including two webinars specifically for professionals are working with children. You can still register and have access to all webinars, resources and links. Working Online Webinar Series 2 is being prepared currently and will be advertised shortly, with completed new speakers and focus. See link below to register for Series 1.
#RESOURCES 53: EVEN MORE ACTIVITIES TO DO AT HOME
As I was writing these two posts (https://3ppsychologies.com/2020/03/23/resources-52-covid-19-10-more-activities-for-home-you-are-not-alone/ https://3ppsychologies.com/2020/03/13/resources-48-covid-19-survival-tips-for-parents-10-activities-for-home/), I found I had more ideas and suggestions coming so here is another text and resources about another 10 activities to do at home during a self-isolation period.
- Visit museums online: This link was shared in some forums. You can visit many museums around the world via an online platform. https://hellogiggles.com/news/museums-with-virtual-tours/?fbclid=IwAR0rY_yo3gN8TNpULY13GbwsixWYZwGrRC1E4HSf2JM0VDU5LJ26Y8d_zZ8
- Audiobooks: Audiobooks can be great for children either to help them feel calmer going to sleep or to vary their learning experiences. This company has announced free audiobooks for children. https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
- Science Experiments: Children are fascinated by science experiments. Some may prefer art and some others may prefer science experiments. It is important to vary activities to offer a wide range of learning experiences. There are lots of videos on Youtube or here is a link to different science experiment ideas. https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=pinterest+science+experiments&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=safari&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq7O_oocPoAhXfyDgGHfaXBPkQsAR6BAgIEAE&biw=2028&bih=1310 and
- Posters for bedroom wall: Children like being to make their place their own. Choosing pictures for the wall and making a feature of it can be a great activity for them.Cutting and arranging flowers
- Mood Boards are a visual representation of how we feel using lots of different materials, images, art, magazines, drawings, etc. It can also be done using free graphic designer programs such as Canva. It can be a great activity to sit together and create a mood board and discuss how we are feeling. Here is a link to different ideas https://www.google.com/search?q=mood+boards+kids&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwic0-alq8PoAhUUGrcAHRTPBJ0Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=mood+boards+kids&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIGCAAQCBAeOgQIABBDUK3SBFja2ARgm9oEaABwAHgAgAG3AYgBnwaSAQMwLjWYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZw&sclient=img&ei=5H6CXpzRHJS03LUPlJ6T6Ak&bih=1310&biw=2028&client=safari
- Campfire – If you have a fireplace in the house or outside, why not make a special time all together to sit around the fire, tell stories, sing songs and play campfire games (like I start a story and the other one continues, or the Whisperer/Telephone). You could even make some Smores or Encore (2 biscuits, a piece of chocolate and a marshmallow in a sandwich, melted in in foil).
- Journalling – You can encourage children to journal their experience of being at home using drawings, keywords or sentences.
- Family Recipe Book – You can take the time to put together all the family recipe in a book and ask the children to draw or photograph ingredients or the full final product if you have cooked it together.
- Labelling features in the house in a different language – It can be a helpful way to learn a language as it becomes visual using the object and a word. You can then practice together at saying the words and using these in a sentence. You could also have an activity where coffee, tea, biscuits are served in the language, ideal for the French Cafe experience.
- In our garden, there are lots of flowers growing at the moment. Picking flowers and arranging them, learning their names, etc. can be a particularly mindful and peaceful activity. Bringing nature in also brightens up the house.
Choosing and printing posters for a bedroom wall
Author
Pascale is an educational and child psychologist (UK)/educational and developmental psychologist (AU) working in private practice, a university clinic and supporting professionals online via individual, group, webinars and training.
Some Other Ideas
Bear Grylls suggest 100 activities for the great indoors in self-isolation. Yes there is some Scouting in the activities I suggested!
I came across this for Parents themselves…
Additional Resources
Training Package – Global Migration Webinars and 50 Counselling Cards
Information about the Counselling Cards Design
We have designed 50 counselling cards related to global migration. The cards are designed using a postcard concept to reflect the global migration aspect to this project. These cards aim to help support conversations with children, young people and families about global migration challenges and opportunities.
Based on the Toolkit to Global Migration, theoretical frameworks, parental, personal and professional experiences, these cards have been designed for children and young people so fun and colourful. My daughter who is 13 helped design these cards so there is definitely a young person’s mind in these. She has found the project therapeutic and helpful in understanding her global migration journey.
Cards have also been designed to use metaphors so that children and young people can talk through the metaphors with different images. For example, one of the cards has an anchor and aims to elicit conversations about settling in one place and ways to do this.
The themes have all been thought through very carefully and many linked to theoretical frameworks such as resilience, transition and positive psychology. An information booklet accompanies the cards so that the professional working with the global migrant family understands the different theoretical concepts and metaphors used. References are also provided in this booklet.
The counselling cards aim to support professionals understand global migration issues and provide tools to initiate conversations that are specifically related to transitions and this challenges and opportunities of moving abroad.
Information about the Training Package
The training package includes webinars presenting the different counselling cards, images, metaphors and concepts behind all the design. These webinars will be available for you to watch at your leisure for a period of time after enrolling in the full training package.
You will have have the opportunity to have an individual consultation with Dr Pascale Paradis to discuss the training package and the counselling cards. You will receive a certificate to show your participate in the professional development.
On completion of the training and consultation, the counselling cards will be sent to you via post for use with children, young people and families.
Who Is This For?
For any professionals working with children, young people and families experiencing global migration challenges and opportunities such as psychologists, counsellors, coaches, therapists, social workers, educators working in a counselling role.
Why Is The Training Important?
The training is there to be helpful and really understand the design of the cards and the thinking/rationale behind each card. It is also there to create discussions about global migration issues that are very specific to this population of children and families. Forums will be created to support you and others, and create discussions about global migration issues when working with children, young people and families.
When Will This Training Be Available?
The counselling cards are all ready and printed. The webinars are being developed currently. The booklet needs a little bit of reviewing and editing! so we are nearly ready to go! Very exciting!
If interested in this training package and the counselling cards, get in touch at info@3ppsychologies.com or register at learning.3ppsychologies.com
SPECIAL EDITION – Working Online Webinars
As a result of an evolving working context where many are opting to deliver services online, a group of psychologists/education consultants have come together to deliver a webinar series on online working.
Webinar 1 – Into the Unknown: Using video conferencing in child therapy, in a whole new world – Barb Kelly – 26th March 8am Melbourne (25th March 9pm London, 10pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
Barb will share:
- Making a magic carpet: how to develop a treatment plan and session plan for video conferencing therapy
- A whole new world: practical strategies in video conferencing in a time of Covid19
- Side kicks: Every epic story has them! Parent engagement as “co-therapists”
- Part of your world: Understanding neurodiversity and video conferencing
Webinar 2 – Supporting Adults Online – Dr Sonia Jaeger – 28th March 8am Melbourne (27th March 9pm London, 10pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
Sonia will present on her approaches with working with expats and the digitally nomad community.
Webinar 3 – Creative Approches on Child and Parent Work Online – Shellee Burroughs – 30th March 8am Melbourne (29th March 10pm London, 11pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
Shellee will explore approaches and experiences of online work, focusing on child and parent work, creative approaches, online support and supervision.
Webinar 4 – Supporting International Schools and Educators’ Wellbeing Online – Ellen Mahoney – 1st April 8am Melbourne (31st March 10pm London, 11pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
Ellen will talk about her experiences of supporting international schools moving towards digital learning as well as mentoring in the current context.
Webinar 5 – Joint Session with all Speakers with Discussions and Tools for Working Online – 3rd April 8am Melbourne (2nd April March 10pm London, 11pm Paris, 5pm New York/Montreal)
Webinars will last approximately one hour and allow Q&A time at the end. You can join live or register to watch these webinars at your leisure.
To join the webinars, please register using the sidebar of this page or 3ppsychologies.com by clicking on the donation button where you pay on a ‘what you can’ basis. Due to the current context, we acknowledge this may be a difficult time for you, so we are also offering a a donation based registration.
Based on this donation, you will have access to ALL 5 webinars. After registration, you will be sent a link that you need to follow to give you access to the webinars.
About the Speakers and Facilitator
BARB KELLY is a Clinical Psychologist/Child Psychologist in Queensland, Australia. She likes to tell kids she is a “YouTuber” and enjoys using creative strategies in her work with children and families.
Barb works with a range of presentations, including complex mental health, eating and feeding issues, and has a particular interest in neurodiversity- Autism, ADHD and Tics/Tourette’s.
Video conferencing and webinars have been a vital part of Barb’s work to support children in their systems. Barb has been utilising video conferencing to support children in rural and remote locations, as well as to build capacity in children’s community through training and educating parents, educators, psychologists and allied health professionals. Barb has a background as a university lecturer and also supervises psychologists.
SHELLEE BURROUGHS is a Transition and Trauma consultant and UK registered Art Psychotherapist who is currently based in the South West of England. Shellee trained in Canada before returning to the UK where she worked for the National Health Service, Twelve’s Company (a sexual abuse survivor charity), in schools and is currently in private practice as a trauma specialist. Shellee has almost 20 years experience of providing support for children, young people and their families and recently co-facilitatated an Exeter University legal study specifically for Grenfell Tower survivors.
Shellee currently works with adopted and ‘cared for’ children and young people and provides online support for families and foster parents. Having lived in the UK, North America, Australia, Japan and Malaysia, she has extensive cultural experience in both a personal and professional capacity and is also a parent to two ‘Third Culture’ children. She lives on the outskirts of Exeter and is a lead team member of the ‘Families in Global Transition’ (FIGT) coaching and counselling affiliate. Shellee continues to develop her online provision in a variety of contexts, including therapy sessions, workshops, supervision and professional support groups.
DR. SONIA JAEGER is a German-French psychologist, psychotherapist and PhD, who has been living a location independent life as a digital nomad for the past five years while working as an online therapist, providing online counselling to expats and other globally mobile clients in German, French and English. Growing up with two languages and cultures herself she experienced the challenges and advantages of the mobile and international life from an early age. After finishing her PhD she decided to take a break and travel the world. However, instead of returning home afterwards she opened an online private counselling practice and has been travelling the world ever since. On top of her online counselling work, Sonia also mentors other psychotherapists who want to work online and facilitates workshops that broach the issues of mental health while living globally. She is also the co-host of the Podcast „Mit Psychologie und Laptop um die Welt“ and the co-founder of the Location Independent Therapists Community.
ELLEN MAHONEY is an alumna of international schools, the CEO of Sea Change Mentoring, and a Council of International Schools Affiliated Consultant. She is the only professional working with international schools who is certified in mentoring program supervision.
In 2013, Ms Mahoney was named a David Pollock Scholar and an Echoing Green Semifinalist for founding Sea Change Mentoring, which provides consulting and professional development for international schools developing Social and Emotional Learning, mentoring, advisory, wellbeing, and transitions programs. In 2019, she launched The Circulus Institute, which provides blended learning opportunities for school staff in the area of social and emotional learning competencies. She is author of Ten Strategies for Educators’ Wellbeing: A Handbook for Schools During the COVID-19 Outbreak and is the host of the Sea Change Podcast, a podcast that discusses the intersection of education and COVID-19. She is currently based in New York City.
DR. PASCALE PARADIS is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist working in schools, private practice as well as working in a university training clinic. As well as using online tools due to her global migration journey, Pascale has developed two websites with many resources for families, schools and professionals and a series of child/school psychology resources webinars. Pascale also provides online individual and group supervision to psychologists and professionals working with children, families and schools.
Member of the British Psychological Society (MBPsS), Australian Psychological Society (MAPS) and the College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists (FCEDP), Pascale has developed specific interests in the following fields of psychology: school adaptation, resilience, cross-cultural issues and migration, positive psychology and, leadership and organisational psychology in schools. With 25 years in education, Pascale worked in different childcare and educational settings, notably, summer camps, primary school and secondary schools, independent schools, further education colleges and childcare centres in Quebec, Scotland and England. She also worked for local authorities developing specialised education and services for children and families.
#RESOURCES 52: #COVID-19 10 MORE ACTIVITIES FOR HOME – YOU ARE NOT ALONE
The current situation looks like it could last for many days and parents may start to run out of ideas as to what you can do at home with the children. It is undoubtedly a challenging and stressful time for everyone. In Australia, children are now at home for 3 weeks at least.
You are not alone, many around the globe are in this situation!
I wrote a post about activities that families can do at home a few days ago which has now been shared far and wide (https://3ppsychologies.com/2020/03/13/resources-48-covid-19-survival-tips-for-parents-10-activities-for-home/). As soon as I finished writing it, I came up with some more ideas. My children (17, 13 and 7) were also very funny in saying “Are you writing this for us?” as well as coming up with more ideas. We our heads together and came up with another 10 activities that families can do together at home.
Activities for Families at Home
- Art and crafts – Art can be therapeutic and healing, it can also be creative, letting imagination run wild. Painting on canvas freely or with some guidance can be a novelty for children. Pinterest has lots of different ideas for arts and crafts projects. https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=art+and+crafts+project+pinterest+for+children&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=safari&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9z_XdxqroAhUNyDgGHeqSBB4QsAR6BAgJEAE&biw=2231&bih=1310
- Preparing for a Garage Sale – Declutter and reorganise a few things in the house, ask the kids to help give away unwanted items and put these away for a garage sale. Although the event would not be able to take place now, at least all the preparation would be done when you can do got to a donation shop or organise a garage sale. There can be lots of learning in budgeting, pricing and preparing marketing materials. You can also set the children some tasks such as researching a recipe for cookies or lemonade to sell on the day.
- Making a Treasure Box – You can use an old container or a recycled boxed decorate it, and then ask the children to put their precious items in the box. It could be photos of loved ones, a stone they painted, a ribbon from on old dress, some jewellery or their favourite car or train, etc.
- Creating a Photo-Memory Book or a Calendar – Lots of photos are now being kept online. Doing a photo album can be a great way to keep children busy and interested in their developmental and family history. Story telling can also take place as a result which promotes language development, a sense of belonging and connections. In a similar line, designing a calendar online can be a great way to keep children busy. My daughter and I designed counselling cards using Canva and she really enjoyed being creative and spending time with me.
- Gardening/Growing Plants and Vegetables – It is an interesting time where children may ask lots of questions about shops and food. My children have asked questions about how we will get our food in the future if supermarkets’ shelves become all empty. My first reaction was, we will grow some, like what our grandparents did. They were quite satisfied with the answer and this is definitely on the cards for a family project. There are lots of videos online with tips about growing fruits and vegetables from their seeds so you can avoid the shops. You can also use lots of old or recycled containers to pot your plants. Children love to see the fruit of their labour and see plants grow.
- Preparing a Picnic in the Garden or a Room in the House – Children love preparing picnic. On rainy or snowy days, we used to put a blanket on the floor in the living and prepare a picnic. It changes the routine of sitting at the table and makes it fun. Ask the children to prepare food with you. When you finish your meal, you can tell stories, read a book, play a game or watch something together. You can even set up a tent in the garden if you feel a little more brave and the weather permits.
- Preparing a Talent Show – Children love performing. They have the full attention of their parents. The preparation stage is the most important as they can spend a while in researching their act, learning a song, a dance, a sketch, a joke, a science experiment. You can even connect with other families and have a live performance on FaceTime, Skype or Zoom.
- Rocking, Swinging and Sensory Activities – I found myself sitting on my rocking chair this week with my son (7) on my lap. It reminded me how the rocking motion can be very relaxing as it repetitive and calming. My son also commented on this and we had a lovely moment together. Activities that are relating to our senses are also important to ground us and calm us, such as swinging, rocking, deep pressure, taste, touch, smell. Playdough, slime, sleeping bags, heavy blankets or even hanging a hammock in the house or garden can all help with sensory activities. You can set up different activities during the day to help the children be in touch with their senses. For example, setting up a treasure basket with nature objects, different fabrics, household objects can also encourage discovery, language and connection. Another activity could be going around the garden blindfolded touching the different trees and describing how it feels. Here are some ideas for messy play. https://www.playatthemessyshed.com.au/?fbclid=IwAR0ZdLUxpTh2ZuDUT_pdHqqV6m3GLvwplgnh9PSePNFuhHX3FKEF79Y_qoY
- Building a Box Fort – Making box fort is also a great activity helping to ground children as they can feel safe and enclosed in their box fort. It also promotes construction, visual-spatial skills when doing the design and the construction. At the end, you can also let the children decorate the box fort with stickers or drawings, and put cushions, lights, blankets in it, etc. Lots of fun to be had in a box fort.
- Music, Dancing, Singing and Playing an Instrument – Lots of fun to be had with a family disco, push the table and chairs aside, or the sofas and just dance, listen to music, have fun together. Spend time together making a family playlist ready for your disco. Learn he lyrics of a song together or individually and then present to the family. Learn to play an instrument, develop your skills playing your instrument. If you don’t have instruments at home, why not think about making some instruments with recycled containers or cardboard.
Lots of activities to do…and whilst I am writing this, I came up with a few more. Watch this space, more to come.
Bonne Chance!
Pascale is an educational and child psychologist (UK)/educational and developmental psychologist (AU) working in private practice, a university clinic and supporting professionals online via individual, group, webinars and training.
To register to the Working Online Webinars Series – Please follow the link below
Some additional links
#RESOURCES 51: ONLINE TOOLS and 10 ACTIVITIES for PSYCHOLOGISTS WORKING WITH CHILDREN ONLINE
There were a few posts this week on some forums about how to engage children in an online therapeutic delivery. Following lots of interests in this space as many are preparing to work online, in this text, I provide links to different resources and online tools in the reference/links section. I have provided some therapy online and also lots of supervision, but I felt I needed to equip myself so I did some research as well as reflecting on different activities I already do in professional practice and how I can adapt these in an online platform. Here are 10 therapeutic activities with children when working online.
10 Therapeutic Activities With Children when Working Online
- Mindfulness/check in activities – start the session with gaining the attention of the child by playing a game requiring them to engage like counting fingers, singing a song, showing where they are
- Psychoeducation about COVID-19 – why are we online, big problem, small problem, factual and simple information. Lots of information at these two posts. https://3ppsychologies.com/2020/03/21/resources-50-covid-19-information-and-additional-links/ https://3ppsychologies.com/2020/03/15/resources-49-covid-19-psychologists-preparing-to-work-online/
- A scavenger hunt – find something that makes you happy, sad, angry or find 5 objects you would like to show me. Name something that makes you happy, sad, angry. Draw these emotions on the whiteboard.
- Games – naughts and crosses, Simon Says, I Spy, Charades, detective games. This link provides ideas for games when having a conversation online (it is not recommended to use FaceTime or Skype for Therapy – see post #49) https://freeappsforme.com/games-to-play-over-skype/?fbclid=IwAR0OUhcKwJfXfzT8hL34GYH8UFi8KYUbecisyQTbFNCKAc5zz7sb8Kw5y8I
- Tour of the house – make sure all is fine with that before doing that. Fridge/bedroom wall to show where posters/activities we do together are put up.
- Therapeutic Storytelling – reading a book together either from a YouTube video, their favourite book or one you read
- Let’s Draw Together – joint drawing – let’s create something together using the Zoom whiteboard
- Draw me a picture – see whiteboard on Zoom – ideal school, ideal family, ideal home, a family doing something, a person, a tree, a house
- Person-centred tools – There are lots of person-centred that can be found online. These can be great to gain a better understanding of the child’s experience of home, school and life, and elicit their needs and their strengths. About Me Poster, PATHS, Bad/Good Day, Relationship Circles, One Page Profile – see links https://www.google.com/search?q=person-centred+tools&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjip6mysaroAhU45jgGHYEWAXoQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=person-centred+tools&gs_l=img.12…0.0..27084…0.0..0.0.0…….0……gws-wiz-img.M_uNNj_XWZQ&ei=12l1XqLgNbjM4-EPga2E0Ac&bih=1310&biw=2231&client=safari
- Blobs – The Blobs are great and can be found for free in Google Images. This is a great activity to do with children to try to elicit how they represent themselves in different activities such as reading, maths, writing, or at home, in sports, etc. You can also ask questions about the character representing Mum or Dad the most, or their family the most. The activity is aimed to elicit their views of the world and their sense of self. https://www.google.com/search?q=blob+tree&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjy0ojEtKroAhVkwnMBHdnoDNsQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=blob+tree&gs_l=img.12…0.0..6538…0.0..0.0.0…….0……gws-wiz-img.WSjNnUGiLFQ&ei=Im11XvK5GOSEz7sP2dGz2A0&bih=1310&biw=2231&client=safari
Virtual Therapy Rooms
To store all online resources in one place
Create engaging sessions
Communicate with parents effectively
How amazing is that!
https://learning.3ppsychologies.com/courses/virtual-therapy-rooms
THE THERAPIST BACKPACK
Interested in building amazing resources for online and face to face therapeutic work with children, visit the 3P page for a backpack with lots of resources, book and activities.
Support for Building Resources
A few Facebook groups have evolved in the last few days. These may be helpful to network with many.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2377497079019547/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/211354563275804/
You can also find a few videos that have been developed by professionals working in the field.
Online Resources/Tools
As you are working from home, you may not have all access to your office typical tools, so you may need to be a little more creative about finding different resources and/or using specific screeners. I add below a number of links that may help you with that.
https://www.therapistaid.com/tools
https://innovativeresources.org/product-category/digital-applications/
https://www.psycom.net/25-best-mental-health-apps
FREE Mindfulness and relaxation exercises and stories for younger children(primary age). https://www.mindfulschools.org/free-online-mindfulness-class-for-kids/
Calm have provided lots of free resources. https://www.calm.com/blog/take-a-deep-breath
Example of a video book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIWXpiy8wwo&fbclid=IwAR3Q6M-yXA2Zwqt_Wu_b40Nz48iEsKcKY2j1rX_TZ39N5RfgcwDuNf3l_OA
A story to help young children manage their thoughts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd7Cr265zgc
A short meditation for young children to help them manage their emotions by cosmic kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf5K3pP2IUQ
A movement meditation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buPuB4Sa0zU
Thank you for sharing and all the lovely feedback we received as a result of this text.
Pascale is an educational and child psychologist (UK)/educational and developmental psychologist (AU) working in private practice, a university clinic and doing online supervision for professionals via individual, group, webinars and training.
Support offered at 3ppsychologies.com
You may also want to consult this text…
To register to the Working Online Webinar Series, follow the link here
#Resources 50: #COVID-19 INFORMATION AND ADDITIONAL LINKS
It is incredible how many have come together in the space of a week or two to provide great resources for parents, teachers, schools and professionals. It is heartwarming how lots of information, links, resources have been shared in different online platforms to support everyone in this evolving and challenging situation. A little while ago I promised I would get to 50 resources on this website. It has taken a little longer than anticipated but never thought I would reach 50 in this context and certainly not with more than 5000 views in the space of 3 days, with many sharing the resources I put together. Thank you all and so glad the resources have been helpful. I will certainly continue to develop resources on this website.
Social distancing does not feel so challenging when we are all connecting in different forms. I thought the image of the parrot from my garden is a good representation of how we may all feel, alone in a tree, distant from others, full of vibrant colours (representing either courage or anxiety) needing to embrace challenges as well as needing to chat away and connect with many.
In this post, I put together additional resources that have been shared on different forums. I aim to put them in different categories so these are helpful and easy to navigate.
Information and Resources
This link has a number of helpful resources https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-33/april-2020/coronavirus-psychological-perspectives
Coronavirus WHO webpage https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
WHO Coronavirus Myth Busters https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters
Information on coronavirus for children https://660919d3-b85b-43c3-a3ad-3de6a9d37099.filesusr.com/ugd/64c685_319c5acf38d34604b537ac9fae37fc80.pdf
Information for parents of how to support children though COVID19
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/helping-children-cope-with-stress-print.pdf?sfvrsn=f3a063ff_2
Information for those struggling with OCD www.ocduk.org/ocd-and-coronavirus-top-tips
General information for young people about managing their mental health www.youngminds.org.uk/blog/what-to-do-if-you-re-anxious-about-coronavirus
Information for those with sensory difficulties who struggle with hand washing https://www.sensoryintegration.org.uk/News/8821506
http://www.adamspsychologyservices.co.uk/coronavirus.html
http://www.southendlearningnetwork.co.uk/educationalpsychology
Books
Something Bad Happened: A Kid’s Guide to Coping with events in the News https://www.amazon.com/Something-Bad-Happened-Coping-Events/dp/1787750744/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Something%2BBad%2BHappened%3A%2BA%2BKid%E2%80%99s%2BGuide%2Bto%2BCoping%2Bwith%2Bevents%2Bin%2Bthe%2BNews&qid=1582316703&sr=8-1, Dawn Huebner -Ages 6-12.
What To Do When You’re Scared & Worried: A Guide for Kids https://www.amazon.com/What-When-Youre-Scared-Worried/dp/1575421534/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=What%2BTo%2BDo%2BWhen%2BYou%E2%80%99re%2BScared%2B%26%2BWorried%3A%2BA%2BGuide%2Bfor%2BKids&qid=1582316733&sr=8-1, James J Crist -Ages 9-13.
Have You Filled A Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids https://www.amazon.com/Have-Filled-Bucket-Today-Bucketfilling/dp/099609993X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Have%2BYou%2BFilled%2BA%2BBucket%2BToday%3F%2BA%2BGuide%2Bto%2BDaily%2BHappiness%2Bfor%2BKids&qid=1582316760&sr=8-1, Carol McCloud
How are you Peeling: Foods with Moods https://www.amazon.com/How-Are-Peeling-Scholastic-Bookshelf/dp/0439598419/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=How%2Bare%2Byou%2BPeeling%3A%2BFoods%2Bwith%2BMoods&qid=1582316792&sr=8-1, Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers
The Way I Feel https://www.amazon.com/Way-I-Feel-Janan-Cain/dp/1884734715/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The%2BWay%2BI%2BFeel&qid=1582316904&sr=8-1, Janan Cain -Explores Feelings.
A Terrible Thing Happened https://www.amazon.com/Terrible-Thing-Happened-Margaret-Holmes/dp/1557987017/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A%2BTerrible%2BThing%2BHappened&qid=1582316931&sr=8-1, Margaret M Holmes -Ages 4-8.
Understanding the Mental Health and Social Impact of the Coronavirus: Finding the Middle Path: http://www.restorativecommunityconcepts.com/blog/understanding-the-mental-health-social-impact-of-the-coronavirus-finding-the-middle-path
Supporting Students Experiencing Childhood Trauma: Tips for Parents and Educators https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-climate-safety-and-crisis/mental-health-resources/trauma/supporting-students-experiencing-childhood-trauma-tips-for-parents-and-educators from the National Association of School Psychologists.
Social Stories
Anxiety and world news
https://www.heysigmund.com/anxiety-in-children-after-world-trauma/ from Hey Sigmund https://www.heysigmund.com/about/.
https://www.heysigmund.com/age-by-age-guide-to-fears/ A guide about what to expect age by age around anxiety, strategies and tips on when to get help.
Talking about world trauma with kids https://www.heysigmund.com/how-to-talk-to-kids-and-teens-about-world-trauma/
CoronaVirus Anxiety: 4 Ways to cope with Fear https://psychcentral.com/blog/coronavirus-anxiety-4-ways-to-cope-with-fear/>
APS article re coronavirus https://www.psychology.org.au/About-Us/news-and-media/Media-releases/2020/Coronavirus-psychologists-offer-advice-for-mainta
8 Different Podcasts to listen to regarding Anxiety https://www.calmer-you.com/feeling-anxious-or-worried-listen-to-these-8-podcasts/
Peace Out https://bedtime.fm/peaceout – short stories that help kids calm down and relax.
Videos
Brain Pop Video https://www.brainpop.com/health/diseasesinjuriesandconditions/coronavirus/
Coronavirus WHO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOV1aBVYKGA&feature=youtu.be (video) from the World Health Organization “What do you know about the novel Coronavirus that is causing a health emergency? “
GoZen https://gozen.com/allprograms/ – Videos, lessons and programs for purchase to manage stress and build resilience for kids.
Cosmic Kids https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga – Yoga and mindfulness for kids ages 3+.
Pascale is an educational and child psychologist (UK)/educational and developmental psychologist (AU) working in private practice, a university clinic and doing supervision online for professionals via individual, group, webinars and training.
#Resources 49: COVID-19 Psychologists preparing to work online
As we are all coming to terms to the high possibility of working from home or supporting clients needing to self-isolate, many questions have come up on professional groups and in the workplace. Additionally, the announcement in Australia of funding for Telehealth for those affected has also sparked the need for different ways of working. This is where some information is needed to be fully equipped either in terms of skills, possible issues, peer support or online professional development. I already do lots of consultations of online (webinars, group and individual supervisions) and also familiar with this mode of communication due to my global migration journey. I have been fascinated to hear about questions from colleagues so, in the last few days, I collated a number of resources, links and information which I thought would be helpful to share.
Ready to move, be prepared
A number of countries have already taken measures to be working in different ways with many self-isolated. With many school closures abroad, it will also impact on the way parents work. There is no doubt that our ways of working will change so we better be prepared rather than sorry, having all the skills, resources and support to face this challenge.
Issues to Think About
There is quite a lot to think about such as security, confidentiality, privacy, case notes, client’s participation and engagement with an online method. Equipment is vital to be able to get the technology right. Modality such as the type of therapy that can be delivered online also needs some careful thinking. Similarly not all can be done online and some clear communication with the clients may need to take place to inform them of that.
Furthermore, insurance covering and possible restrictions to working online as a psychologist need careful attention as not all is possible. For example, some insurances do not cover from work in other countries. Similarly some countries only allow work online if you are specifically registered in that country. Better check before you launch yourself in this type of work. The Australian Psychological Society (APS) is clear that it is your responsibility as a psychologist to look into all of this before committing to working in the online space.
Technology
A must: A reliable device (computer, laptop, phone, iPad), stable internet connection, video camera, videoconferencing software, headsets, etc. (see APS, guidelines).
I am familiar with Zoom and have a group and webinar subscription. It is free for one to one consultation, and groups up to 3. When a fourth person joins in to a group consultation, it is then that it starts to have a cost. Webinars need another type of subscription. I enjoy the Zoom platform for a number of reasons. It is easy to use and has a number of features that are helpful. For example it allows sharing of documents, gives you a chat room to provide links to the client and a waiting room feature. I also recently plugged in my business Google Drive an ‘add conferencing’ feature so that I can send an invite prior to the consultation with the link. It also has a whiteboard function if accessed from an ipad/pen device.
Headsets have helped on some occasions but have not been necessary all the time. With a reliable internet and device, it has not felt vital. I always put the headsets on if I am more in a listening mode such as watching a webinar or a group consultation and I have people in the house as I conscious of people overhearing what is happening online. If I am on my own in the house, I don’t necessarily put headphones on.
I was interested to hear from Dr Stephen Goss about the privacy issues with Skype who claim they can own the data and therefore the data is not yours, bringing privacy issues. In an interview the Good Enough Counsellors and Therapists, Dr Goss explained that Zoom is good and that VSEE is also great as they agree to not share information, see link below for both platforms.
Standards of Professional Practice
Working from home may feel slightly more relaxed, but it does not mean that we should reduce professional standards. Have a think about people may see in the room and also you may need to think about the privacy of the room you are working in. Similarly, working in pyjamas may not be that ideal either so thinking about what you are wearing and how this may be perceived is also important. Have a good think about whether you will be moving during the session and if so what it looks like when you get up and down from the chair. I got caught not looking my best a couple of times on the webinars I lead!
You may want to consider the lighting in the room and the sunlight depending on the time of the day so that you can be well seen without sunshine on the screen. Again I am speaking from a webinar I did where the sunshine was reflecting in the screen and no one could see what I was presenting.
It is just a word of caution and of course some flexibility will be needed along the way as both parties are working from home and there may be unexpected disruptions like the dog barking, the postman or a delivery coming at the door, etc.
Outside could also be considered for a consultation, but again with a need to be mindful as to whether you can be heard (big enough garden or not), the wind, birds and nature, although can be peaceful, can also be unpredictable. It is also being mindful about how the other person will feel if you are outside in a lovely environment and they are not. Perhaps this would need to be discussed beforehand. I am on a 2/3 of an acre and a consultation outside would be possible, but rarely happens due to logistics, shade, weather, etc.
Working With Children Online
This is an interesting area and would love to think about developing this area further in my practice. Children are now digitally native and therefore know devices, technology, etc. so this is an interesting space to work in. However, there are also a number of important considerations to be thinking about. I highlight a few here. There may be many more.
Depending on the age of the child, the ability to comprehend the reasoning behind the session, age of consent, parent in the room and also someone they know or not on a screen and not in the room needs attention. For a child to engage in a consultation online, it is important to consider their developmental stage and cognitive/language ability knowledge and this would be a must before agreeing to sessions online. Having a previous relationship, face to face, may help the child conceptualise the need for a consultation online such as needing to catch up, setting goals, seeing how things are going. It may also be of benefit to share interests and key points from a session before as it may help ground the session and guide the unusual nature of it. Similarly, a young person may need reminders about their right to confidentiality and privacy and how to implement this in their environment- private environment, no distractions, etc. Some issues about who is the client may also emerge so better having some scripts and ground rule/discussions from the onset.
An important issue here is to be able to establish whether the age and abilities of the child allows for an understanding of the purpose of a therapeutic space with a device. There are used to play games or watch something, this is what they know, they are digitally native. Does the child understand the difference between speaking to a relative online or speaking to a psychologist online? Additionally, does the child understand the concept of not being in a room at the same time as another person? For example, I have three children and my husband worked abroad, all our families were living abroad, we have had devices in the house and online chats for a long time. At some specific stages of their development like under 6 or 7 (makes sense with concrete vs abstract thinking and Piaget’s theory), they were unable to detect the other person on the other hand of the device/phone i.e. “just saying look what I have, look what I did today”…and unable to reflect about what I am doing here, how is the other person, it was more about showing what I see, what is in my world. In a therapeutic format, it may be more tricky to engage younger children knowing the stages of cognitive development, as they are in the concrete stage. This may bring the complexity of knowing how to approach a situation and communicate with a client whether it is possible to do online support or not.
What can’t be done online?
As above some support can be offered online and particularly valuable. However, not all can be done online. For example, psychoeducational or neuropsychological assessments may need lots of thinking about completing online as it required a face to face participation. Companies are working on this to me it possible, but there is little research in online test administration. As above, depending on the age of the child, it may be more difficult to engage with younger children. Clinical interviews and diagnostic assessments will also be difficult online as it is important to gain a full understating of behavioural observations and presentation, although some screeners could be done by online questionnaires. Clients should be aware of these limitations so it may be worth having some information on the topic at the ready.
It may also be worth considering rigorous risk assessment processes for online consultations and whether more acute support is needed. Consent forms, contact details, etc. should all be completed beforehand to ensure continuity of care if needed.
What Else Can be Done if Online Therapy is not Appropriate?
Not being able to see someone because of participation and engagement issues as presented above does not mean that support should stop there. Of course, referring to another service may be appropriate, but the support may also need to be slightly changed and be helpful. For example, supporting a parent struggling to understand a child’s needs may be highly beneficial. Similarly, supporting a parent who is finding it difficult to implement a home routine during a a self-isolation context may also be highly relevant. Helping drawing up a behavioural plan, an individualised learning plan, goal setting, monitoring changes, step backs and gains, eliciting views from all involved, are all part of valued and helpful support. Empowering parents and teachers that are assisting the daily routines to support a child is also part of the work of the psychologist.
Working online can be highly valuable and rewarding and offer other opportunities such as suggesting Youtube videos for mindfulness, Zones of Regulation, or Apps to follow up from a consultation. Similarly, developing group support and training programs are an interesting way forward in designing a therapeutic space, and research in this space fascinating. Evidence is emerging and will definitely continue to grow.
Self-Care for the Therapist
- between sessions, ensure you take a break and standing up, help yourself to a drink
- take a bigger break for lunch (I forgot a few times!)
- ensure you have a good night sleep as listening online can be demanding
- unwind at the end of the day with a self-care activity, a walk outside or a creative activity, depending on your interests. It can be intense to listen and contribute for a long of time so also be mindful of your wellbeing, particularly if this becomes an ongoing method of working.
- Working online can be isolating so ensure you engage in group supervision or peer support to discuss cases, ways of working, reflections on professional practice, etc.
Maximising Time at Home for Learning, CPD and Peer support
It is possible that many of us may be required to work from home so it is also a time where one can maximise professional development. I provide below some links to online training programs for psychologists and professionals working in a helping relationship. Similarly make sure you are connected with peers for support and discussions to avoid isolation and loneliness. It is also a good time to catch up with a few things like some accounting, logbooks or building a resource library. It could also bring some new projects your way such as collaborating in writing an article, writing a book review, designing a training course or setting up a professional network group…a challenging situation bringing lots of opportunities…
Conclusion
There may be lots of links that I have missed. I am sure there is so much more out there. Hopefully this will give you a baseline to start preparing for the coming weeks and support you in implementing a few ways of working so that you are ready.
Additional Resources
References and Further Readings
Dr Stephen Goss, Online Therapy Institute, https://www.onlinetherapyinstitute.com/
Good Enough Counsellors and Therapists (Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/groups/goodenoughcounsellors/
https://personcenteredtech.com/?fbclid=IwAR10mG72KjIYjDQB5kit3gD8l_rvJWs3692GLEcCuDTteqWi8S3WX5mTnMU
Online Counselling Platform
https://zoom.ushttps://zoom.us
Apps and Resources for Parents
Information on coronavirus for children- https://660919d3-b85b-43c3-a3ad-3de6a9d37099.filesusr.com/ugd/64c685_319c5acf38d34604b537ac9fae37fc80.pdf
Information for parents of how to support children though COVID19https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/helping-children-cope-with-stress-print.pdf?sfvrsn=f3a063ff_2https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2020/03/17/supporting-children-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/
Information for those struggling with OCD www.ocduk.org/ocd-and-coronavirus-top-tips
General information for young people about managing their mental health www.youngminds.org.uk/blog/what-to-do-if-you-re-anxious-about-coronavirus
Information for those with sensory difficulties who struggle with handwashing https://www.sensoryintegration.org.uk/News/8821506
https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-apphttps://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app
www.twikl – free resource for parents and teachers currently
Online Training and Peer Support
https://www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au
https://www.psychology.org.au/Training-and-careers/APS-Institute
Families in Global Transition group (FIGT), Counselling and Coaching Affiliate https://www.figt.org
www.3ppsychologies.com -Child/School Psychology Resources Webinars Series 1 and 2; Global Migration Training Package; Monthly Group Supervision and Support via Facebook group; Individual Supervision for professionals working with children, families and schools, psychologists including educational and developmental psychology endorsement. Online consultations for parents and teachers are also available. To register to the Working Online Webinars Series, follow the link here
#Resources 48: Covid-19 survival tips for parents – 10 activities for home
I am reading lots of different posts and news from around the globe, and although the situation with school closures has not hit Australia yet, parents may be listening to all these news and wonder what they will do in the event. Friends and family are also in a situation of self-isolation where many schools, workplaces, activities and childcare centres are all closed and need to regroup and think about their next few weeks. I provide a few top tips with 10 activities that can be done with your children during this period of time.
The news come: 2 or 3 weeks off school, may be 6 in some areas…what to do how to organise the household? Self-isolation, what to do with that? Of course it will depend of the age of the children as to how the household is organised and activities set up, but overall there are some principles that can be implemented straight away to support a smooth transition to this way of life. Here are some preparation top tips:
- Setting Up a Family Meeting – calling a family meeting is important to set ground rules and expectations for the duration of this situation. Ask all to participate and look into what is their understanding of the situation, what this means and why are we doing this…it will give everyone a sense of purpose and meaning. Validate emotions as children may feel like things are not fair. Write together a poster with ground rules, decide of the ground rules together, like how many hours of devices and games for example, chores, cooking and ask everyone’s contribution to family household. Why not take this opportunity to reorganise drawers, desks, cupboards and do a clear out! or even redecorate a room, providing you have everything you need.
- Setting Up a Schedule – Having a calendar or a schedule outlining different activities will help create a routine and establish predictability. It can be done visually using colour coded signs, see picture above. Although not necessarily needing to be equally disperse across the day, deciding on a schedule together will help family functioning.
- Deciding on Different Activities – When discussing different activities, it is important to ensure that all family members’ needs are met. For younger children, this may need play and unstructured times, as for older children, it may mean learning online with structured educational activities set by the school. For parents, it may need some time to work and communicate with colleagues. Remember it is also important to allow for self-care and time for you, like putting the oxygen mask on you before someone else! What activities can we do from home? You may think it will be a long haul! Here are some ideas of different educational, cognitive and creative activities that can be done at home…
10 Activities for Home
- Setting Up a Den in the house or a Camp in the garden – This activity can be useful to create a safe place for children and a place they know they can have some quiet time such as reading a book, playing with little people, teddies or puppets. You can ask them to contribute to set it up with you, make decorations, put up lights and a sign. Children will find this fun and different. It can create an imaginative world for the child.
- Setting Up a Learning Place in the house and Do Learning Together – It is important that children feel they have an allocated space in the house where they can concentrate and focus on learning. It does not have to be a big space and can even be a shared space. It is more about how we use this space and what we do when we are learning. Setting up some ground rules for this will also be helpful. With a schedule, allocate time to learning in short and fruitful bursts, it is more about the quality and the positive experience of learning rather the quantity and speed at which we do these learning tasks. When you are noticing that learning is no longer fruitful, have a short break, a snack, a glass of water, some movement breaks. Family learning can be rich as we can all learn together and share understanding, problem-solving and information.
- Cooking Together – Cooking is great as it also includes literacy and numeracy tasks such as reading recipe or counting and measuring ingredients. Involving children in cooking can be fun and full of joy as they are involved in producing a tangible product at the end. You can also ask the children to finish off the cookies, cake, etc. by decorating them, lots of time can be spent on this.
- Puzzle, Lego, Visual-Spatial Activities – These activities tend to be calming as the brain focuses on putting things together rather than verbal or emotional demanding tasks. Offering these activities in the house will be of benefit to everyone as it will help all involved to be grounded and calm. You can leave a puzzle out of the kitchen table, put a table clothe over it and take it off when you are wanting to complete the puzzle. Lego are also such as great activity to do together.
- Setting Up a Fun Project – It is important to vary activities, like a carousel. We start with one and move on to the next. When activities are designed to promote different areas of development, children will find this more engaging than if it is tapping in the same type of skills so it is important to also have something creative, a fun project you will enjoy doing together. A fun project could be: making a scrapbook of different drawings, paintings, making characters out of modelling clay, picking up leaves from the garden and finding the name of the tree online, taking photographs of wildlife in the garden such as birds, animals, painting rocks with emojis on them, drawing a cartoon strip or writing a collection of short stories, inventing characters and drawing these, so many things that can be done. Some children may like the challenge of a research project in addition to work set by the school.
- Starting a Collection, Playing Board Games – As a child, I remember having an extensive stamp collection. We used to spend hours looking at the stamps. What about a stones, leaves, seashells collection or other collections. Board games are also a go too. Lots of literacy, numeracy and oral expression skills toe be developed with these games. Scrabble, Boggle, Scattegories are great for building literacy skills. You can make your own snake and ladder game using templates on the web.
- Sending Messages, Letters and Postcards to Family and Friends Abroad – Keep in touch with your social networks via different communication modes either video call or messaging. Why not take the time to write a letter or a postcards to mail at a later date. Lots of literacy and oral expression skills in these activities!
- Learning a New Skill Together and/or Teaching a New Skill – What an amazing opportunity to take a new hobby as a family or teach you children a skill. There are lots of youtube videos nowadays that can teach skills step by step. Learn to say words in a different language, learn how to do sewing, knitting, crochet, slime, scrapbooking, photography. If your children are older, you can design a webpage together or you can have a special projects designing cards online.
- Implementing Routines for Self-care and Mindfulness – It’s ok for all involved to feel this is not a normal situation. It can create some anxiety and stress to see parents, the world being particularly different. It is important to keep communicating, being transparent, responding to questions, presenting the facts as well as not bombarding with facts. Children are curious and like to find out about the world so it is a good opportunity to open their thinking by sharing information, exploring maps, countries. It is also important we are aware of our feelings and able to recognise sensations, feelings and actions. It can be helpful to open up conversations about explaining bodily sensations that are linked to feelings. Some children don’t always know the link between sensations and feelings and will call it like “I feel hurt in my tummy”. You can make a set of cards together or create a poster for a central point in the house with explanation of different calming activities. Implement some self-care activities together such as doing a calming activity together, reading a book, relaxing, watching a film. Take the time to point to your children feelings in the here and now, and describe what it feels like. For example, “I like when we are together, reading a book, it makes me feel calm”.
- Exercising – Don’t forget to move and for the full family to move. You can set up some an obstacle course in the garden for example. This can be done using household items like a skipping rope, bottles, a ball. Like do 10 jumps, 10 skips, 10 hoops in the basketball hoop, knock 3 bottles down, etc. You can set up a challenge and time them going through the parcours. Children can invent it, but will also need support to think about it. Fine motor skills gym trails can also be helpful such as having lots of different activities promoting finger movement like threading, developing pincer grip activities. Walking the dog, playing with an animal can also be part of the routine.
Overall, it feels like there is a lot to do! I sincerely wish you all the good luck with your time off. Enjoy a slower pace of life, perhaps it will eventually feel a much needed time to pause, reflect, regroup and slow down.
Pascale
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