Promoting Mental Health in Children
These days most parents have some concerns about their children's mental health. Unless your child is facing severe impairment, I always suggest a preventative approach.
Here are a some 'lifestyle' interventions and parenting thoughts that can really help any child, but particularly a child at risk:
- encourage healthy eating, especially important for breakfast on school days - try to follow Canada's food guide and encourage your child to make healthy choices and at some time of the day, to be involved in food preparation
- encourage a good night's sleep, establish a bedtime routine that allows you to spend some quiet time together before bed so your child develops positive feelings about bedtime
- limit screen time, this on its own allows your child more time to read, more time to develop their own imagination, and more time to develop a range of interests
- help your child reserve time in their day for imaginative play, find some time to join them, this is part of what makes parenting fun
- find that focused 20 minutes a day to read to and with your child, get down on the floor and play, or as your child gets older talk about their day, their thoughts or just be together quietly
- teach self-talk skills, positive cognitive-behavioural strategies, suggested in a number of books on this blog
- help your child develop a 'passion'/strong area of interest where they can develop self-esteem, find pleasure and like-minded peers
- find and encourage a physical activity your child enjoys, make sure if your child is very active that they have a chance, particularly before school, to engage in physical activity outdoors
- help your child develop a menu of self-soothing behaviours and options - listening to music, drawing, conversing, exercising - different ways they can use to calm themselves
- make it possible for your child to learn relaxation/meditation/visualization techniques, suggestions are made on this blog for different age levels
- spend positive time together with your child and as a family - this will help you and your child to keep a positive image of each other and your relationship in mind
- help your child learn to solve problems creatively
- help your child volunteer or engage in 'real-life' tasks to help at home or at school, this might involve helping an adult or a younger peer
- look at the parenting books highlighted on this blog and implement consistent limits, natural consequences while using 'time-outs/ins' to help your child develop self-soothing behaviours
- help your child think and dream about their future in a realistic way, look for positive role models so your child can imagine the path to achieve their goals
- recognize that all children have strengths and weaknesses and that your role as a parent is to help your child to maximize your their strengths and minimize their weaknesses
- help your child to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses and to know when they need to ask for help or intentionally use their strengths to help them to develop an area of weakness
I think it is a very tall order to ask parents to do everything on this list. It is offered as a range of preventative strategies that may be helpful in some way for you and your child.
Here are a some 'lifestyle' interventions and parenting thoughts that can really help any child, but particularly a child at risk:
- encourage healthy eating, especially important for breakfast on school days - try to follow Canada's food guide and encourage your child to make healthy choices and at some time of the day, to be involved in food preparation
- encourage a good night's sleep, establish a bedtime routine that allows you to spend some quiet time together before bed so your child develops positive feelings about bedtime
- limit screen time, this on its own allows your child more time to read, more time to develop their own imagination, and more time to develop a range of interests
- help your child reserve time in their day for imaginative play, find some time to join them, this is part of what makes parenting fun
- find that focused 20 minutes a day to read to and with your child, get down on the floor and play, or as your child gets older talk about their day, their thoughts or just be together quietly
- teach self-talk skills, positive cognitive-behavioural strategies, suggested in a number of books on this blog
- help your child develop a 'passion'/strong area of interest where they can develop self-esteem, find pleasure and like-minded peers
- find and encourage a physical activity your child enjoys, make sure if your child is very active that they have a chance, particularly before school, to engage in physical activity outdoors
- help your child develop a menu of self-soothing behaviours and options - listening to music, drawing, conversing, exercising - different ways they can use to calm themselves
- make it possible for your child to learn relaxation/meditation/visualization techniques, suggestions are made on this blog for different age levels
- spend positive time together with your child and as a family - this will help you and your child to keep a positive image of each other and your relationship in mind
- help your child learn to solve problems creatively
- help your child volunteer or engage in 'real-life' tasks to help at home or at school, this might involve helping an adult or a younger peer
- look at the parenting books highlighted on this blog and implement consistent limits, natural consequences while using 'time-outs/ins' to help your child develop self-soothing behaviours
- help your child think and dream about their future in a realistic way, look for positive role models so your child can imagine the path to achieve their goals
- recognize that all children have strengths and weaknesses and that your role as a parent is to help your child to maximize your their strengths and minimize their weaknesses
- help your child to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses and to know when they need to ask for help or intentionally use their strengths to help them to develop an area of weakness
I think it is a very tall order to ask parents to do everything on this list. It is offered as a range of preventative strategies that may be helpful in some way for you and your child.
