DON'T LET LIFE GET THE BETTER OF YOU ........THRIVE!

CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST BRISBANE 

CHILD AND FAMILY COUNSELLING BRISBANE 

FAMILY PSYCHOLOGIST BRISBANE 

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST BRISBANE

RELATIONSHIP/COUPLE COUNSELLING

Do you simply need some support for your self, or with your couple relationship, or family difficulties? Our experienced team of Psychologists  or counselors in South East Brisbane can help. We provide support for infant to teen issues, for adults, the elderly and families, as well some groups. We support people with mild to complex concerns e.g. personal stress, anxiety, depression, anger, trauma, ADHD, grief, life transitions, life coaching and more.  


PSYCHOLOGIST BRISBANE

Adult, Children and teenagers can experience emotional issues such as anxiety, stress and depression or have more longer term diagnosis. Psychologists provide therapy/intervention sessions that are helpful  to help alleviate symptoms and manage life and family challenges by providing tools during these time or for optimal functioning.  We provide holistic interventions to those who attend with non judgemental, confidential tailored support to individuals or families. The complexity of chronic pain, health issues, aging, or multiple diagnosis we can offer support with. 

  

 


PARENTING

Parenting is very demanding and most satisfying, yet can leave us perplexed at times on how to move forward.  Often children present with the challenge of both emotional and behavioral difficulties, simultaneously.  To differentiate ‘naughty’ behavior from behavior that is signaling a child’s emotional distress can be hard to determine. With support from our experienced psychologists, parents can discover the best way to manage each. A child psychologist can help identify the issues at hand and help families through providing support and information in individual child appointments, joint parent-child appointments, as well as family therapy. 


WHAT WE DO:

 

Counselling/Therapy         

Life Coaching

 

Blended families

Courses (Triple P positive parenting program) 

 
Panic disorder

Cognitive assessment WISC

 

Teen self esteem support

ADHD and ASD support therapy

 

Grief counselling

Anxiety/stress management

 

Social skill support

Disability support

 

Self Harm

Trauma/PTSD

 

Depression support

Couples counselling

 

Agoraphobia

Family Behavioral Interventions

 

Conflict resolution/mediation

Life Transitions

 

Friendship issues

Anger management

 

 

Classroom/schooling strategies  

Learning disabilities assessments

 

Christian counselling

   
                              

Who's who in Mental Health

 

Who’s Who in Mental Health?

In the world of mental health there are many types of mental health professionals and it can be easy to become lost in who does what, so here is a quick run-down of who’s who!

Often when people think of therapy and assessment it is often associated with professionals such as Psychologists, Provisional Psychologists (Training Psychologists), Psychiatrists, Psychotherapists, Counsellors. There are several similarities among these roles including the requirement for a higher education degree (often bachelors, masters or PhD level, sometimes with specialisation) as well as licensure and certification/credentials. Each of these professionals often focus on aiding clients to better understand and cope with thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Furthermore they all can often offer guidance and improve clients ability to work towards and identify meaningful goals in their lives while only some with more higher training offer assessment and diagnosis of mental health conditions. 

Another key area in which these professions differ is in prescription and monitoring of medication necessary for managing some mental health conditions. Psychiatrists and pediatricians  function within this domain due to their medical backgrounds. They primarily focus on management of medication prescribed, whilst also often offering assessment, diagnosis and therapy. 

Another key difference is between Psychologists and Counsellors.  Psychologists often utilise assessments to assess and manage symptoms while Counsellors often function from a more client-centred approach working with what is most pressing and distressing for you each session. 

However, despite these differences often all these professions can overlap in several ways. When looking for a therapist check out our Team's page for profiles on each our clinicians, which may assist in choosing the best fit for you. 

Hopefully this information helps determine which clinician may best serve your mental health needs.    

Lets talk TikTok and Mental Health

TikTok is such a super popular platform to consume online content. The apps design makes it easy to sit for hours watching short videos. While you do so the apps algorithm customises its output of content to what you have interacted with. Now this may be fine if watching funny animal videos, however potentially less so when messages and videos that resonate with you when you have been feeling sad or anxious. Perhaps you've even found dedicated channels on this. Therefore note, both parents and young adults should be aware that TikTok:

1. May provide an easy and accessible way to mental health education while also validating a young person’s experiences.

2. May provide a sense of community and belonging and aids young people to recognise that they are not struggling alone.

3. May show content that is often inaccurate, not science based and may exacerbate symptoms with videos consisting of individuals personal experiences of mental health related issues and treatment rather than professional advice

4. May mean you are only interacting with content that agrees with your views or feelings, providing no balance nor challenge when sometimes this may be just what is necessary for your wellbeing due to algorithms.

5. Is not sufficient for a mental health related diagnosis despite identifying with symptoms presented in TikTok videos.

If anything surrounding mental health concerns you, book in an appointment with a professional. Look on the TEAMs page for each of our clinician's profiles

Online learning and success

How to Excel in the Home Classroom

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound disruptions to the way students engage with their education across the globe. As governments temporarily close, educational institutions or institutions turn to online learning as a means to contain the spread of the virus. However, this transition from face-to-face learning has posed several challenges for students, including technological issues, difficulties with new assessment modalities, access to supervision and feedback, and increased isolation, frustration, and pressure. Despite this, there are some things students can do to aid them to have a better experience when engaging with online learning and achieve the results they are seeking. 

 

One key thing students can do to aid them in this new learning environment is to establish a routine and treat online study like in-person classes. Without the regular meetings of in-person classes, it is easy to fall into bad habits and get behind on your work. Therefore it is essential to maintain a similar routine as going to in-person classes, including showering, getting dressed, eating breakfast and even time to “get to class”. Furthermore, attempt to form a virtual study over video conferencing and seek to make this a regular weekly meet up at the same time each week. These groups provide a way to review your work with your peers while keeping you accountable. They also provide vital social support considering the demands of study. Finally, ensure to seek help if you are falling behind. When you aren’t physically in the classroom, it can be harder to ask for help often due to feelings that you are the only one struggling. However, this often isn’t the case; your instructors and teachers are there to help and support you, be sure to reach out to them if you are concerned.

 

Should you have further concerns and are seeking support, check out the Teams page for our therapists background and descriptions and call or email to make an appointment with one of them.

Self Harm

Have you found out someone is self-harming?

 

Self-harm is a significant problem among young people around the world. Research suggests that the mean age of starting self-harm is 13 years old, with cutting being the most common type. However, self-harm has also been strongly associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours, with research suggesting that up to 30% of young people who engage in self-harm report a suicide attempt. Most frequently, the reason for self-harm comes from a need for relief from painful thoughts and feelings. Slightly more than half of the people who self-harm seek help; however, this is often from friends rather than professional channels. So what can you do if you’ve found out a friend or family member is self-harming? 

 

It can be challenging for people who are self-harming to stop the behaviour by themselves. So seeking professional support is important to reduce self-harm and protect against further potential harm. Four possible strategies which can aid with self-harming behaviour include:

 

(1) Delaying, whereby individuals give themselves 10 minutes before self-harming. If this works, extend this to 20 minutes and then 30 minutes and so on.

 

(2) Distracting, whereby when individuals feel the urge to self-harm, they engage in another activity as a distraction such as exercising, calling a friend, taking a shower, playing games, playing loud music or calling a helpline. 

 

(3) Diverting, whereby another activity is engaged with that is similar to self-harm but won’t cause injury, such as holding an ice cube, having a cold or hot shower, punching a pillow or eating something with a strong taste like chilli. 

 

(4) Deep Breathing and other relaxation methods can also help manage self-harm. 

 

Furthermore, given the high rates of self-harm among adolescents, it can be helpful to seek out programs that improve adolescents’ ability to deal with negative feelings effectively. This also serves as a preventative measure even before the onset of any self-harming behaviour.

Check out our Teams page to read about our therapists and who may be most suitable, then call or email us.