If your child has been finding things difficult during the coronavirus pandemic, I can promise you, they are not alone. Here’s how I can help them develop their own coping methods.

Children have had their lives turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic.

They have been told to stay away from school and told to study at home instead. They have been cooped up inside for long periods, while their parents and carers have been dealing with a multitude of problems that have been thrown our way since the start of 2020.

While adults are more adept (sometimes) at sharing how they feel, often, children’s vocabulary and obvious lack of emotional maturity make it difficult for them to do so.

This can lead to all sorts of feelings of anger, fear, anxiety and insecurities among our young population and often is shown through their behaviour.

Children’s health and wellbeing

If your child has been finding things difficult, I can promise you, they are not alone.

As an occupational therapist, working with children aged 8 and upwards, I have had lots of experience of dealing with children who have been struggling and I wanted to explain just how I go about working with them to help their mental health and wellbeing.

First of all, I always offer a complementary phone/Zoom consultation with a parent/carer (and child where appropriate) initially to get to know each other better. If we are all happy, we can go from there.

If your child has never been to see an occupational therapist before, I thought it would be useful to list some of the common reasons why children come to see me.

• Feeling worried or scared a lot of the time
• Feeling they can’t control their emotions
• Struggling to concentrate or complete their school work
• Having negative or ‘unhelpful’ thoughts which stop them from doing things they want to
• Having ‘angry outbursts’ or ‘temper tantrums’
• Changes in behaviour at home/school
• Having low self-confidence or self-worth
• Finding it hard to make or keep friendships

Experiencing difficulties

There are various ways I can help children who are experiencing these difficulties and they include:

• Listening and giving them a place away from home/school where they can talk about what’s happening
• Teaching them about emotions and what happens to their bodies/minds
• Finding strategies to manage and overcome difficulties
• Finding and learning words to explain how they are feeling
• Help them find a balance of activities
• Find ways to express and understand themselves
• Use fun and creative activities
• Building a positive therapeutic relationship
• Building their confidence and self-value

My aim is to provide short-term and effective therapy sessions which are specifically tailored to each child I see. I offer a welcoming and calm environment where young people can feel valued and respected and want to help them find new ways to manage emotions and feelings to build self-confidence and improve self-esteem.

Positive activities

Helping children is different from helping adults so I create fun, engaging and individually tailored sessions with positive activities. Each young person is empowered to identify their strengths and develop ways to do the activities in daily life that they want to be able to do.

Asking for help can be a daunting step and I am keen to put parents’ minds at ease before they commit their child to any session with me, so please get in touch for an informal chat first of all.

Give me a call on (07426) 083189 or email me at kate@wellbeingtherapysolutions.co.uk

I look forward to hearing from you.

Read more: Finding calm and clarity in lockdowns

Watch: My webinar to encourage positive self-talk for children…