How do we cope with stress? There are literally thousands of books, articles and websites that cover stress and stress management. However, the ancient and natural ways are probably still the best ways towards peace and serenity. The old adage, ‘prevention is better than cure’ is certainly true for stress management. Below are three counselling techniques counsellors can utilise with clients:

Breathing Retraining (more…)

Filed under: Stress & Burnout by admin

All children begin their journey with no expectations and have a sense of wonder about their world (Doe & Walsh, 1998). As they travel through their life, events may occur in the child’s life that could contribute to the way they are feeling. If a child does not deal with events or situations, the child may encounter feelings of anger, abandonment, sadness, loneliness, resentment, blame, anxiety and separation, and feelings of not being heard and loved.

Helping the child to express their feelings and to understand why they are feeling the way they are will enhance their emotional, mental and physical well-being – bringing about a positive outcome. (more…)

Filed under: Children & Adolescents by admin

The mental health social supporter’s roles and responsibilities that you have identified in our previous article may be only a part of the full role. When providing social support it is also critically important to understand how your support may effectively be delivered in a community which includes professional counselling, medical services, and other care and support systems.

The mental health social supporter as a resource to the professional (more…)

Filed under: Mental Health Issues by admin

As well as the everyday stresses in life, there are natural and accidental disasters with which we are all familiar. The 2011 Queensland floods, for example, directly affected many thousands, and more than 62,000 people registered to assist with the clean-up in Brisbane’s worst-affected suburbs. These volunteers and many others throughout Queensland, other states of Australia, and elsewhere offered support, compassion, encouragement, and guidance where it was needed. Support for those affected psychologically came from mental health workers co-ordinated by local and state government leaders.

Whether major or minor, disasters inevitably cause direct trauma to victims, but also affect those near them. Much like an iceberg, the impacts of tragedy are clearly evident at one level, but may be less evident — yet just as traumatic — at another, “below the surface”, level. Thus, just as there is support at the visible, public level, there is also support needed at the less public, less visible level. (more…)

Filed under: Mental Health Issues by admin

Bullying behaviour among school students is not unique to any one culture and unfortunately, has been in existence for a long time. As society progressed into the technological age of the 21st century, bullying behaviour shifted from consisting solely of ‘sticks and stones’.

The level of sophistication for bullying behaviour has grown to incorporate the world of cyber bullying. Research on bullying behaviour has been conducted worldwide since the late 1970’s and 1980’s, with some of the most well respected research conducted by Australian psychologist, Dr Ken Rigby and Dr Dan Olweus, a Scandinavian psychologist. (more…)

Filed under: Children & Adolescents by admin