Supporting Young People’s Health and Wellbeing – Week 3

Key themes for week 3
*Fight or Flight is part of our response to situations. Our brain responds in the same way no matter the severity of the situation.
*We can’t feel good all of the time. Experiencing loss, stress, anxiety, anger at the appropriate time actually helps us to feel happier in the longer term.
*To minimise acute periods of anxiety/stress, support your brain to think in the present (avoiding unhelpful thinking) through self care and mindfulness. This takes time to regulate your thoughts which we know impacts on our feelings and behaviour.
*Supporting your child to develop an emotionally rich vocabulary to name feelings will help them to recognise how they feel towards situations. In turn this can help to change thoughts/behaviours. (emotion wheel)
*Being able to understand your tolerance to situations and know where to seek help from yourself or others (Emotion thermometer)
*Persevering with the tools will help your child to make sense of different situations, understand their reaction (emotional or behavioural). It can help to form an action plan to manage situations/feelings effectively. (e.g. 5 factor model, thought record, identifying unhelpful thinking styles to change perspective/behaviour).