eNEWSLETTER
April 2003
Our Mission Statement:
"Providing a range of innovative professional services, empowering our clients to positively address issues affecting their lives."
Welcome to Clayfield Counselling Services April eNewsletter!
Introducing: Glenda Hodge
Glenda is a practitioner in Reflexology and is available at our premises every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Glenda can be contacted on 3395 1906 for appointments.
This month: Savings special $5 off the first one hour reflexology session
Children & Current Affairs
This month we thought we would look at how to deal with issues relating to what's going on in the world, and how our young people are dealing with it and how to help them through.
Kids ask lots of tough questions but questions about acts of terrorism or war are some of the hardest to answer. The following may help parents when talking to children about terrorism and war.
Children's age and individual personality influence their reactions to stories they hear and images they see about violent acts in the papers and on television. With respect to age, preschool age children may be the most upset by the sights and sounds they see and hear. Children this age confuse facts with their fantasies and fear of danger. They can easily be overwhelmed. They do not yet have the ability to keep things in perspective and may be unable to block out troubling thoughts. School age children can certainly understand the difference between fantasy and reality but may have trouble keeping them separate at certain times. Therefore they may equate a scene from a scary movie with news footage and thus think that the news events are worse than they really are. They also may not realize a single incident is rebroadcast and so may think many more people are involved than is the case. Middle school and high school age children may be interested and intrigued by the politics of a situation and feel a need to take a stand or action. They may show a desire to be involved in political or charitable activities related to the violent acts. (www.aboutourkids.org)
Here are just a few thoughts and ideas collected from discussions on the internet. Some you will agree with and others you'll discard:
- Don't dismiss a child's fears. Children can feel embarrassed or criticized when their fears are minimized. Exploring the issues and positive ways of coping help children master their fear and anxiety
- Edit your adult conversation - be careful to keep your conversations to times when they cannot be overhead and misinterpreted.
- Reassurance - when you can't answer a question simply, reassure them that it is a grown-ups job to do everything you can to keep them safe and protect them. Tell them a lot of people are working hard on ideas to keep us safe. (For example, by policemen in the community).
- Correct rash assumptions gently - Children may hear other children making bold claims about what is going to happen. Calmly discuss with your child how they came to that assumption and clarify with facts.
- Listen using statements such as "That's interesting, can you tell me more about it? " or "What exactly do you mean by that…?" Try not to judge the rightness or wrongfulness of what they are sharing. Tell them their feelings are normal and understandable. Our adult job is to provide reassurance, that she/he is safe and will be cared for.
- Monitor what your children are watching. However, understanding the child's age and personality style determines how much direct access adults should provide. Watching, reading, or examining the news together is the best way to gauge a child's reaction and to help a child or teen deal with the information. In discussing what is viewed or heard when together, parents and professionals become informed about how the children processed the material and how they feel about it. It also provides an opportunity for discussing the topic of war and violence. Correcting misinformation and discussing personal feelings is then more profitable.
For further info on this topic check out these websites:
Website of interest
www.womhealth.org.au
WHQW provides free health information and education services for women throughout Queensland and is independent of health care provider interests.
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Until next time then...
"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Wishing you all a Happy & Safe Easter
The editorial team at Clayfield Counselling Services