Figuring out where to start in terms of reaching out for help, for you and your loved ones, can be an overwhelming and confusing experience if done alone. At Northside psychology our aim is to try and support you; from navigating relationships, to supporting your children or loved ones, and helping yourself.
Feel free to click below and see some of the ways we may be able to assist you.
Sometimes you just need someone to talk with. Some things are harder to talk about, but everything you share is important and has value. Having decided to take this first step, you have already shown courage. Now please read on, as to how we can help you take the next step.
Collaborating closely with you, our psychologists will offer empathic, non-judgemental and compassionate support. Our focus is to empower you to take the lead role in your own healing. Our approach emphasises the use of evidence-based and appropriate techniques, balanced with a client-based approach.
Northside Psychology is here to help you find practical solutions. We can provide these services in a flexible way, either in person or online using Telehealth tools.
If you would like to find out more about how we can work together towards your goals and the specific services we provide, please click below.
There are times in each of our lives where we may need to place additional focus on relationships. This might mean building a new relationship, improving an existing one or repairing a relationship you feel needs attention. It may be as a couple, family, or individual within the group needing assistance.
We develop relationships in all aspects of our lives, from home to the office and building better relationships can improve the quality of our lives.
If you would like to find out more about how we can work together to help you towards your goals and the specific services we provide, please click below.
Some children face struggles which can be confusing for them and for those who care for them. These challenges can be those of early learning, behaviour, adolescence or something you can’t quite put your finger on. Every parent deserves support in this, and there may be different support systems/strategies for each child.
Our team wants to help you move from surviving towards thriving. The team at Northside Psychology provide a support network. By working together we can help you find strategies and resources to overcome difficult periods. We understand that asking for help in this is a challenge, but together, we can make it the foundation of an easier path ahead.
If you would like to find out more about how we can work together towards your goals and the specific services we provide, please click below.
In recognising that you play a role in this, you have already demonstrated how important this work is for you and for your loved one. Sometimes they have not yet sought help themselves, at other times they have, and your ongoing support is invaluable.
As you continue to provide support for others, our team may be able to support you and provide you with guidance or advice and a quiet space to talk and be heard.
It’s important to seek support so that you can continue on giving to others.
Do you have a blended family and having difficulty in managing and coping with complexity of relationships?
Are you trying to work through the issue of infidelity?
Do you and your partner have seemingly different values?
Is there trauma, abuse, mental health, sexuality, physical health issues in your relationship?
A close couple relationship provides an ideal opportunity for many of the essential emotional needs of both partners to be met. However, relationships can quickly become complex, difficult and may require additional support to navigate the issues in order to bring back the stability and the original emotional attachment.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with significant issues arising out of relationships.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you constantly yell, find yourself throwing things, storming out of the room or being overly critical of others?
Do you often react out of proportion to the situation or seemingly have a short fuse compared to others?
Do you have difficulty controlling your emotions when overwhelmed?
Is your anger getting you into trouble at work, home or with the law?
Anger and emotions are a normal part of the human reaction system, but become a problem when not managed properly. Everyone gets angry, teary or emotional, and sometimes expressing strong feelings is important to deal with the situation. Where these emotions are expressed in a harmful way, or persist over a long period of time, however, it can lead to problems at home, work and life.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with emotional regulation.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you constantly seek reassurance or actively avoid situations you feel worried or scared about?
Do you have physical pains at the same time as appearing to have lots of worries?
Do you constantly feel agitated, on edge or having sleeping difficulties?
Does your anxiety appear to control your life and stop you from doing things you really want to do?
People with anxiety difficulties tend to lack confidence in their abilities and feel overwhelmed easily. They are also driven to avoid the things that cause them anxiety, and in doing so, don’t have the opportunity to learn to manage their anxiety better.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for anxiety. We would work closely with your GP as medical interventions as well as psychological intervention is often the best approach.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you feel overly happy or “high” for long periods of time or a decreased need for sleep?
Do you become easily distracted, have overconfidence in your abilities or engage in risky behaviour?
Do you feel sad or hopeless for long periods of time or withdrawing from friends and family?
Do you also have feelings of severe fatigue or lack of energy or having problems with memory?
Bipolar disorder is a mental illness marked by extreme changes in mood from high to low, and from low to high. Highs are periods of mania, while lows are periods of depression. The changes in mood may even become mixed, so you might feel elated and depressed at the same time.
There are effective, evidenced based treatments for working with bipolar disorder. However, those with bipolar disorder will also need to have ongoing medical management with this GP and psychiatrist.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you influenced by an ‘ideal’ body type or comparing yourself to others based on appearance?
Is the image of your body affecting your relationships or sexual wellbeing?
Are you wanting to change your body using surgery because of your constant dissatisfaction with it?
Does dieting or restrictive eating leading to preoccupation with thoughts about food?
Your body image is how you think and feel about your body and involves your thoughts, perceptions, imagination and emotions - it does not necessarily reflect what you see in the mirror or what other people see. Poor body image or body dissatisfaction can also result from comparing your body with what society and the media tell you is the ideal body size and shape – taking this to the extreme can lead to several dangerous disorders.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with body image.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you finding the idea of choosing a career daunting?
Are you unsure or don’t know what you want to do next?
Are you frustrated in your current role?
Are you contemplating a big change in your career pathway?
Commencing or changing a career is a common life transition and in many cases can cause stress. Support may be required however if the response is more serious than would ordinarily be anticipated. Heightened career stress could lead to social, professional or academic issues.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with navigating career pathways.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you suffer from adult speech and/or hearing difficulties?
Has your communication been compromised by an acquired illness, trauma or disorder?
Is too much screen time, unrealistic expectations, or poor listening skills impacting communication?
Are you withdrawing and not communicating like you used to?
A lot can be done to assist people with communication issues through an acquired illness, trauma or disorder. Similarly, learning to develop your communication skills can help to improve your work or home life.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for assisting with communication difficulty.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you being subjected to an ongoing pattern of abusive behaviour by a partner or family member?
Are you being dominated, controlled, or oppressed by the other person causing fear?
Are you feeling unsafe at home feeling powerless to change the situation or ashamed to tell others?
Has a traumatic situation affected your sleep, appetite, concentration or other relationships?
Domestic violence is complex because of the broad range of behaviours that define it; it isn't just limited to physical, sexual, and emotional violence but also includes financial abuse, harassment, and stalking. When a person is threatened, the fear may force them to do things they don't want to and so in some homes, physical violence may be rare yet victims may be living under the constant threat of being hurt or punished.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with the psychological aspects of domestic violence.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you obsessed with rapid weight loss, weight gain, or dramatic weight fluctuations?
Do you have frequent concerns regarding your weight or weighing yourself?
Do you undertake excessive exercise, fasting, dieting, restricting or limiting food intake, followed by increased eating/binging?
Do you undertake any type of purging after eating?
Selective eating is often associated with anxiety and stress. Eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia are very serious and can lead to a host of serious physical problems and health complications. In severe cases, treatment and support may be needed in a specialist clinic.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with eating disorders working in conjunction with GP.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Is physical elder abuse an issue?
Is emotional elder abuse an issue?
Is sexual elder abuse an issue?
Is elder neglect an issue?
Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, or sexual harm inflicted upon an older adult, their financial exploitation, or neglect of their welfare by people who are directly responsible for their care. As older adults become more physically frail, they’re less able to take care of themselves, stand up to bullying, fight back if attacked or leave openings for unscrupulous people to take advantage of them.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for assisting in dealing with elder abuse.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you in managing these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you feeling numb?
Do you currently have an inability to express strong negative or positive emotions?
Are you experiencing a lack of interest in activities that others find enjoyable?
Do you feel distant from others or have the tendency to withdraw from friends and family?
Are your emotions only being felt in the body as sensations, but not by the mind?
Emotional numbness is a defense mechanism employed by the mind to avoid intense and overwhelming emotions such as fear, hatred, jealousy and grief. It may also be caused by extreme distress, anxiety or nervousness. When you become emotionally numb, you lose the ability to feel and experience your emotions on a psychological and emotional level. In this sense, emotional numbness is often clinically connected with dissociation, which is the disconnection from one’s memories, identity, environment, body, or senses.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for helping you deal with emotional numbness.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you have a sense of loss, lack of control, fear or anger due to your terminal illness?
Are you experiencing issues with self esteem, communication and social function as you’re facing the end of your life?
Are you having difficulty expression your emotions to others?
End-of-life is more than just physical health. It is about individual perceptions of what a life worth living looks like, and enabling people to create their own possibilities, hope and choices.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with end of life issues.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. Family therapy may also be a very good way dealing with situations as a group rather than as individuals. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Is trust an issue for you in being able to enter into deep and lasting friendships?
Do you have little to no difficulty in initiating friendships but then something seems to go wrong?
Do you have difficulty in picking up the social cues, non-verbal language or “unwritten rules”?
Do you feel like you just don’t fit in?
People with friendship issues, can regularly experience conflict creating large amounts of stress in their lives. They can crave acceptance from peer groups and this can often then lead them toward unhealthy relationships and/or behaviour.
There is hope. There are effective ways we can assist you to build their social and friendship skills.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you or others concerned about the amount of time you are spending playing video games?
Are you fatigued and lethargic as a result of constant video gaming?
Does your mood / behaviour change substantially as a result of gaming or if it is withdrawn?
Are you concerned that video gaming is seemingly dominating your life?
Pathological gamers spend about twice as much time playing games (about 24 hours per week) and are more likely to have game systems in their bedrooms. They are also more likely to have trouble paying attention in work, become withdrawn and suffer more physical health problems.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for any behaviour that becomes excessive, dysfunctional or begins to dominate lives.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you questioning your gender identity?
Are you unsure of what pronouns might be right for you?
Do you wonder what implications this has?
Like sexuality, gender identity and expression can be a complex and confusing experience for some individuals. Luckily, in this day and age, there is a lot of available information available to better help you understand what this means for you. Gender, like sexuality, is a spectrum — both binary and nonbinary — and it's important that you know you have support during this time of questioning.
Choosing to seek support during this time is understandable. Whether you are struggling to come to terms with your gender, or are concerned about what effect this might have on your relationships, it can be a challenging time. Things may feel different, but it's important to recognise that nothing about yourself has changed except for your realisation of a part of yourself. Our team understands that this can be a frightening, uneasy and sometimes un-safe experience, and the team at Northside Psychology wants to provide some support.
Gender identities other than cisgender (identifying with the gender assigned at birth) do not need to be "fixed" or "healed", it is a part of who you are, just as it is for all people. There’s no right time or age to discovering your gender.
We are here to help you during this period of discovery, with empathetic and non-judgemental support and advice. Individual, evidence-based guidance may be given through options like strength-based approaches, stress management, mindfulness, and acceptance commitment, among others. Regardless of what approach you want to take, we’re here to support you. Remember that you are deserving love, support and validation
Have you recently lost someone close to you and you’re having difficulty coping?
Have you experienced a death or loss for the first time?
Has the family moved to a new location and so friends/familiar things have been lost?
Have you lost friends that have moved away?
Have you lost your job?
Loss is an inevitable part of life and it is normal to experience a difficult time when faced with grief. The emotions that result can be intense and confusing, and there is no "correct way" in experiencing loss. For some people, however, the grief process can become stuck in a cycle and does not seem to dissipate over time.
There is hope. We can work with you to help process some of these emotions and appropriately express them to allow you to come out of the grief cycle.
To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you have constant uncomfortable feelings of being unworthy, bad or wrong?
Do you have a very negative feeling or embarrassment about an act you’ve committed?
Do you feel you are being shamed by peers or by society in general or experiencing it in secret?
Is your unresolved shame or guilt leading to feelings of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem?
Shame or guilt may also be a symptom of some mental health diagnoses – for example body dysmorphia, or the product of a traumatic experience such as rape or sexual assault. Living with shame/guilt, regardless of the its source can be a lonely and demoralising experience.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with both shame and/or guilt.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. Family therapy may also be a very good way dealing with situations as a group rather than as individuals. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you anxious how severe your symptoms will be on a given day impacting what you do?
Are you finding it harder to get out of the house because of health concerns or symptoms?
Is your condition leading to irritation, anger, sleeplessness or substance abuse?
Do you feel you have lost control as a result of your condition?
Living with or caring for people with pain or chronic illness does more than hurt your body. It causes emotional stress, increases mental fatigue, lowers energy levels. It may even lead to depression or anxiety. In turn, it can often impact self management, impacting the way you eat, sleep, diet, socialise and have fun.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with health/chronic pain/ illness issues.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you nervous or fearful about the uncertainty of an upcoming change?
Are you having difficulty acknowledging that you need to let go of the past and accept the future?
Is your transition bringing up a range of feelings?
Is there a loss of self-esteem due to your transition?
Adjusting to change can be difficult, as even positive life transitions tend to cause some stress. Over the course of a lifetime, a person can expect to experience changes but some major life transitions, such as a death, house move, new child, retirement, or entering the “empty nest” phase of life may cause a significant amount of stress.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with life transitions.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you experiencing low energy levels, unexplained sadness or finding it hard to motivate yourself?
Are you losing interest easily in activities you usually enjoy or have difficulty listening/concentrating?
Are you having difficulty seeing the positive and defaulting to negative thinking?
Have you withdrawn from interacting with friends and family?
People often find that symptoms of depression can be the accumulation of lots of small things over time, but equally one large event such as marriage breakdown can quickly trigger extended periods of low mood. It’s important to recognise that if some of these issues happen together over several weeks or are typically out of character for you, then depressive symptoms could be setting in.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for depression. We would work closely with your GP as medical interventions as well as psychological is often the best approach.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you have an uncontrollable urge to do certain behaviours such checking/cleaning of things?
Are these actions seeming irrational or entirely disproportionate to the issue in reality?
Do these actions take up at least one hour your day?
Are these behaviours disrupting family activities, your routines, or getting in the way of living your life?
A person with OCD experiences heightened anxiety, they can often insist on order and rules or disrupting a range of activities for the person, their peers, their family or work. Such restrictions can lead to subtle, unhealthy withdrawal, avoidance or becoming excluded and isolated.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for OCD.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Have you ever experienced a strong feeling of fear with shortness of breath?
Have you had panic over a few minutes that felt like it lasted for a few hours?
Has your panic felt like a heart attack?
Are you a naturally anxious person?
A panic attack is an extreme form of anxiety which can happen anywhere at any time where you may feel terrified and overwhelmed, even though you’re not in any danger. If this kind has happened to you at least twice, and you constantly worry and change your routine to keep from having one, you might have a panic disorder.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with panic attacks.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Is your child particularly difficult or defiant?
Have you seemingly tried every parenting method without success?
Do you find yourself continually “giving in” to prevent conflict?
Do arguments between parent and child just seem to escalate out of control?
For parents at their wits end, learning better behavioural techniques in managing their children and themselves can provide a roadmap to calmer, more consistent ways to manage problem behaviours. Most importantly, it offers a chance to help children gain the developmental skills they need to regulate their own behaviors.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with parenting difficulties.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve you and your child’s ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you seem to be overly afraid of things?
Do you approach some things or objects with an unusual amount of dread or even abject terror?
Does you actively avoid at all costs certain situations or things?
Is your fear holding you back from participating or living your life?
People who experience intense feelings of fear, insecurity and/or worry about more every day encounters (such as a using a public toilet, or having a vaccination when needed) is likely to evoke an unhelpful avoidance response. Learning to overcome the automatic avoid response and better cope with the feelings of fear/worry becomes very important in working through these issues.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for insecurities, fears, worrying and addressing specific phobias.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you being consumed with thoughts of pornography even when you are not actively viewing it?
Do you feel ashamed, guilty, or depressed about your pornography viewing?
Are you continuing to watch pornography despite it impacting your relationship, work or home?
Pornography addiction can seriously damage relationships and take precedence over important functions and responsibilities in someone's life. What separates a pornography addiction from a keen interest in pornography is the negative consequences of your behaviour, and amount of time watching pornography instead of interacting with others or completing important tasks.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with pornography addiction.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you seem to be repeating the issues and problems of your parents in your relationships?
Are there significant stressors that are placing a strain on or testing your relationship skills?
Is blame and negative thinking leading to increasing patterns of conflict or withdrawal?
Has your relationship lost the skill of being able to effectively communicate?
Chronic relationship conflict and stress is a serious issue being linked to poorer mental and physical health and can affect other areas of life such as relationships with family and friends and work colleagues. Children also suffer when exposed to high levels of conflict at home and are at greater risk for anxiety, depression, behavioural problems and poorer health.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for improving relationship skills.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your child’s to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you overly self-critical or find that you are continually beating yourself up?
Are you constantly comparing yourself with others or believe that you are not good at anything?
Do you think and talk of the times you’ll fail rather than when you’ll succeed?
Do you lack confidence or always doubt that you can do things well?
People with low self-esteem or self-confidence often feel unsure of themselves and so it feels safer to not try new things or experience new opportunities. As a result, they may not do as well as they could or miss out on activities that enhance life.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for building self-esteem and self-confidence that can help re-engage with things you are missing out on.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you cut the skin with sharp objects; hit the body with fists; punching walls or pull out hair?
Have you recently experienced a crisis or recent difficult life event?
Do you find it difficult to talk about your feelings and so use self-harm to express your emotions?
Do you hide your self-harm behaviour (e.g. wearing long sleeves, covering scars)?
People define self-harm in lots of different ways but usually self-harm is defined as someone deliberately hurting themselves without wanting to die. It is sometimes called deliberate self-injury or non-suicidal self-injury and may not mean that someone wants to die but rather a behaviour that is used to cope with difficult or painful feelings.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with self-harm.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. TTo find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you finding that communication is an issue for you at the moment with your partner?
Are you or your partner suffering from depression, anxiety or other mental illness?
Are resentments, anger, disagreements or mistrust dominating your relationship?
Have you noticed a change in your sexual relationship(s)?
All relationships experience problems on occasion and one of the most difficult for partners is when the sex/intimacy in a relationship has problems or is perceived to be lost. Most people assume that intimacy issues are something that only occurs when relationships have gone on for many years, but the truth is that they can happen at any point.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with sex/intimacy issues.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you questioning your sexuality or gender identity?
Do you want to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community, and how you may fit into it?
Are you worried about what the implications of being LGBTQIA+ are?
Are you looking for support regarding your sexuality or gender identity?
Sexuality is a complex journey for any person and can be confusing at many times. The LGBTQIA+ community is a spectrum of sexuality, romantic and gender identities that aren't cisgender (the gender you were assigned at birth) and heterosexual, ranging from the following and more: lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), transgender (T), queer (Q), intersex (I), asexual (A), pansexual, aromantic, nonbinary or gender non-conforming, and more. Though there are many labels a person may identify as these are the most common identities people may come across.
Choosing to seek support during this time is a wonderful step. Whether you are struggling to come to terms with your sexuality, or are concerned about what effect this might have on your relationships, it may be a challenging time. Things may feel different, but it's important to recognise that nothing about yourself has changed except for your realisation of a part of yourself. Our team understands that this can be a frightening, uneasy and sometimes un-safe experience.
As an LGBTQIA+ or questioning person, you do not need to be "fixed" or "healed": your sexuality is a part of you just as it is for heterosexual and cisgender people. There's no right time or age to be discovering sexuality, and developing romantic preferences or lack thereof is something that happens over time.
We are here to help you during this period of discovery, with empathetic and non-judgemental support and advice. Individual, evidence-based guidance may be given through options like strength-based approaches, stress management, mindfulness, and acceptance commitment, among others. Regardless of what approach you want to take, we’re here to support you. Remember that you are deserving love, support and validation.
Are you living alone or have recently relocated and feeling quite isolated?
Are you feeling more isolated because you have reduced work hours or are working from home?
Have you recently lost a loved one or friends due to death or relocation?
Are you unable to participate in activities due to access issues, mobility, illness or lack of transport?
Social isolation is a state of complete or considerable lack of contact between an individual and society and it differs from loneliness, which reflects temporary and involuntary lack of contact with other humans in the world. Social isolation can be an issue for individuals of any age, though symptoms may differ by age group.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with social isolation.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you having difficulty separating yourself from your screen?
Do you suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) if you don’t check your social media?
Does your mood / behaviour change substantially as a result of social media or if it is withdrawn?
Does your devotion of so much time to social media impair other important life areas?
Young people in particular live in a world today that is constantly connected and while this comes with benefits, it also comes with a feeling that you’re constantly visible, and by extension judged. This can leave many people feeling stressed and unable to turn off the amplified sense of self-awareness that social media presents, leading to symptoms like any other form of addiction.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for any behaviour that becomes excessive, dysfunctional or begins to dominate lives.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you appear agitated, touchy or is displaying sudden changes in behaviour?
Does your mood suddenly swing, or are you suddenly overreacting to things?
Have your sleep patterns changed?
Are you not coping as well as you normally do?
Stress is part of our daily lives, and it's normal. We need a bit of stress in our lives to keep things going. When it becomes overwhelming, however, it slows down our progress. It's important to recognise the stress you can manage, and other stressors, which might be impacting the way cope day to day.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for stress.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you having persistent social or personal problems caused or worsened by substance use?
Do you have a record of repeated work absences, a pattern of broken relationships / job losses?
Are you placing yourself in situations where it is physically dangerous?
Are you experiencing legal problems, or arrests for disorderly conduct that are substance-related?
Substance abuse is the harmful pattern of using substances-such as tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, and prescription drugs-leading to impairment or distress. Substance abuse and problematic patterns of substance use can lead to problems including problems at work/home, cause or aggravate physical and mental health-related issues, promote poor relationships, cause motor-vehicle accidents, and place stress on the family.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for substance abuse.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are your thoughts driving you to withdraw from social contact and wanting to be left alone?
Are your thoughts preoccupied with death, dying or violence?
Are you feeling trapped or hopeless about a situation?
Are you developing personality changes or being severely anxious or agitated?
Suicidal thoughts have many causes but most often, suicidal thoughts are the result of feeling like you can't cope when you're faced with what seems to be an overwhelming life situation. If you don't have hope for the future, you may mistakenly think suicide is a solution, experiencing a sort of tunnel vision, where in the middle of a crisis you believe suicide is the only way out. It is never the only way out.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with suicidal thoughts.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Have you experienced a traumatic event?
Do you wake up with nightmares or bad dreams?
Are you being triggered by certain external things (loud noises, etc)?
Do you have difficulty telling people what is going on for you?
People who have experienced trauma often have difficulty identifying, expressing and managing emotions. For a person with a complex trauma history, reminders of various traumatic events may be everywhere in the environment. They may often react powerfully and have difficulty calming down when upset.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for trauma.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you find it hard to believe what others tell you?
Do you find most of your friendships are superficial or you tend to keep people at a distance?
Do you expect the worst, are always on guard or anticipating that others will betray you?
Do you create ways to avoid the risk of possible disappointment or actively engage in self-sabotage?
Trust is that feeling you can rely on other people to be honest, fair, respectful, but perhaps more generally, that people will behave in an appropriate way or as you expect. Issues arise when the trust you have placed in others gets destroyed; you may have taken the risk of trusting another person but it has gone badly and so naturally you feel hurt, betrayed, and scared to trust again.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for helping you to restore trust.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you suffer from anxiety or panic that occurs in what would be considered normal situations?
Do you experience feelings of shame, that you are bad, worthless, or live without importance?
Do you suffer from chronic or ongoing depression?
Are you actively avoiding people, places, or things that may be related to the traumatic event?
These specific types of intense experiences (sometimes in childhood) can have significant and lasting effects if unresolved - as a result people can respond very differently to what has occurred. People may experience a range of emotional, psychological and physical problems as a result of being harmed and the impacts may not always be evident in their actual behaviour.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for moving on from unresolved trauma.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you feel as though you are drifting through life?
Do you have difficulty in making important life decisions?
Are you often hooked by negative thoughts?
Do you know where you want to be and what you want to be doing in 5 years’ time?
Personal values provide direction and give meaning to live. When making choices between actions, it’s important to consider our values, what is important to us, and making choices accordingly.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based ways for identifying your values and providing life direction.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you experiencing excessive stress due to very difficult circumstances like excessive work demands, conflict or work hours?
Are you dealing with the stress of changing work circumstances that are out of your control?
Have you had an injury or accident at work?
Do you work in an occupation that poses a greater health threat than others?
Work is important to most of us on many levels providing a meaningful focus for our lives, as well as bringing in an income. Work-related problems can affect our physical, emotional and mental health with common issues include workplace injury, stress, discrimination and bullying, violence, accidental death and excessive stress.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for dealing with workplace issues or workplace injury.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you feel constantly fatigued through your work?
Is the stress of your work causing adverse health outcomes (headaches, high blood pressure)?
Are you losing time with friends or missing important family events or milestones because of work?
Are your work expectations increasing and regularly working extra hours or taking on more work?
As long as you're working, juggling the demands of career and personal life will probably be an ongoing challenge. Notwithstanding, if you can learn both to set limits and look after yourself, you can achieve the work-life balance that's best for you.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for helping with work / life balance.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Are you feeling less active, successful or confident in your work due to bullying?
Is your workplace situation making you scared, anxious, stressed or depressed?
Are you avoiding work due to perceived bullying?
Is your workplace making you feel so uncomfortable that you have the physical signs of stress?
When people are bullied, they do not feel safe within their environment. Bullied individuals may become withdrawn, lash out when within safer environments, become afraid of the workplace (seen as hostile and threatening), become a bully themselves or be manipulated into doing things that are seen as helping their situation but just reinforces it.
There is hope. We want you to be able to see that there are things that you can do for yourself that can help protect you from bullying, belittling, and other problems with people.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you worry about things they may never eventuate?
Do you feel like you need to control everything in order to feel a sense of safety and certainty?
Do you feel drained or bereft of energy through excessive worry?
Is your worrying holding you back from participating in pleasurable activities?
Perhaps you unconsciously think that if you "worry enough," you can prevent bad things from happening. Excessive worrying is a high anxiety and impacts many areas of life.
There is hope. There are effective, evidenced based treatments for insecurities, fears, worrying and even addressing specific phobias.
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you to improve your ability to cope and manage these problems. To find out more about how Northside Psychology may be able to help, get in touch with our team here.
Do you struggle to feel heard or understood by one another?
Does it feel like you're not quite "on the same page"?
Do you constantly feel pressure to maintain a relationship?
Do the pressures of family and work life feel like they're taking priority?
In relationships, there are often challenges that may be difficult to overcome. These challenges are often added to by the external pressures of work, family, friends, and financial circumstances. Relationships are a cornerstone of many aspects of our lives, and overtime we can forget to nurture them or may find we lack the skills required to enable them to flourish. It is also important to note that relationship difficulties are a part of every couple's lives, but often these can be overcome.
Prioritising your relationships is an important choice. It doesn't have to be an impossible challenge, or something that falls off the to-do list. There is a lot that can be done to identifying the challenges of a relationship, help couples to understand themselves as individuals, and their roles within the relationship. Depending on the situation and how you feel, you may benefit from therapy as a couple or as separate individuals, or both.
There are different therapies designed to support couples for instance the Gottman method amongst others. Congratulations in taking the first step at seeking help, don't be afraid to take the next.
Do you sometimes feel certain pressures or focuses are controlling the balance of your family life?
Is there a lot of conflict in the family?
Are there dynamics at play in your family that concern you?
Dynamics in families can make things complicated and can sometimes result in conflict between different members. Family therapy works with the dynamics of your family. This can help to identify cycles that may be interfering with your family life. This can allow you to work as individuals and as a team to resolve these issues.
Prioritising your family is an important and achievable goal. Maintaining the wellbeing and health of individuals, while looking after the family as a whole, is an important foundation for life and has a long lasting impact.
With strategies like Family Therapy, parenting support, Circle of Security, stress management, and other evidence-based practices, you can work towards the family life you want, together.
Do you worry about the impact of your mental health on the ones you love?
Do you sometimes feel strained by the mental health challenges your partner is facing?
Does being a carer feel like a strain on you as an individual?
Mental health journeys for yourself, your children, your partner, or loved ones can be a challenge. People often feel strained by the impact of their family members' mental health, and guilty about this focus on themselves.
Supporting your loved one is really valuable. It's okay to feel that it is work. It's important to find strategies which work for you and your loved one; to make sure that those who are doing the caring are looked after too. Congratulations in taking the first step of reaching out for support.
Is your child often unable to participate in certain activities, or discriminated against?
Are things often not inclusive or accessible to them?
Do they find themselves excluded because of things they cannot control? (Being disabled, LGBTQ, of colour, or part of a minority group)?
Do they feel not accepted?
Whether your child is LGBTQ, not able-bodied, of colour, of a different wealth status, or has learning difficulties, they may find themselves on the outer circle of social/educational groups or interactions. This can be difficult for any child. It can also lead to low self-esteem, depression or anxiety, if left undealt with. Fortunately, there are ways this can be helped.
A child not fitting in, in some way, is an experiencing that can be distressing for them and may hurt their self-esteem. It can also be tough to watch someone go through. However, there are evidence-based treatments for dealing with exclusion and inaccessibility. There is a lot that we at Northside Psychology can do to support and guide your child through this tough time. Hopefully it will help them overcome/manage these issues.
We can work closely with your child to help them develop skills of how to tackle exclusivity and self-confidence, as well as working with family members for strategies of dealing with overcoming these barriers. Therapies can include stress and anxiety management and CBT, as well as assistance with self-esteem, assertiveness, communication and social skills, and school engagement. Family therapy can also be a good way of dealing with situations as a group, rather than as individuals.
Are people in your family hurting because of addiction issues?
Does your family have trouble admitting that there is an addiction problem?
Is your family constantly trying to hide or lie about addiction?
Are drug and alcohol addiction issues in your family impacting your child?
For children living in difficult circumstances, the impacts may be seen in other spaces of their life. Substance abuse in the household can have follow-on impacts for children while at school, in their relationships, and for their self-esteem. These addiction issues may be intergenerational, and it can be hard to know what to do to break this cycle.
Substance abuse is challenging, however there is hope for both you and your child. Research has shown that there are effective, evidence-based treatments that can help individuals and their family affected by substance abuse. However, congratulations in taking the first step by reaching out for help. Focusing on the patterns and experiences in the family and for your child can help to turn things around, and create a different future.
Does your child throw tantrums and is well past toddler stage?
Does your child constantly overreact or seemingly have a short fuse?
Are they seemingly unable to control their emotions when overwhelmed?
Is your child’s anger getting them into trouble at school, home or with the law?
Learning to self-regulate is a key milestone in child development and these foundations are laid in the earliest years of life. A child’s capacity to emotionally self-regulate affects their family and peer relationships, academic performance and long-term mental health. When a child struggles to control their intense emotions such as anger, frustration, fear or distress — parents can feel worried about setting off their fuse. It can be a frightening and exhausting experience for any parent, and typically the child does not want to feel or react in this way. Fortunately, there are solutions to help children express themselves in a healthy and collected manner.
Choosing to seek help during this time is understandable, as trying to support your child can be difficult and confusing. It is a situation that can be particularly challenging for families and loved ones — even more so for the child themselves. While it is important that you continue to support and love them, we are here to take a bit of that weight of confusion and distress off of your shoulders. Know that whatever your child is going through, there is hope.
There are effective, evidence-based treatments for dealing with emotional regulation and anger issues. At Northside Psychology, there is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist you and your child, to improve their ability to cope, regulate their emotions, and aim to overcome these problems with time. Therapies can include ACT, CBT, EMDR, mindfulness, relaxation, home exercises, and psychoeducation, in an age appropriate way. Family therapy is also a very good way of dealing with these issues as a group rather than just as individuals. Please don't hesitate to reach out regarding your own mental health if these issues are beginning to weigh heavily on you, too.
Does your child constantly seek reassurance, or actively avoid situations that worry or frighten them?
Is your child complaining of physical pain while experiencing worry?
Are you noticing your child clinging to you unnecessarily?
Does your child ask for help with things they can do for themselves?
We all experience anxiety at times, it is a normal part of life. However, when it gets out of hand it impacts our confidence and we feel overwhelmed. We tend to lack confidence in their abilities and feel overwhelmed easily. They are also inclined to avoid the things that cause anxiety, therefore missing the chance to understand that the situation is safe, and not to be feared, whilst also compounding the problem. While anxiety is unpleasant and extremely difficult, you are not alone. In Australia in 2016, approximately 278,000 children between the ages of 4 and 17 struggled with clinically significant anxiety, making up 6.9% of kids nationwide. There are many ways that anxiety can be worked through and treated, so that your child can learn to manage it, improve their quality of life, and feel confident once again.
The first act in managing anxiety may be choosing to seek help during difficult times, and we praise you for doing so. Anxiety in children can be a distressing and confusing thing to observe — even more so for the child experiencing it. Untreated anxiety can lead to school refusal, isolation, and anxiety disorders, making it hard for your child and yourself to cope on your own. However, there is hope.
There are effective and evidence-based treatments, therapies and exercises for anxiety to support, guide and assist both you and your child. In doing so, your child's ability to cope, deal with worrying situations, and feel more confident can be improved. Therapies can include age-appropriate ACT, CBT, EMDR, mindfulness, relaxation, exposure, stress and anxiety management, home exercises, and psychoeducation. Anxiety can be daunting, so it's important for you and your child to know that you're not alone. Congratulations in taking the first step, don't be afraid to take the next.
Does your child often appear angry, or are they showing signs of anxiety, irritation, and frustration?
Do they have trouble handling their emotions?
Are they refusing to listen to you or abide by rules?
Are you noticing sudden shifts in their moods or outbursts?
Behavioural issues refer to a wide variety of behavioural disorders that may affect any person or child, including but not limited to: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or other anxiety disorders, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, or even Bipolar Disorder. It is important to understand that your child probably does not want to be feeling this way, but might be feeling out of control and helpless. Long-term behavioural issues may lead into depression or substance abuse/addiction. It is important that your child receives assistance with overcoming or dealing with these issues, but it can be hard to know where to look for support.
It can be confusing for both you and your child if your child is experiencing sudden or drastic changes in their mood or behaviour. An experience that can be distressing for both parties, it is important to know that there is hope!
There is a lot that can be done to understand the issues, then support and guide both you and your child to better manage these problems. A number of therapies may assist, depending on the situation, and may include psychoeducation, Circle of Security, parenting support, mindfulness, ACT and CBT. Family therapy may also be a good way of dealing with situations as a group.
Is your child influenced by an 'ideal' body type, or comparing themselves to others based on appearance?
Is the image of their body affecting their mental wellbeing?
Are they wanting to change their body through dieting or other methods?
Does dieting or restrictive eating lead to preoccupation with thoughts about food?
Body image is how a person thinks and feels about their body, and does not necessarily reflect what you or other people see. Either manifesting as thoughts, emotions, or even a warped perception of how they look, poor body image can result from comparing their body with those in social media or film. Societal beauty standards and ideal bodies may negatively affect how one sees themselves. It is common, particularly in today's age of social media, for children and teenagers to feel insecure or unhappy with their bodies. However, if taken to the extreme, these body image issues can lead to a range of disorders — from body dysmorphia, to eating or anxiety disorders.
While showing support towards someone with body image issues can be difficult as their own perception of themselves may not be based in reality, it is important that you still reach out to them. Despite whether they might believe it or not, speaking to them positively about their bodies and appearances — eg. "You're just right how you are" — is something that is important. However, if body image issues impact their mental health or day-to-day life, it is important that you reach out for professional help. Congratulations in taking the first step!
There is hope. There are effective, evidence-based treatments for dealing with body image, dysmorphia, and self-esteem issues to do with appearances, to guide, support and assist you and your child. The aim is to improve their coping abilities and perception of themselves, and overcome these issues. Therapies available may include ACT, CBT, EMDR, mindfulness, relaxation, exposure, home exercises, and psychoeducation. It is often helpful to deal with body image issues early on, to minimize the risk of eating disorders developing.
Does your child want to skip or change schools?
Are you noticing sudden changes in behaviour, mood or temperament?
Do you worry that your child is being bullied, or that they are bullying others?
Is your child's anxiety and fear impacting their sleep and diet?
When children are bullied, they do not feel safe within their environment — typically in school, but also possibly in co-curricular activities, within friendship groups, or by family members. Bullied children may become withdrawn, afraid, might lash out within safer environments, become afraid of school, become a bully themselves, or be manipulated into doing certain things. School avoidance may arise, as school is seen as hostile or threatening. They also may be tricked into doing things that they may see as helping their situation, but will only reinforce it. According to the Make Bullying History Foundation, three in five students have experienced bullying, and 80% of students claim it's a serious problem in their school. With the rise of social media, cyberbullying has also become a significant issue. Constant bullying can lead to mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, as well as school refusal. It can be difficult to know how to help your child during this time. Though bullying is a relatively common occurrence in school, it is important that your child knows they're not alone, and has help to develop strategies for how to manage these situations.
There is hope. With time and skill development, children can learn there are things that they can do for themselves, that can help protect them from bullying, teasing, and other issues with people or school peers. Your child does not need to feel stuck, helpless or alone. It's important they feel loved and supported during this time.
There is a lot that can be done to help your child cope and overcome bullying. On top of therapies such as mindfulness and relaxation, children can be taught to become more assertive — as opposed to being passive (the person being bullied) or being aggressive (the bully). Role-play for practicing new skills such as setting clear, healthy boundaries, can be helpful. Many fun and interactive programs can be used in therapy that focus on bullying and keeping children safe. Congratulations in taking steps to protect and support your child.
Is your child struggling with knowing what they want to do in the future?
Does the idea of a career seem daunting to them?
Are they unsure of what path to take in school or at university?
Choosing career paths can be a difficult and overwhelming decision for any child or teenager, and it might feel like the be-all or end-all. However, it's important for them to realise that not everyone will immediately know what career they'll go into straight out of school, and that's it's okay to be unsure.
For a child, the idea of needing to decide their future careers and school/university paths can be understandably daunting. It is an experience which can induce major stress. However, there is hope!
There is a lot we can do to support, guide and assist your child in deciding what they want to do and improve their ability to cope. We can work closely with your child to help them develop skills that will overcome these barriers. Vocational Counselling may assist, along with stress and anxiety management, and assistance with self-esteem, assertiveness, and communication and social skills.
Does your child have low energy levels, or are you finding it hard to motivate them?
Does your child lose interest easily in activities they usually enjoy, or have difficulty listening and concentrating on tasks?
Are they continually making negative comments about themselves?
Does your child seem sad and cry easily, while being difficult to soothe?
Children often find it difficult to explain how they're feeling, especially if they're experiencing extended periods of low mood. It is important to recognise that if some of these issues happen together over several weeks or are typically out of character for your child, then depressive symptoms could be setting in. There are several types of depression, however, common symptoms of depression are: fatigue; lack of concentration; changes in appetite; isolating from friends; deep and long-lasting feelings of sadness, hopelessness, guilt and worthlessness; lack of interest in usual hobbies and difficulty getting through everyday activities, and even recurring thoughts of death or self-harm.
In Australia, 2015, one in thirteen adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 within the last 12 months had been diagnosed with Major Depression. The disorder is more commonly diagnosed in females, affecting 19.6% of girls aged 16-17, compared to 7.2% of boys. However, it is important to understand that there is hope, and that steps can be taken to help your child recover.
Untreated depression can lead to school refusal, isolation, self-harm, thoughts of suicide, and other compounding symptoms. This can make it difficult for you and your child to cope without support. However, there is hope. There are effective, evidence-based treatments for depression. It is important that your child knows that they are loved and supported during this difficult time, and seeking professional help for them is taking the first step. Congratulations in doing so.
There is a lot that can be done to guide and support both you and your child, to cope, manage depressive symptoms and improve quality of life. Therapies can include age appropriate ACT, CBT, EMDR, mindfulness, relaxation, exposure, home exercises, and psychoeducation. You and your child are not alone! Don't be afraid to take the next step and seek professional support for your child's wellbeing.
Is your child a very picky eater?
Do they have a very narrow range of foods that they'll eat?
Are they obsessed with being thin and refuse to maintain even a minimally normal weight?
Is your child influenced by an 'ideal' body type, or comparing their appearance to others?
Is your child repeatedly eating too much food in a short amount of time?
Whilst selective eating is often associated with anxiety issues, and with autism spectrum disorder, eating disorders in children and teenagers can lead to a host of serious physical problems, and at the extreme, can even result in death. Those with eating disorders will need treatment to help restore regular eating habits and regain a normal, healthy weight.
According to the Butterfly Foundation, in 2012 4% of the Australian population suffered from eating disorders. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa (characterised by lack of eating and an obsessive fear of gaining weight), bulimia (which involves a process of binging and then purging food), and ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, aligned with disturbed eating patterns that deprives the body of nutrition). Signs such as an intense focus on body-shape or weight, fear of gaining weight, anxiety around meal times, a distorted body image, and excuses to not eat, may indicate an eating disorder of this calibre. Binge eating disorder is another form of disordered eating characterised by frequently and recurringly eating excessive food when not hungry. This is often followed by intense feelings of guilt, shame and self-hatred. Though it is frightening to watch someone go through disordered eating, there is always hope.
Witnessing someone, particularly your child, go through an eating disorder can be difficult and traumatizing, and knowing how to best support them can be difficult. It is important that you reach out and let them know that you love them. Seeking help for yourself and your child during this time is understandable and encouraged. Congratulations in taking the first step. There is hope.
Working in conjunction with your GP, the use of evidence-based therapies are effective in dealing with eating disorders and body image issues. A lot can be done to guide, support and assist you and your child through such a difficult time. It is important to tackle issues of eating disorders early on, as they can develop into more severe health problems. Don't be afraid to take the next step in recovery!
Does your child become agitated or worried at the very thought of sitting an exam?
Does your child's mood or behaviour change in the lead-up to an exam?
Does your child know the work, but the stress of exams often results in them achieving lower results that they are capable off?
Examinations and assessments are stressful because of their educational and/or occupational consequences, as well as strict time limits and for some, the nerve-wracking settings. Passing an exam may be critical in achieving sufficient grades to enter a particular vocation. There is also the weight of perceived judgements and expectations from others, such as parents, relative, teachers and peers, that may heavily affect the child. All in all, exams conditions can make for an extremely stressful period of study, and lead to anxiety and fear. These feelings can surface in changes of mood, agitation, isolation, avoidance of or relentless studying, refusal to eat, and tears. While an optimal level of stress is helpful to keep a person motivated, too much stress is detrimental.
The difficult part about solving examination anxiety is that despite what you do as a parent, an exam is still something your child will need to face alone. However, there are things that both you and professionals can do to help you child manage their exam anxiety. Age appropriate evidence-based treatments such as mindfulness, relaxation, CBT, ACT, EMDR, exposure, home exercises, and psychoeducation can assist. Creating a study plan, goals and schedules can be beneficial, as can investigating the possibly of a previously undiagnosed learning or behavioural disorder.
Is your child particularly difficult or defiant?
Have you tried lots of parenting methods without success?
Do you find yourself continually "giving in" to prevent conflict?
Do arguments between parent and child just seem to escalate out of control and become shouting matches that escalate?
For parents at their wits' end, learning better behavioural techniques in managing their children and themselves can provide a roadmap to a calmer, concise, more consistent method of managing problem behaviours. Most importantly, this will offer a chance to help children develop and gain the developmental skills they need to regulate their own behaviours.
Though managing children with troubling behaviours or strong emotions can be tough, it's important to know that there is hope. There are evidence-based and effective treatments for dealing with difficult behaviours in children. There is a lot that can be done to guide, support and assist you in improving your child's and your own ability to cope, and better manage these problems. This can include developing strategies and creating plans for how to deal with your child when they get into a challenging state. Therapies for your child may include age appropriate mindfulness, relaxation, home exercises, psychoeducation, ACT and CBT. Family therapy is also a good way of dealing with situations as a group, rather than as individuals. Congratulations in taking the first step, and don't be afraid to take the next one!
Are you concerned about the amount of time your child is spending playing video games?
Does your child seem to be fatigued and lethargic as a result of gaming?
Does your child meltdown when they finish gaming?
Are you concerned that gaming is dominating your child's life?
There is a point for some children where gaming may become an addiction or gaming disorder. Pathological gamers spend about twice as much time playing games (approximately 24 hours per week) and are more likely to have game systems in their bedrooms. Though the percentage of players who are addicted to video games is small, between 1% and 9% of all gamers across all ages, it's important to watch for the signs. Signs may include spending an increased amount of time gaming to "feel good", having difficulties at school or home due to refusal to stop, melting down when being forced to quit, feeling bad when they're unable to play, constantly thinking of gaming, ceasing hobbies they once enjoyed, amongst other symptoms. Children with video gaming addiction are also more likely to have trouble paying attention in school, achieve poorer grades, and suffer more physical health problems. If you're unsure if your child is simply enthusiastic about video games, or may be facing an addiction, you're doing the right thing by taking this first step.
Though these situations can feel overwhelming, it's important not to despair. There is hope, and there are effective and evidence-based treatments for behaviour that becomes excessive, dysfunctional, or begin to dominate lives. A lot can be done to support, guide and assist you and your child, in navigating and managing gaming addictions.
While it can be extremely difficult knowing your child may be battling an addiction, we praise you in taking the first step. Now, please don't be afraid to take the next!
Are you confused at how your child wants to identify in terms of their gender, or why?
Are you unsure of how to respond them, or what pronouns to use?
Do you not understand why people identify with genders they weren't assigned at birth?
Do you wonder what implications this has?
Like sexuality, gender identity and expression can be a complex and confusing experience for some individuals. Luckily, in this day and age, there is a lot of available information available to better help you understand what this means, both for you and your child. Gender, like sexuality, is a spectrum — both binary and nonbinary — and it's important that you support your child through this time of questioning, or search for assurance.
Choosing to seek support during this time is understandable. Whether you are struggling to provide the support your child is seeking, or your confused about what this journey means for them, it can be a challenging time for families. Things may feel different, but it's important to recognise that they are still your loved one. The only thing that has changed is that they've decided to share a very important, often vulnerable part of themselves with you.
Gender identities other than cisgender (identifying with the gender assigned at birth) do not need to be "fixed" or "healed", it is a part of who they are, just as it is for cisgender people. There’s no right time or age to discovering gender. It can be challenging to feel you are different to the “norm”. Regardless of what challenges you or your child are facing, this can be a difficult and confusing time.
We want to help support you and your family. Psychologists can help educate about gender identities, support children exploring these issues, and maintain family relationships throughout. This may include family therapy and individual therapies as well as specific, evidence-based options like strength-based approaches, stress management, mindfulness, and acceptance commitment, among others. Regardless of what approach you or your child want to take, we’re here to support you. Remember that your child needs your love, support and validation during this time in their life.
Has your child recently lost someone close to them? Are they having difficulty coping?
Has your child experienced a death or loss for the first time (including pets)?
Has the family moved to a new location, and friends have been lost?
Has your child lost friends that have moved away?
Loss is a very difficult thing for anyone to cope with, particularly young children — who may have a very difficult time emotionally and behaviourally when encountering grief. These emotions may be new and confusing for them and as such, can be extremely difficult for them to process and express. This, along with your own recent grief, can be a very tough thing to deal with. However, you are not alone in grief and loss.
Do not lose hope. Professionals are able to work closely with your child with the aim of helping them process and appropriately express their emotions. Symbolic activities can help your child move through the grief cycle. If other issues are also emerging as part of their grief and loss, other therapies can help. Though grief is never easy for anyone, we hope that we are able to relieve some of the weight and make the process of healing easier.
Does your child seem to be overly afraid of things?
Does your child approach some things or objects with dread or terror?
Does your child actively avoid situations or things?
Is worry holding your child back from participating?
Children who feel unsafe, or experience intense feelings of fear, insecurity and/or worry about everyday encounters (such as a toilet, or drop off at day-care) are likely to evoke an avoidant response. Learning to overcome the automatic avoid response, and better cope with feelings of fear/worry becomes very important in working through these issues.
There is hope. There are evidence-based treatments to deal with fears, insecurities, anxiety, worries, and specific phobias. There are ways to support and guide you and your child, to improve coping and reduce fear. Therapies can include age appropriate ACT, CBT, EMDR, as well as mindfulness, relaxation, exposure, home exercises, and psychoeducation.
Have you noticed that your child is trying as hard as they can, but just keeps falling behind in school or other academic activities?
Does your child seem to have a gap between the way they pick things up generally, and the way they pick things up at school?
Do you think your child is capable of so much more than their school results reflect?
Does your child feel defeated at school?
There are many reasons why issues with learning may be impacting your child. Often those who are experiencing learning difficulties want to succeed, but feel (and believe) that they are unable to. Learning difficulties are also often associated with behavioural issues such as being disruptive at school, being the class clown, withdrawing, not attempting schoolwork or being disinterested in school. Learning difficulties may include ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia, amongst others.
Despite the stress or insecurities these difficulties may be placing on your child, there is hope. We conduct both cognitive and educational assessments, which can help you and the school to better understand the issues impacting your child. This can help to assess how your child is using their general cognitive capacity and capability in an educational context. A diagnosis of a learning difficulty or disability can shine clarity on the situation, which may then be managed through exercises or therapies.
If other challenges are emerging as part of having learning issues at school, therapy may assist. You and your child are not alone, and we congratulate you in taking the first step!
Does your child obsessively check or clean things?
Does your child's obsessions and/or compulsions take up at least an hour of their day?
Do they believe that something terrible will happen if they don't act out their compulsions?
Are these behaviours disrupting family or school activities and routines, or creating frequent arguments?
OCD is a disorder in which someone experiences obsessive, unwanted thoughts or urges that they can't get out of their head, and which may lead to compulsions: behaviours repeated over and over again, such as tapping, counting, self-injury, avoidance of a family member or friend, superstitious rituals, prayer, or repeatedly washing hands or skin, etc. These are often done either in an attempt to stop the obsessive thoughts from occurring, or to feel safe. Most children will not understand why they act this way and the compulsions will feel out of their control. A child with OCD tendencies can often insist on order and rules. This, in turn, can disrupt a range of activities between a child, their peers, and their home and school life. Sadly, for some this may exacerbate additional social issues such as bullying or exclusion.
OCD is challenging, but not hopeless. There are effective and evidence-based treatments that have been shown to work with OCD, primarily Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Other techniques may include mindfulness, relaxation, breathing exercises, home exercises, ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention), psychoeducation, along with individual and family education.
An OCD diagnosis will bring many things to light, including some sense of relief. Though helping a child cope with OCD, and watching your child go through obsessions and compulsions, can be a difficult journey, reaching out for help is the first step in assisting your child. Congratulations in taking that first step, don't be afraid to take the next!
Is your child struggling with organising their time and often turning in assignments or schoolwork late?
Do they often feel overwhelmed or like they don't have enough time in the day?
Do they find themselves running late often, without realising it?
Are they continuously procrastinating?
It is important that children learn organisation and time management skills to continuously develop, especially throughout school. This is an essential skill that they'll need later throughout their life. With modern distractions like TV, smartphones and tablets, video games and social media, an increase in procrastination and a lack of time management can result in distress or slipping grades. Learning disorders such as ADHD, dyslexia, and also Autism can heighten anxiety and procrastination around school work.
Struggling to stay organised and having poor time management is distressing and can have consequences on grades. Children and teens may not know how to break the cycle, or improve. Fortunately, there is hope and change is possible.
There are evidence-based treatments can enhance organisation and time management skills. Solutions may include developing new schedules, identifying the root of the issue, CBT, and anxiety and stress management. Previously undiagnosed learning or behavioural disorders may be an issue and if so, diagnosis could assist.
Are you a family where one of the primary caregivers has to be away from the family for regular short or sustained periods of time?
Do you notice pre-departure issues in your child (anxiety, questions about why, behavioural changes)?
Are you dealing with issues in a different way while only one parent is home?
Is it difficult for you to re-establish family norms on return?
In children, attachment disruption can occur when a caregiver is away for periods of time. For some children, this may present as challenges such as low self-esteem, neediness, lack of self-control, or difficulty with friendships. These changes can have an impact on life at school, at home, and their relationships with peers, family, and authorities like teachers.
There is hope, despite how far-fetched it may seem. There are effective and evidence-based treatments for dealing with adjustment and family dynamics involving a child's separation from caregivers. A lot can be done to support, guide, and assist you and your child in improving their ability to cope, and better adjust to transitions or temporary separation. Therapies can include age appropriate CBT, ACT, mindfulness, relaxation, home exercises, and psychoeducation. Family therapy is also a good way of dealing with situations as a group, rather than as individuals.
Is your child having difficulty with adjusting to the new arrangements following separation or divorce?
Is your child experiencing emotional, social, behavioural, and/or academic problems after a parental break-up?
Do your children feel like they are placed in the middle of the parents' dispute?
Are you thinking about getting a divorce and want to navigate a way to support your children?
Are you navigating your divorce well and want to "check in" to see how you can guide and support your children with this too?
A breakdown or divorce between parents is a stressful life-event in any family, particularly for young kids. While many families manage this well by focusing on the children and minimising the impact of adjusting to a new family life, separations are enormously challenging and stressful. Therefore, it's important to ensure relationships continue to be a key focus, even as the dynamics of the family are still changing.
Changes to family dynamics and relationships are a difficult time for everyone. In the case of affected children, there are evidence-based treatments to assist with adjustments and family situations post-separation. These are tough times, and it is important to reach out and get the support you and your family needs to cope with change, and adjust to the new realities.
Both individual and family therapy can be of assistance. Though the stress and grief of a separation and the worry about the impact on children is daunting, congratulations in taking the first step and reaching out for help! Don't be afraid to take the next.
Has your child lived through a traumatic historical event such as an earthquake or a car accident?
Has your child been subject to abuse from a caregiver, trusted friend, relative or someone else?
These intense traumas experienced in childhood can have a very significant and lasting effect, and each child will respond very differently to what has occurred. Children may experience a range of emotional, psychological and physical problems as a result of being harmed or undergoing a traumatic experience — and the impacts may not always be evident in their behaviour.
Recovering from trauma is not a hopeless or lonely journey. There are ways to assist and guide you and your child's recovery: improving their ability to cope. Depending on need, therapies for your child may include ACT, CBT, EMDR, and sessions of mindfulness, relaxation, home exercises, and psychoeducation — all undertaken in a safe and age appropriate way. In situations like this, family therapy can also be beneficial.
Does your child come home seemingly dejected, deflated, or defeated after school?
Does your child make friends easily, but often has something go wrong and so loses friends just as easily?
Does your child have difficulty in picking up the social cues, non-verbal language or "unwritten rules" that are crucial in making friends at school?
Does your child feel like they just don't fit in?
Kid with friendship issues can regularly experience conflict, which creates significant stress. This can lead to them craving acceptance from peer groups, and may often lead towards them having unhealthy relationships and/or behaviours. School can be a particularly difficult time for any kid, where cliques, exclusive groups and 'popular' students begin to form.
In situations like this, where your child may feel left out or be in the middle of a warring friendship conflict, it's important to remember that there is hope, and your child's feelings matter. These issues can lead to children feeling isolated and alone.
Your love and support are crucial, and so are developing effective ways to assist children in building their social and friendship skills. These can include assisting your child to understand some of their patterns, and learning new skills such as dealing with peer pressure and friendship selection, and improving their communication, conversations, assertiveness and reading body language skills. Assisting your child in feeling more confident with social interactions is important. There are fun and interactive ways of helping kids develop social and peer relationships, while employing a growth mindset.
Does your child seem anxious a lot of the time?
Does anxiety make your child feel unsafe at home, school, or during activities?
Children deserve to feel safe no matter where they are or what environment they are in. Whether at school, at home, or during other activities, overwhelming fear or anxiety may make them feel they are in danger or out of control.
Child safety and protection are paramount. Children need to be safe. Yet in certain situation, despite being safe, some children experience anxiety and fear, and are concerned danger exists even when it may not.
There are effective and evidence-based treatments for helping children who are experiencing anxiety to feel safer and more protected,. Therapies can include anxiety management, mindfulness, relaxation, ACT, CBT and EMDR. Family therapy can also be a good way of dealing with situations as a group, rather than as individuals.
Is your child refusing to go to school most or every day?
Do they seem more anxious or more down?
Are their grades slipping, or they're not paying attention in class?
Do these school refusals escalate into fights or potentially dangerous situations?
School refusal — when your child adamantly insists that they won't or cannot go to school — is difficult to manage. It can be frustrating and distressing for both the parent and child. When school becomes a serious and distressing experience for you or your child, it's okay to reach out for help.
School refusal can be frustrating for the parent, and upsetting for the child, and distressing on both parties. However, there is hope! Often, school refusal is caused by any number of underlying issues or learning disorders that may need to be assessed and treated. This can range from ADHD, ASD, learning disorders, bullying, self-esteem issues, a lack of social skills, to depression or anxiety.
A lot can be done to support and guide you and your child during these tough times. Evidence based therapies can focus on depression and anxiety management to enhance school engagement, address potential bullying, develop communication and social skills, assertiveness, self-esteem and self-confidence. Diagnoses of learning disorders may be something that comes to light. Dealing with situations as a group, rather than as individuals via Family Therapy or by joining a Secret Agents Society (SAS) group can also be beneficial.
Does your child often seem self-critical or continually beat themselves up?
Is your child comparing themselves negatively to others, or believe they are not as good as other kids?
Do they think and talk of the times they fail, rather than when they succeed?
Do they lack confidence or doubt they can do things well?
Kids with low self-esteem often feel unsure of themselves. As a result, they may not do as well as they could. Self-esteem issues, particularly with children or teenagers, are common, and can be very damaging to their self-worth, confidence, and mindset. Having low self-esteem can make a child/teenager feel worthless, ugly, unintelligent and unlovable, amongst other things. These issues can develop into depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, if left untreated.
Seeing your child battling with issues around self-esteem and self-confidence is distressing, but there is still hope. There are a number of effective, evidence-based treatments and therapies available for dealing with low self-esteem in children and teenagers. These can include fun and interactive exercises.
A lot can be done to support, guide and assist you and your child. This can include developing skills to tackle self-esteem issues and enhance self-confidence, including implementing social and communication skills training. Individual and or Family Therapy can be helpful.
Are you concerned about the sexual behaviours of your child?
Have you noticed any unusual behaviour that you feel is overly sexual?
Do you want to understand more about how to support your child in developing safe beliefs and behaviours around sex?
Are you concerned about how to discuss sex and sexuality with your child?
Adolescents explore their own sexuality, and in most cases this exploration is perfectly normal and has no negative consequences or issues of concern. However, if the issue seems to be getting out of hand and is not addressed, later functioning and relationships could be impacted. Serious situations such as sexual abuse can lead to hypersexual behaviours in children.
It is critical to ensure you child is safe from harm. Evidence-based treatments for dealing with unhelpful sexual behaviours in children can then assist.
Are you or your child coming to terms with their sexuality or gender identity?
Do you want to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community, and how your child fits into it?
Are you worried about what the implications of them being LGBTQIA+ are?
Do you want to know how you can support them?
Are you struggling to understand or acknowledge their sexuality?
Sexuality is a complex journey for any person - in particular children or teenagers - and at times can be confusing. The LGBTQIA+ community is a spectrum of sexuality, romantic and gender identities that aren't cisgender (the gender you were assigned at birth) and heterosexual, ranging from the following and more: lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), transgender (T), queer (Q), intersex (I), asexual (A), pansexual, aromantic, nonbinary or gender non-conforming, and more. these are the most common identities you may come across.
Choosing to seek support during this time is understandable. Whether you are struggling to provide the support your child is seeking, or your confused about what this journey means for them, it can be a challenging time for families. Things may feel different, but it's important to recognise that they are still your loved one. The only thing that has changed is that they've decided to share a very important, often vulnerable part of themselves with you.
LGBTQIA+ experiences (often generically referred to as the queer experience) do not need to be "fixed", "healed" or "cleansed away", it is a part of who they are, just as it is for heterosexual and cisgender people. There’s no right time or age to discovering sexuality — their romantic preferences develop over time. It can be challenging to feel you are different to the “norm”. Regardless of what challenges you or your child are facing, this can be a difficult and confusing time.
We are here to help support you and your family. Psychologists can help educate about the queer experience, support children exploring these issues, and assist in maintaining family relationships throughout. This may include family therapy and individual therapies as well as specific, evidence based options like strength-based approaches, stress management, mindfulness, and acceptance commitment, among others. Regardless of what approach you or your child want to take, we’re here to support you.
Does your child have difficulties with sleep?
Are they often wetting the bed, or scared of the dark?
Do you notice your child is overtired, or is bedtime a constant battle?
Are they playing video games, or using social media well into the night?
Lack of sleep in a developing mind and body may produce difficulties with mood, attention, focus, motivation, and concentration — particularly in the case of children and teens. Recurring thoughts, worries, or anxiety may negatively impact their sleep which may compound in other areas of their life. While this can be very worrying for parents, who may feel unsure about what to do, there are options going forward.
Don’t lose hope! There are effective treatments that deal with sleep problems and sleep deprivation in children and teens. These can be tailored to improve sleep patterns and prevent disruption. Sleep hygiene and setting routines are important. Fear, anxiety and stress that is impacting sleep can be addressed with a number of therapies.
These therapies may include ACT and CBT, as well as mindfulness, relaxation, exposure, home exercises and psychoeducation, So, while watching your child go through intense issues with sleep and exhaustion can be a frightening and stressful experience, congratulations in taking the first step!
Are you having difficulty getting your children to separate from specific apps, specifically social media?
Does asking them to stop cause conflict or misbehaviour?
Do you find yourself taking back your child's phone?
Do you believe they are spending too much time on social media?
Young people, particularly children and teenagers, live in a world today that is constantly connected — and this can come with a feeling that you're constantly visible, and by extension, judged or inadequate. Many feel inadequate – that they are addicted to social media, or that they don't contribute or engage enough. This can leave many children feeling stressed and unable to turn off the amplified sense of self-awareness that social media presents. It can also put pressure on parents to find the "right" way to manage their child's screen time and social media engagement.
Children can feel increasingly pressured to be connected and constantly active on social media due to FOMO (fear of missing out). However there are effective and evidence-based treatments for behaviours that becomes excessive, dysfunctional, or begins to dominate lives. Therapies may include age appropriate ACT, CBT and psychoeducation. Know that there is hope!
Does your child appear agitated, touchy, or are they displaying sudden changes in behaviour?
Does their mood suddenly swing?
Has their sleep patterns changed?
Has their ability to cope reduced?
Stress is part of our daily lives, and it is normal. Even children need a bit of stress to keep things going, and this can come from school, relationships, sleep or family dynamics. Such amount of mild stress is healthy for motivation. However, when stress becomes overwhelming, it may slow down their progress and have a negative impact on their life and wellbeing. It is important to recognise stressors that might be impacting the way they cope day-to-day.
High stress is highly uncomfortable and upsetting, but there are ways of learning to navigate stressors differently in the future. There are evidence-based treatments such as CBT and ACT which are helpful for stress management, as are planning, developing new schedules, goal setting and identifying the root of the issue. Mindfulness, relaxation and psychoeducation may also be useful in helping your child manage stress.
Is your child struggling to study effectively without becoming distracted?
Do they feel overwhelmed by the amount of study they have to do?
Are they continuously procrastinating?
Developing skills for studying is an important aspect for any child/teenager, as it will become necessary through their later years of study. The prospect of studying can be overwhelming for children and teenagers, and it is common to have the urge to procrastinate, particularly with modern distractions such as TV, smartphones and tablets, video games and social media. Learning disorders such as dyslexia, along with ADHD or ASD, can lead to study struggles and distress.
Developing organisational and study skills is essential. These are skills that may benefit your child for life. There is a lot that can be done to assist in the development of study skills. For instance, creating and putting study plans into use, setting goals and developing schedules, as well as considering how to better organise their time. Previously undiagnosed learning or behavioural disorders may also be brought to light. If so, therapies may assist.
Is your child experiencing difficulty with work, school, or home — such as repeated absences, suspension, and expulsion?
If you know your child is using, are they placing themselves in situations where it is physically dangerous, such as driving while impaired?
Are they experiencing legal problems or repercussions, such as arrests, for disorderly conduct that are substance-related?
Are they having persistent or recurring social or personal problems caused or worsened by substance abuse?
Do you notice that they use substances such as alcohol, drugs or tobacco as a crutch to 'numb' their mind or feelings?
Substance abuse is the harmful pattern of using substances — such as tobacco, alcohol, vaping (THC and nicotine), illicit or prescription drugs — leading to impairment or distress. This, with time, becomes an addiction. Substance abuse and problematic patterns of substance use among young people can lead to problems at school, and cause or aggravate physical and mental health-related issues, promote poor peer relationships, cause accidents, and place stress on the family.
Substance abuse matters are tough to overcome, and it can be incredibly difficult to witness someone you love, particularly your child, experience addiction. However, there is hope. There are evidence based therapies that can effectively treat substance abuse disorders. Peer support groups and group therapy sessions can also be useful.
This time will be difficult, but congratulations in taking the first step and looking for help! Don't be afraid to take the next step and reach out.
At Northside Psychology, we are here to support you and your children. This time will be difficult, but congratulations in taking the first step and looking for help! Don't be afraid to take the next step and reach out.
Has your child been involved in a traumatic situation?
Does your child often wake up with nightmares?
Does your child seem to be triggered by certain things?
Are they having difficulty telling you what is going on for them?
Children who have experienced trauma often have difficulty identifying, expressing, and managing emotions. For these children, reminders of the trauma may be everywhere in the environment, triggering powerful reactions. It may be difficult to calm them back down, as they are likely in severe distress. This might happen often.
It is difficult for a parent to witness traumatic reactions in their children after frightening or upsetting events. However, it is important to know that there is hope in navigating this difficult time.
There are evidenced based therapies that can assist. These can include age appropriate EMDR, CBT, ACT, and DBT, mindfulness, grounding, relaxation and exposure and psychoeducation. We would like to congratulate you in taking the first step of getting help! Don't be afraid to take the next step and reach out!
Do you often notice your loved one feeling lost or confused?
Does your loved one get frustrated easily or more often?
Have you noticed a shift in their behaviour, or discussions?
Noticing changes in your loved one's cognitive abilities can be a scary observation. It can leave you feeling concerned for their future, for your own, and for management strategies. It can also make you feel overwhelmed by the variety of information and support options available to you.
Whether your loved one is seeking a Neurological Assessments for dementia or has already completed one, it is important to have support as you explore these changes. Both their needs and yours as a carer are important.
We conduct Neuropsychological assessments in an encouraging and safe environment. This can be a good option, if you are concerned about the cognitive decline of a loved one.
Assessments can help to identify the impact of a dementia, therefore possibly providing carers with better insight into how to manage, care for, and support their loved one. This would include developing strategies and particular methods to alleviate the impact of these challenges and changes going forward. Congratulations in taking the first step in reaching out and getting help!
Has a loved one experienced a stroke?
Do you notice changes in their ability to do previously manageable tasks?
Does it feel like some changes have been harder to adapt to?
Do you feel confused about the changes that may have occurred?
After a stroke, a person may have significant physical, emotional, personal and cognitive changes. These might be confusing to their loved ones or carer, and adjusting to these changes may feel incredibly challenging. Understanding what has happened to their abilities and brain might feel overwhelming. It's normal to feel a sense of grief or loss due to the changes of personality or ability in your loved one. Many people may even feel resentment at suddenly becoming a carer.
Whether your loved one is seeking a Neurological Assessments following a stroke or has already completed one, it is important to have support as you explore these changes. Both their needs and yours as a carer are important.
We conduct Neuropsychological assessments in an encouraging and safe environment. This can be a good option, if you are concerned about the cognitive impact following a loved one's stroke.
Neurological Assessments can help to identify the impact of a stroke, therefore possibly providing carers with better insight into how to manage, care for, and support their loved one. This would include developing strategies and particular methods to alleviate the impact of these challenges and changes going forward. Congratulations in taking the first step in reaching out and getting help!
Has someone you love experienced a brain injury which has impacted their behaviour, thought patterns, or cognitive capacity?
Do you notice differences in their ability to work, interact, or relax?
Does the information you received about the injury not quite make sense?
Managing a traumatic brain injury can feel like wading through mud. You may feel confused about what do to or how you can support your loved one, and the experience may be confusing or disorienting. Perhaps you know exactly what to do, but the challenges feel bigger than you were prepared for.
It can be easier, and there is hope. By understanding the changes that have occurred as a result of the injury, you can develop new strategies and increase your understanding of what you are observing. Neuropsychological Assessments help you and your loved one understand and adapt to the changes which has occurred as a result of a Traumatic Brain Injury. It is important to have support as you explore these changes. Both their needs and yours as a carer are important.
Neurological Assessments can help to identify the impact of a Traumatic Brain Injury, therefore possibly providing carers with better insight into how to manage, care for, and support their loved one. This would include developing strategies and particular methods to alleviate the impact of these challenges and changes going forward. Congratulations in taking the first step in reaching out and getting help!
To find out more about support after a Traumatic Brain Injury, or to inquire about an assessment, please contact our team on 02 6255 3008.
