RESOURCES
All information contained on this website are of a general nature. Please note that these resources are not to be taken as any form of therapeutic or legal advice. Always consult with a clinician to explore individualised treatment options.
Taking Care of Yourself while Grieving
Grief is a natural emotion that is triggered by the loss, whether the loss be one of something previous or the loss of a loved one. There is no “right way” to grieve, no evidence based model and no way of predicting how long the period of grieving will or should last.
When your “grief” does not fade, and strong emotions like anger, depression or disbelief persist. You may find that your daily routine is impaired by intrusive thoughts of the lost one, or you have not yet been able to accept the loss yet. When this happens, it may be time to speak to a professional about your experience.
APS Charter for Clients of Psychologists
Please click here to view the APS charter for clients of psychologists
Supporting Your Young Person to Return to School
Recent times has shown a marked increase in school refusal behaviours in young people with parents reporting an increased need for support both in and out of school.
School refusal can take many forms including young people who appear to be feeling unwell or unhappy in the morning before schooll with a desire to stay home or the young person may have an emotional reaction at the idea of leaving for school in the morning. These can be challenging times as its not a one off incident and if left unaddressed this pattern can become notorious and challenging for all involved.
If you are caring for a young person who is refusing to go to school, early intervention can help prevent behaviours from becoming persistent habits. It can be helpful to speak to a clinician who can work with you, your young person and the school to create targetted return to school plans and supports to help your young person gradually and effective return to regular schooling.
Checking in with Yourself
We spend so much of our lives living outside of ourselves whether it be conversing with others at work, at home or even on social media. We spend our energies on earning a living, caring for our loved ones and engaging in day-to-day tasks of living, leaving very little energy to spend on conversations with ourselves.
Checking in with yourself can be an effective way to carving out time for ourselves to create a space for us to reflect on ourselves and assess our physical and emotional needs to allow us to make intention plans to address those needs.
We encourage you to check out the attached worksheet as a tool to help you reflect. It is important to keep in mind that this tool does not replace seeking professional help. Feel free to contact our clinic to make time to have a conversation with a clinician to explore, understand and address your needs.
What is Mindfulness
Mindfulness is essentially focused awareness of one's experience without judgment. Researchers theorize that engaging in mindfulness activities can help in reducing the experience of stress related symptoms including ruminating thoughts, boost working memory and focus as well as increasing cognitive flexibility.
When working with your clinician you are able to identify and customise the most appropriate mindfulness strategy for your specific situation that you can implement in your day to day life.
Negative Thought Challenging
At times it can feel like your head is full of negative thoughts that can make you feel down and maybe even hopeless or helpless. While it is not easy to block out the negative noise, there are steps that can be taken to turn things around.
In the event that you find that the negative thoughts to persist or your daily routine is impaired by intrusive negative thoughts, it may be time to speak to a professional about your experience.
A guide to help navigate Mental Health Treatment Plans
The Medicare system can be difficult to understand. We have made an attempt to create a graphi to help you understand the Mental Health Treatment Plan Process. We encourage you to further explore information about Mental Health Treatment Plans here on the Health Direct website.
Grounding Using your Senses
Most people have experienced anxiety at least once in thier lives. Public speaking, performance reviews, exams, new roles, and new job responsibilities are just some examples of situations that can cause even the calmest person to feel a little stressed. On the left is a commonly used grounding strategy that can be helpful during periods of anxiety or panic by helping to ground you in the present when your mind is bouncing around between various anxious thoughts.
Hormones and mental Health
Hormones and mental health have a direct link to each other both psotively and negatively. Hormones like cortisol which is often released when one is stressed. While a little bit of cortisol production (stress) is helpful, excessive amounts can lead to health complications by impeding other hormones like dopanine and seratonin (these hormones assist in regulating mood, sleep and digestion).
Here is a tip sheet to help ‘hijack happy hormones’ to help in combatting some symptoms you may be experiencing as a result of hormonal imbalence. We always reccomend that ou consult with a GP or a psychologist who can help you both understand what you feel and how to best treat it.