Recommended picture books to support children

Picture books are a great way to support children through difficult times.

Children love being read to and enjoy cuddling up with mum, dad or a special adult to read their favourite stories.

If your child is struggling with something a picture book is a gentle way to open up the conversation about this topic and gives them a way to think and process their thoughts and feelings.

Here are a range of books I use in my therapy rooms:

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst- helps with separation anxiety

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22407.The_Invisible_String?ac=1&from_search=true

The Rainbow Fish byMarcus Pfister- helps understand friendship and sharing

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/766043.Rainbow_Fish_to_the_Rescue_?ac=1&from_search=true

The Fearsome, Frightening, Ferocious Box by Frances Watts & David Legge- supports feelings such as fear, being brave, things are not often as bad as we think.

Tidy by Emily Grvett- supports Obsessive, compulsive behaviours and letting go of anxieties

A Rat in a Stripy Sock by Frances Watts & David Francis- supports relisience

Little Elephants by Graeme Base- supports resilience

Top Dog by Rod Clement- helps understand parent pressures and stress

Nighty Night by Margaret Wild & Kerry Argent- supports children who are unique that is ok not to be perfect all the time, to cherish the fun of being a child.

Boris Saves the Show by Carrie Weston & Tim Warnes- supports being different and fostering your own talent.

The Pocket Dogs by Margaret Wild- supporting belonging and family.

The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland- supporting anger and friendship.

I hope these ideas help you support you children, enjoy cuddling up and reading these amazing books!

There are also great sites to explore if you would like to research further, one is

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4131.Best_Picture_Books_For_Therapy

If you feel your child may need further support please call me or book in an appointment.

How do you know when your child needs extra support?

Family and friends are an amazing support for our children. As parents we try our best to nurture, teach and care for them. Sometimes for all number of reason, often out of our control our children may become stuck, regress or become troubled.

So when do we make the decision that we have exhausted our parenting expertise and ask for help?

Giving your child some extra, pressure free time to give them the opportunity to share what is going on for them may help. Having quality time with mum, dad, grandparents or other special friends, reassuring them that they are ok and are good people can be enough.

Sometime talking to your child's school or pre- school teachers is another great avenue to gain valuable information.

What makes all of this so challenging is many children find expressing and verbalising their feelings and concerns very difficult or even out of their capability. 

Often life throws us unexpected challenges, trauma, change like separation, moving house, violence, bullying, death, Any of these events are difficult for adults, let alone children. 

Seeking the support of a neutral, supportive professional will provide the reassurance and care required for your child and your family to diffuse and reunite together. A professional can provide opportunities for your child to share their feelings and thoughts through non- obtrusive methods using play. Through play children can share their emotions, work though what is going on for them and explore alternative solutions. 

If you are concerned for your child and not sure what the next step is, seeking the help of a professional can be a relief and an enormous reassurance.

Good luck parents, you are all doing an amazing job!

Is being happy all the time realistic?

We want to feel happy, we want the people around us to feel happy, we want our children to be happy. But what if this is in fact making us unhappy!

The pressure to be happy can be stressful. It is unrealistic to think we can be happy all the time.  We have so many emotions and all of these emotions are ok.  It is so important to model and allow ourselves, each other and especially our children to feel each of these emotions. Whether it be sad, angry, frustrated, jealous, disappointed, happy.

Maybe our job as parents is not to try and stop our children feeling emotions but support them through these emotions and help them realise they are normal and that each of these emotions has a beginning, middle and an end. Once we start to accept feelings, they may not seem so scary.

Often the more we fight being sad or angry, the more intense that emotion becomes.

Maybe our goal as a parent or friend is to support a person's well being, what ever they may be for each person.  There is no point striving for happiness, if we do not even know what makes us happy!

The first step is to identify what helps us feel content in our own skin and try and work towards doing these things that do in fact make us feel good.