Life Skills for Kids

19/06/2025

After a short break, Life Skills for Kids is returning for Term 4, 2025. This program helps children develop emotional resilience, confidence, and social skills, important tools for school and everyday life. ⭐️

Bookings are now open for Term 4. To receive an online application form, please send your child’s name to admin@lifeskillsforkids.net.au

05/05/2025

Support for Overwhelmed Parents.

Parenting can be both incredibly rewarding and incredibly tough. You deserve support, too.

Many parents come to Life Skills for Kids seeking strategies to help their child. But what often gets missed is your emotional load, your stress, guilt, and fatigue.
I offer individual therapy for parents and carers who want more than strategies. A space that is compassionate, neuroaffirming, PDA aware and attuned to you.

· For parents who want support to manage overwhelm, family dynamics and reconnect with their own needs.
· For those who feel stuck, burnt out, or unseen.
· For parents who want support to manage overwhelm, family dynamics, and reconnect with their own needs.

Medicare and private rebates available. In person and telehealth options.

Learn more: francoiseballantyne.com.au & lifeskillsforkids.net.au

Francoise Ballantyne, Clinical Psychologist and founder of Life Skills for Kids.

11/02/2025

Update about Life Skills for Kids Programs

Since 2002, we have been delivering Life Skills for Kids programs, driven by a deep commitment to supporting children’s social and emotional well-being. It has been an honour and privilege to work with over 1,000 children and their families, helping them build confidence, resilience, and emotional skills.

In 2024, we made the difficult decision to pause our programs to create space for exploring more sustainable ways to continue providing high-quality support.

In the meantime, Francoise will be focusing on her work in the Women’s Health space, supporting women through life transitions, chronic illness, and emotional well-being. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/counselling/francoise-ballantyne-subiaco-wa/1450945

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported us on this journey.

This is not goodbye, just a new chapter. Stay connected as we explore what’s next!

10/02/2025

*Life Skills for Kids Update*

30/04/2024

Last Places - Term 2 - Social & Emotional Skills - https://mailchi.mp/e17da6c04c07/appointment-bookings-now-open-term-1-social-emotional-skills-16531189

29/04/2024

We have had 2 spaces become available for our Term 2 programs.

21/03/2024

Appointment Bookings Now Open - Term 2 - Social & Emotional Skills - https://mailchi.mp/3bd2e0e4ef6a/appointment-bookings-now-open-term-1-social-emotional-skills-16491466

20/03/2024

Some great tips from Karen Young at Hey Sigmund.

I often go into schools to talk to kids and teens about anxiety and big feelings.

I always ask, ‘Who’s tried breathing through big feels and thinks it’s a load of rubbish?’ Most of them put their hand up. I put my hand up too, ‘Me too,’ I tell them, ‘I used to think the same as you. But now I know why it didn’t work, and what I needed to do to give me this powerful tool (and it’s so powerful!) that can calm anxiety, anger - all big feelings.’

The thing is though, all powertools need a little instruction and practice to use them well. Breathing is no different. Even though we’ve been breathing since we were born, we haven’t been strong breathing through big feelings.

When the ‘feeling brain’ is upset, it drives short shallow breathing. This is instinctive. In the same ways we have to teach our bodies how to walk, ride a bike, talk, we also have to teach our brains how to breathe during big feelings. We do this by practising slow, strong breathing when we’re calm.

We also have to make the ‘why’ clear. I talk about the ‘why’ for strong breathing in Hey Warrior, Dear You Love From Your Brain, and Ups and Downs. Our kids are hungry for the science, and they deserve the information that will make this all make sense. Breathing is like a lullaby for the amygdala - but only when it’s practised lots during calm.♥️

05/02/2024

14/01/2024

Is your child feeling nervous about starting high school this term? Would you like to support them with this important transition with skills and strategies to manage anxious feelings and helping them with their relationships skills to form connections with new peers? Further detailshttps://lifeskillsforkids.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Transition-to-high-school-workshop-information-sheet-for-parents.pdf

09/01/2024

Some great advice from Karen Young on how to support our kids when big feelings lead to out of control behaviours.

When their behaviour is out of control, it’s ‘out of their control’. We need to shift focus away from what we need them to do (manage their behaviour), and on to what we can do to keep everyone safe and bring the situation back to calm.

We all do things or say things sometimes that we probably wouldn’t do or say if we felt calmer, more seen, more heard, more regulated, less stressed, more resources. Kids too.

This isn’t because we’re awful, but because we don’t the emotional or physiological resources we need in the moment, or because the demands are too big.

This doesn’t make the behaviour okay. Part of growing up is handling big feelings and situations in ways that don’t cause breakage. This will take time though.

Big behaviour always has a valid need behind it. But, like us, our children won’t always have the skills or resources to meet those needs in positive ways.

When we focus on their behaviour, we’re putting them in charge of leading themselves (or the room) out of the situation. They can’t, so we need to take the lead to bring their nervous systems back to calm and felt safety.

Rather than focusing on what we want them to do (which they can’t control and neither can we) we need to focus on what we can control - our behaviour, our capacity to bring them back to calm and felt safety, our capacity to lead, guide, teach (which can only be done when they are calm).

The key is to recognise that this is not a bad child, but a child whose nervous system isn’t feeling ‘safe’ and calm right now. Everything they are doing is to bring themselves back to regulated - the shouting to be heard, the defiance to assert independence, the tantrum because they aren’t ready to stop playing - all valid needs, and unskilled attempts to meet them.

The skill will come over many years of co-regulation and conversation. Co-regulation builds the neural pathways for self-regulation. The conversation opens up options and choices they can take - eventually.

None of this is about permissive parenting. Absolutely not. It’s about steering the situation through the storm, and waiting until you’re on solid, safe ground to teach, and talk about different choices and repair.♥️

21/12/2023

As 2023 comes to a close, we would like share warm wishes to all our families and referrers. With each year that passes we are so grateful to have the opportunity to support young people navigate their big feelings and the challenges life brings. We look forward to supporting more families in 2024. Francoise & Diane x