Developing Minds Child/Teen Counsellors, Therapists and Teachers

23/10/2025

One of the joys and privileges for mental health professionals working with children and young people is meeting a new young person/family for the first time and having them share their “story” with us.

However, there are also significant challenges for us in this first meeting (or assessment/session). We need to:

Click on the article below to see...

One of the joys and privileges for mental health professionals working with children and young people is meeting a new young person/family for the first time and having them share their “story” with us. However, there are also significant challenges for us in this first meeting (or assessment/se...

22/10/2025

Yes, you want your kids to succeed. But you also want them to be grounded, emotionally intelligent humans.

21/10/2025

Do you know an 8-13 year old who needs some support and ideas to get calmer, more confident, more motivated and better able to cope with some tricky life situations?

"When Life Sucks for Kids: Ideas and tips for when you feel mad, worried or sad - or life gets kind of messy" - is a fun book with cartoons, ideas, and help for kids to feel calm, confident and cooperative. https://developingminds.net.au/when-life-sucks-for-kids

20/10/2025

19/10/2025

Behind clinic doors #16 - read below to learn more about what one of our psychologists might be doing today 👇👇
Helping a child to set up tiny 'brave behaviour' steps.

Who - kids who are struggling with high levels of anxiety and worry - and who have a tendency to avoid things which make them anxious.
Why - When children practice - in tiny ways - acting in brave ways, this can help them feel less anxious.
What we might be doing: making lists of scary situations or triggers, and finding the tiniest possible step towards these that a child might feel able to manage (eg drawing a picture, being in the situation for a very short period of time, imagining the situation) and then setting goals for tiny practices of these actions.

If you would like one of our child/adolescent psychologists to work with your young person to learn this skill, or would like other support with emotional, mental health or life challenges - please call us on 8357 1711 or email admin@developingminds.net.au

18/10/2025

Most professionals, or at least those trained in CBT approaches, are aware of the concept of exposure in treating children with anxiety. However, community studies suggest even those of us who are familiar with exposure, under-utilise it in practice. This article provides a quick review of the concepts, evidence and practical applications for using exposure when working with children with anxiety.

Most professionals, or at least those trained in CBT approaches, are aware of the concept of exposure in treating children with anxiety. However, community studies suggest even those of us who are familiar with exposure, under-utilise it in practice. This article provides a quick review of the conce

17/10/2025

The less threatening the physical approach and placement of the grown-up and the safer the place where the conversation takes place, the more likely the boy will feel open enough to at least hear the words being spoken.

16/10/2025

Feeling confident with mum and dad: Game!

Feeling anxious without Mum/Dad nearby is a very common fear for primary aged children. On CKC, we have a new game where children choose their own calm down strategies to help them feel more confident having big kid time. In fact, “separation anxiety disorder” (a severe form of feeling anxious when not with parents/caregivers) is the most common anxiety disorder diagnosed in children. Although it is normal for small children to need and want parents to with them, as they get older it is a good idea for us to help kids to cope with this anxiety and get more confident.

We can support children to feel more confident having this “big kid time” by talking about the benefits for them of having this time, teaching them small strategies to cope with feeling anxious, and slowly but surely putting them into positions in which they have small amounts of time apart (and showing them with our facial expressions, tone of voice and words) that we know they will be okay.

If your child struggles with this and you would like them to hear more about how to cope with feeling less anxious, on calmkidcentral.com there is a video and activity sheet for children about “Feeling Confident without Mum/Dad always there”. While you are there, you can also ask our panel of child psychologists questions about helping your child do this well.

NDIS families (Australia wide) can sometimes use their NDIS funding to access the program - otherwise you can access a month for free using code FIRSTMONTHFREE 👉Go to calmkidcentral.com to learn more 👈

14/10/2025

Can you help us find a parent to help us tell this story?

We’ve been contacted by a journalist interested in covering our Fix Medicare for Child Mental Health campaign. They’d like to speak with a parent of a child under 12 who has experienced the challenges of the current Medicare rules which limit ‘parent-only’ sessions with their child’s psychologist to just **two per year** (meaning that Medicare doesn’t fund or allow parent-directed therapy — even though it’s often the most effective way to improve a young child’s mental health). As you are no doubt aware, media attention for this issue is vital for us to try to get politicians to change Medicare rules) so we would be most appreciative of any help.

If you know a parent who:
-Has a child under 12, and...
-Has been affected by these limits of 2 only parent only sessions per year (i.e. they can't get enough help to know how to support their child, can't talk to their child's psychologist about sensitive topics without their child listening in).
-Would be willing to share their experience in a news story…

…we would love to hear from them - please get them email kirriliesmout@developingminds.net.au with the subject line Media Story.

And if you'd like to learn more about this campaign then you can go to:

Medicare's Better Access scheme allows Australian children with mental health challenges 10 rebateable mental health treatment sessions per calendar year when referred by their GP.  However, for all but 2 of these sessions, Medicare rules dictate that the child must be present in the room and recei...

13/10/2025

Behind clinic doors #15 - read below to learn more about what one of our psychologists might be doing today 👇👇
Helping a child to predict their 'overwhelm triggers'.

Who - kids who often get overwhelmed and frustrated and go from "1 to 100" with nothing in between.
Why - ideally children would notice rising levels of overwhelm but this is difficult. Knowing situational triggers is easier and can be really helpful for kids.

What we might be doing: - explaining the idea that knowing triggers in advance can help us (you can't be a good surfer unless you keep an eye on the waves coming toward you), getting kids (with caregivers help) to keep a record of what situations have led to them feeling frustrated or overwhelmed in the last week - and being able to describe 4 common triggers to us when they come back for the next session.

If you would like one of our child/adolescent psychologists to work with your young person to learn this skill, or would like other support with emotional, mental health or life challenges - please call us on 8357 1711 or email admin@developingminds.net.au

12/10/2025

The importance of parents and caregivers acting in warm, loving, caring and interested ways towards their children might seem obvious towards us as health/education professionals today, but it has only been in the last 50 or 60 years that these concepts have been discussed by researchers interested in child development in any depth.

This article examines the concepts of warm and responsive parenting and loving, “securely attached” child/parent relationships, how they have developed over time and the research behind with them.

The importance of parents and caregivers acting in warm, loving, caring and interested ways towards their children might seem obvious towards us as health/education professionals today, but it has only been in the last 50 or 60 years that these concepts have been discussed by researchers interested