ABC Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy and Play Therapy Consultancy

29/10/2022

I could add to this the importance of loving your child when they are feeling shame. Shame is such a self defeating emotion, but also one that invites self- compassion to the healing table. To arrive at that place of readiness to extend compassion to ourselves, we have to feel it from others first.

08/12/2020

Christmas is approaching and it is a wonderful time to really enjoy your child or children, to allow yourself get childlike and spend some time to connect with them. Here is another video which I made for the Healthy Ireland at your Library Video series , earlier in the year. Simple and inexpensive materials, most children derive great enjoyment from the activity demonstrated. Give it a go and see how it unfolds for you. Feel free to share your experience in the comment box. Have fun.

01/12/2020

This time last year I finished up my work in Ballina. My Tuesday travels over those 6 years enriched my life . Sharing a healing journey with my clients, fostering connection and supporting their fantastic parents and the warm and welcoming staff at Ballina FRC all touched me in a significant way. Best wishes to you all. Miss you.

Well we said goodbye to this lovely lady Karen Stewart, Play Therapist! Karen has worked in our centre for the 6 years, she has helped many children through tough times. Thank you Karen for all your hard work. It was pleasure knowing you and working with you. Don't be a stranger!😘

16/08/2020

A fairytale for the grown-ups.

31/07/2020

This may be of great use to some of you parents who are worried about your children going back to school.

Back to school time is fast approaching. This year the return to school will be bigger than ever! Children will have been out of the school environment for almost 6 months, plus they are returning to some changes.

Transitions and change can bring big feelings, playful preparation can really help children manage and cope with transitions and big feelings.

My own son is starting Junior Infants this year, and my daughter is returning to first class. I have started playful preparations with them. Today in my Instagram stories I shared a personalised story I have made to support my son as he prepares to start primary school. Personalised stories are a great tool for supporting children who are starting, or indeed returning, to school. In my stories today I spoke about the different parts I included in my son’s story. I included photos of him, his school, his teacher and his classroom. I have addressed some of the big feelings children can experience on the lead up to starting/returning to school, and of course identified resources to help manage these feelings. The importance of using magic gel is included in the story as is some simple information on the new classroom “pods”! I have kept it simple, positive, developmentally appropriate and focused on empowerment not overwhelm! Pop over to my Instagram page have a listen and see how I included the information. You can tweak it and tailor it to your own children. It really is a great way of supporting them with the transition back to/or into school.

P.S Big thanks to Bob for modelling the school uniform. Wearing uniforms can be hard for some children. They can be uncomfortable. It is good to take time to become comfortable with them in advance, play always helps!

22/06/2020

17/06/2020

This picture encapsulates for me the importance of messy play and the need for children to feel the earth, soil, stones and the natural materials in our world, dirt and all. Let common sense come back and the awareness that natural immunity has happened for millenia due to being exposed to multitudes of bacteria and viruses. I was appalled to learn that some beaches in Spain had their sand sprayed with bleach during the Covid 19 lockdown. I think the bleach would be more harmful than whatever it was the authorities thought was risky. Let's not fall int the trap of overdoing the 'antibacterial' wiping of everything. Let's not get too sterile.
Let us try to shift the balance a bit to the Natural Way of things.

Dr. Jack Gilbert wants to make our hospitals dirty. His idea runs counter to hundreds of years of scientific practice. Since a surgeon named Joseph Lister became the first to use antiseptic techniq…

27/05/2020

Really felt to share this. I use this book with children in my play therapy practice and have often read it with parents present. I love it for it's warm sentiment and support to build a child's coping when struggling with insecurity and seperation anxiety.

With half a million copies sold, this accessible, bestselling picture book phenomenon about the unbreakable connections between loved ones has healed a gener...

01/04/2020

I'm mindful that this 'lockdown' time can be very stressful for some parents as they find themselves parenting 24/7, with no breaks from the children, and also now being expected to do home schooling also. Most important is your own self care. Doing whatever you can do to keep yourself calm and regulated is so important. Are you getting some time for you?These times are challenging, worrying and uncertain. The children will be feeling it too. To be available in supporting our children, if they are worried or anxious, it's so important that we are in a good place ourselves. The air hostesses will say "Please put your own oxygen mask on before taking care of your child's" . If you would like to avail of some parent support at this time please send me a private message.

25/03/2020

The 'Better Ways to Connect' workshop will have to wait now until the restrictions on movement and social activity due to COVID-19 are lifted. But I believe that this time when we are forced to be together in our homes with our families, can indeed provide great opportunity for connection. We can use this time to do wonderful fun filled family activity. Baking with the children, doing art activities and playing board games as a family all provide for meaningful shared activity and engagement. Simple activities with balloons, bubbles and balls are cheap and yield so much delight and fun. A relaxed disposition, with a bit of enthusiasm for playfulness is all that is needed. Children can greatly benefit from this time having their parents at home more, without the stress of running here and there, juggling work with childcare etc. Of course, I do acknowledge it is a stressful time with so much fear and unknowns, lowered income for many and the lack of routine. But we need to strive to seek and harness the positive aspects where we can.

06/03/2020

04/03/2020

04/03/2020

A few minutes long video footage from the presentation 'Playing for Health' which took place in Boyle Library on February 27th, 2020.
Check my upcoming post about Parent Support Workshop to be held in Boyle on 28th March.
https://www.facebook.com/events/650646179097682/

04/03/2020

Thank you to Lorraine Keane from Roscommon Library and Matthew from Boyle library for their smooth organising. A big thank you also to Anne Marie Murphy from Health Promotion for her input at the inception of the idea to include the topic of play as part of the Healthy Ireland Initiative this year. Well done to all the parents who attended.

04/03/2020

A successful event with great engagement from people who came. Thank you to Lorraine Keane from Roscommon Library and Matthew from Boyle library for their smooth organising. A big thank you also to Anne Marie Murphy from Health Promotion for her input at the inception of the idea to include the topic of play as part of the Healthy Ireland Initiative this year. Well done to all the parents who attended.

at your local Library
Roscommon County Council