Therapy PODS

22/04/2026

The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique is a powerful mindfulness exercise that can be used to assist your child at times when they are experiencing high stress, anxiety, or emotional overwhelm.

In an excited voice say, "Oooh let's play a game... tell me":
5 things you can see 👀: Look around and name 5 things you can see around you.
4 things you can feel 🖐🏽: notice what you can feel in your body, or how your clothes feel, or the floor
3 things you can hear👂🏽: Listen for 3 different sounds
2 things you can smell👃🏽: Take a deep breath and notice 2 smells in the air
1 thing you can taste 😛: Take a sip of juice or water, or put a sweet into your mouth and tell me how it tastes and feels.

This simple technique is extremely effective in distracting the child's mind and helping them regulate their emotions.

13/04/2026

Integrated Learning Strategies shares some wonderful insights on why mastery of balance is so important for learning!

Why children with balance and coordination issues get lost in the system when trying to reach their academic potential.

08/04/2026

Helping children (and ourselves) learn healthy ways to cope with anger is essential for emotional development and strong relationships. When big feelings aren’t understood or managed, they often come out as meltdowns, withdrawal, or frustration. Teaching simple coping skills empowers children to recognise their emotions, feel safe expressing them, and learn that all feelings are okay—even the hard ones. Over time, these skills build resilience, self-control, and confidence, setting the foundation for better mental health and communication as they grow.
📷:

30/03/2026

Why is play an important part of speech therapy? What may look like “Just playing” is actually carefully planned to support communication, confidence and learning. Every game has purpose 🤸🏽‍♂️⭐️
📷: Linne Rossouw

23/03/2026

We live in an age where being on screens has become the norm. It is the way children connect, communicate, and interact. Refusing to allow your children to be on screens will cause more problems than solutions. Instead, be responsible with how you allow access to screens. Teach screen safety, ensure that you have all the necessary safety tools installed. Set boundaries around the use of devices, time limits, limited access in the week (for school work and minimal socializing or entertainment), and strict limits for weekend use. Also, police what apps they are using, games they are playing, conversations they are having. Be aware of what they are exposed to, do your research on every new game or app they have an interest in. Your job - as parents - is to protect them, they will thank you one day.

Credit:

16/03/2026

This little superhero is working on maintaining the function in his right injured hand while we also develop his tripod grip to help hold his pencil and scissor correctly, midline crossing skills, eye hand coordination, endurance, counting skills and task completion through play!
If you have concerns about your child’s fine motor development, contact an Occupational Therapist to assist.

09/03/2026

Seeing a therapist doesn’t mean something is “wrong” with you. 🌱

Many people seek therapy to gain clarity, process complex emotions, navigate difficult experiences, or learn healthier ways of coping with life’s challenges. It can also be a powerful space for reflection, growth, and developing a deeper understanding of yourself.

Seeking support is not a weakness — it’s a meaningful step toward personal growth and wellbeing. Let’s continue to break the stigma around mental health and normalize asking for help. 💬

03/03/2026

Press play and turn up the volume 🎤✨

Listening to your favourite songs and singing along isn’t just fun, it’s powerful learning. Music helps you improve pronunciation, followings directions, imitating words, expand vocabulary and understand sentence structure.slp

23/02/2026

Treat your children with EQUAL love and compassion.
Every child deserves the chance to; make mistakes, express their feelings, and explore their own interests without being made to feel a sense of responsibility or expectation because they are "the oldest".
No matter how old your eldest child is, they are not "responsible" for their siblings, you - the parent - are responsible for ALL your children's, physical, mental, and emotional needs.
MA.G

18/02/2026

We are honoured to have a long standing collaboration with Cannons Creek Independent School, continuously working closely with and supporting their learners, parents and teachers. Our clinical psychologist, Sumayyah Khan - Clinical Psychologist shared valuable insights on the topic of ‘Little hearts, big feelings - navigating emotional regulation in early childhood’.

Click here to read more: https://cannonscreek.co.za/cannons-hosts-emotional-regulation-talk/

On Wednesday evening, we were fortunate to welcome Clinical Psychologist Sumayyah Khan. She spoke to local ECD centres and parents on the topic of ‘Little hearts, big feelings - navigating emotional regulation in early childhood’. Khan opened her talk with explaining that children move from co-regulation to self-regulation, and they need support so that they will develop resilience and positive relationships.

She outlined common emotional challenges, sharing strategies and tools / activities to overcome any dysregulation. Importantly she noted that a dysregulated adult cannot regulate a dysregulated child - “be the thermostat, not the thermometer”. Khan stressed the importance of practicing the strategies consistently, realising that the beginning will be difficult.

It was a very worthwhile experience as those in attendance could ask for advice on specific scenarios, and could also relate to issues raised. Click here to read more: https://cannonscreek.co.za/cannons-hosts-emotional-regulation-talk/

10/02/2026

When children are melting down, we want to support them and understand what is the problem. However, saying “use your words” won’t often help because strong emotions temporarily shut down the parts of the brain needed for language. In that moment, children often can’t access words, even if they have them when calm. Instead it would be helpful to focus on regulating the child so that they can speak once calm. .slp

15/12/2025

It’s been a wonderful year working with so many wonderful families and children! Wishing you all a well deserved holiday break ✨