Connection, Communication and Compassion

One of the most meaningful parts of my day to day experience is working with children, youth and families. Three of the most helpful ways I’ve discovered in supporting children’s mental health are connection, communication and compassion. Whether you have kids or spend time interacting with kids these are three ways you can become a support for improving their mental health.

Connecting with kids through play, creative or physical activities goes a long way to build positive relationship, safety and trust. Communicating about feelings is one of the best ways to normalize and build awareness with kids of the various emotions they may be experiencing. Just like adults, kids experience big and challenging feelings too and one of the best ways to manage hard feelings is to name them. Simply by naming a feeling you can help tame the intensity of it. Once the feeling is named you can brainstorm with them how to tame it through talking about it, getting active through movement or using creative expression in music and art.

Compassion and empathy are key to building a sense of feeling seen and heard by another person which we all crave at any stage of life. Trying to understand what may be happening from the child's perspective by being curious about their thoughts, feelings and actions. Normalizing their experience and offering your love and support makes a big difference in a child feeling understood and seen by the adults in their world.

If this is something you would like support with or would like to learn more about, I would love to connect with you.

Here are some of the ways you can connect with me:

Phone: 289-274-9838

Email brittanyhillmca@gmail.com

Instagram:@brittanyhillcounselling