It’s Children’s Mental Health Week, and this year’s theme is ‘My Voice Matters’. For 2024, the focus is on empowering children of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to create positive changes for their mental health and wellbeing. We want our children and young people to be equipped to say ‘My Voice Matters’, and to truly believe it.

Wellbeing is at the core of our service delivery, and we are committed to ensuring that our clients are happy as well as healthy. Our Support Workers don’t just provide clinical care- they work extremely hard to build an emotional relationship with the children & young people who they support. Support worker’s often see clients on a daily basis- sometimes, a child will spend as much time with their support worker as they do with their parents. We’re extremely proud that our clients trust our care and feel secure and comfortable enough to talk to us when there’s something on their mind.

As parents and carers, you play an important role in your child’s mental health. We would love for you to get involved in Children’s Mental Health Week and learn more about how you can support your child’s wellbeing!

Talking about mental health with your client/child doesn’t need to be an intimidating conversation- you could check in at bedtime, in the car, even when you’re eating lunch. This helps to normalise the topic and shows that they can open up to you at any time. When having these conversations, try to be open about your own feelings. This can help the child to be more open about theirs.

Here are some simple ways to start a discussion about mental health with your child this week:

When a child opens up to you about how they’re feeling, it’s important to show that you are hearing what they say. Try not to interrupt or lecture them and remember that you don’t always need to provide an answer or solution for the way that they feel. Sometimes, children don’t need you to fix their problems, they just need to know that you’re there for them.

Finally, remember that your child might not always want to discuss their mental health with you. Once you’ve laid the foundations, your child will know that they can come to you if they need to talk. Sometimes they might choose to talk to a friend or a sibling instead, and that’s okay. The important thing is that they’re comfortable enough to discuss their feelings with someone, no matter who that is.

We hope that you can use this resource to initiate a conversation about mental health this week, and help your child to understand that their voice matters!

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