Developing Minds Child/Teen Counsellors, Therapists and Teachers

17/11/2025

To foster capacity building, many autistic adults require supports that actually allow them to do less, unlocking capacity that had been spread too thin.

17/11/2025

Happy Transgender Awareness Week! At Developing Minds, we want to show respect and care for every young person who comes to see us as they navigate their own journey of growing up — including those exploring questions about their gender and the gender spectrum. We want to create a safe, non-judgemental space for all young people - where they feel understood and supported. Everyone deserves that! If you are interested in a video about gender questioning young people - click on the link below for a video by Minus 18:

Welcome to Trans 101, our brand new series on Gender Diversity! In video one we dive into being Trans, Gender Identity, and what it's all about!https://trans...

16/11/2025

Being Brave: how and why to face fears: Game

Is your child avoiding something right now because of anxiety? We have a game where children have to choose acting brave or acting less brave behaviours to see what happens next. Some kids will avoid talking to certain people, going to events or certain places, participating in school activities, being by themselves or being in certain situations - because it makes them anxious. Unfortunately, the longer children avoid these things – the more likely it is their fear will grow.

We need to teach children how to “act in brave ways” (little by little) even though they feel nervous. This means explaining to children how they can “Act brave” and cope with feeling worried, without always staying entirely away from things which are scary.

If you would like more help in this area, on Calm Kid Central there is a video and activity sheet for children to explain why brave behaviour will help them, and how to do it. While you are there, you can also ask our panel of child psychologists questions about how to help your child with their avoidance.

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 👈

15/11/2025

14/11/2025

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...

13/11/2025

Behind clinic doors #21 - read below to learn more about what one of our psychologists might be doing today 👇👇
Helping a child understand that we all have a 'fairness checker' and it's not our fault when we feel angry or overwhelmed.

Who - children who struggle with feeling angry or overwhelmed more often than others - and who feel a sense of shame or guilt about this.
Why - when children feel ashamed or like they are 'bad' or 'naughty' for getting angry, their mental health worsens and their ability to make changes in how they act reduces.

What we might be doing - explaining that we all have a 'fairness checker' and humans are designed to be upset when something doesn't seem right or seems fair, and in fact our fairness checkers can help us notice when something isn't right. We might also get them to notice how other people (kids and adults) also get overwhelmed and angry. We might get them to explain their learnings about this topic to another trusted adult to help them remember it.

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

12/11/2025

Children/young people acting in ways which are (at least as perceived by adults) argumentative, aggressive, non-co-operative or deceitful has been labelled in many different ways by psychologists over the last 50 years - “externalizing behaviours”, behaviours of concern and challenging behaviours, to name a few.

Children/young people acting in ways which are (at least as perceived by adults) argumentative, aggressive, non-co-operative or deceitful has been labelled in many different ways by psychologists over the last 50 years - “externalizing behaviours”, behaviours of concern and challenging behaviour...

11/11/2025

Mentalizing is the ability to step outside of your worldview to see and understand that of another person. Use it to have more meaningful conversations.

10/11/2025

Despite praise being given a “bad rap” in some circles recently, there is decades of research which tells us that giving children positive feedback about their behaviour DOES make them more likely to act positively in an ongoing way. It’s important to do this carefully (for example, we should usually avoid overly praising children for things they already really like doing, that they don’t have direct control over, or in a way which makes them feel they are better than others). If you would like a resource to help parents/caregivers understand this better, on Calm Kid Pro, there is a video and handout about this topic. While you are there, you can get other resources, training and support from our child psychs in working with children (and their families) with emotional, social or behavioural challenges. Go to www.calmkidpro.com to learn more.

08/11/2025

Behind clinic doors #20 - read below to learn more about what one of our psychologists might be doing today 👇👇
Helping a teen reduce opportunities for rumination

Who - teens who often feel down and spend a lot of time thinking about negative aspects of their life and the world
Why - the more time teens spend 'ruminating' or going over negative thoughts about themselves/the world, the more likely it is they will feel depressed (and set up self perpetuating depressed brain systems)

What we might be doing: - explaining the benefits of cutting down opportunities for rumination, identifying times this might happen, getting teens to record rumination triggers during the week, planning activities which interfere with rumination and coming back to evaluate how these new activities went.

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

07/11/2025

Children and teens (like adults) often report thoughts, images and beliefs (internal experiences) which they find distressing (for example: “I’m horrible”; “people think I’m boring”; picturing themselves doing badly on a test).

Children and teens (like adults) often report thoughts, images and beliefs (internal experiences) which they find distressing (for example: “I’m horrible”; “people think I’m boring”; picturing themselves doing badly on a test). There are multiple strategies and approaches for supporting ...