Developing Minds Child/Teen Counsellors, Therapists and Teachers

08/12/2025

*Please note that Calm Kid Centre Learning Libraries are accessible 24/7 around the Christmas and holiday season. The Calm Kid Centre Question Centre however will be closed from 5pm on the 19th of December until 9am Wed the 7th of Jan.*

Autonomy-supportive parenting (ASP) is a style of caregiving that emphasizes the nurturing of a child or young person’s ability to make their own choices, be self-reliant, and develop their own values and interests which guide their behaviours.

Click below to learn more 👇👇

Autonomy-supportive parenting (ASP) is a style of caregiving that emphasizes the nurturing of a child or young person’s ability to make their own choices, be self-reliant, and develop their own values and interests which guide their behaviours. The first reference to ‘psychological autonomy’ w...

07/12/2025

Girls with ADHD are often not diagnosed because they look different from boys with the disorder, and they often hide their symptoms. But they struggle in school, with friends and with self-esteem.

06/12/2025

Are you feeling ""stuck"" in your work with a child or teen? Or just want to make sure you are following best evidence based practice? Or perhaps you’d like support working with the most complex of kids/teens/families/difficult situations?

Our most experienced psychologists (who have AHPRA board supervisor status) offer supervision (by phone, zoom or face to face at our offices). This supervision is suitable for psychologists, school counsellors, social workers, youth workers, teachers and others who work professionally with children or teens with mental health concerns. For more information go to https://developingminds.net.au/therapy-supervision

05/12/2025

04/12/2025

Behind Developing Minds clinic doors
Read below to learn more about what one of our psychologists might be doing today 👇👇
Helping a child to use busy brain strategies when they are angry or overwhelmed.

Who - children who struggle with feeling angry or overwhelmed more often than others.
Why - one strategy children can use when they are feeling angry or overwhelmed is to take a break from the situation or trigger and to actively redirect their attention to another neutral or positive topic or activity until their physiological arousal reduces and they might feel more able to cope with their disappointment.

What we might be doing - explaining what happens to our brain when we are angry and how redirection of attention changes our brain systems. Creating posters and lists of possible "busy brain' activities to use quickly and easily when kids are feeling mad/overwhelmed. Practicing in session/acting out these strategies. Setting up home practice activities for children to try this at home.

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

03/12/2025

Emotion recognition can be thought of as the ability to identify and understand emotions in other people. This skill has been referred to by some researchers as ‘cognitive empathy’ (as contrasted with ‘affective’ empathy – with the latter being the ability ‘feel’ or relate to emotions experienced by others). We might also contrast ‘cognitive empathy’ or ‘emotion recognition’ with the concept of ‘emotional awareness’ (and there is variation in how all these terms are used) – which has often been used to refer to person’s ability to notice and understand their own emotions. Finally, both emotion recognition and emotional awareness are of course precursors to the more complex skills often referred to of emotion regulation - effectively managing and responding to emotions (in ourselves or others).

Click below to learn more 👇👇

Emotion recognition can be thought of as the ability to identify and understand emotions in other people.  The concept of ‘emotional awareness’ can be thought of a person’s ability to notice and understand their  own  emotions.  Both emotion recognition and emotio

02/12/2025

Gain insights into teenage su***de risk factors, the role of mental health, and the importance of support in preventing teen su***de.

01/12/2025

*Please note: Calm Kid Centre Learning Libraries are accessible 24/7 around the Christmas and holiday season. The Calm Kid Central Question Centre however will be closed from 5pm on the 19th of December until 9am Wed the 7th of Jan.*

Feeling calmer by relaxing my body: Game!

When children are feeling really stressed, worried, frustrated or upset – it’s almost impossible for them to listen to us, communicate or cope with what is happening around them. We have a game where children spin a wheel to choose relaxing their body strategies and practice alongside the character. If they can learn to calm their body however, then these “melt-downs” often happen less often – and for short periods of time.

There are a variety of ways to help children calm their bodies – mostly this involves 2 underlying mechanisms – slower breather and more relaxed muscles. If you’d like some help explaining this to your child, on Calm Kid Central we have a video and activity sheet for children to help them get better at calming their body.

While you are there, you can also ask our panel of child psychologists questions about how to help your child with their stress and worry. 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 👈

29/11/2025

Behind Developing Minds clinic doors.
What is something our Psych team might be doing today:
Helping a child to understand the importance of brave behaviour.

Who - kids who are struggling with high levels of anxiety and worry - and who have a tendency to avoid things which make them anxious.
Why - When children understand the benefits of acting brave (and reducing avoidance) they are more likely to start to use 'brave behaviour' strategies which then help them feel more confident.

What we might be doing: - explaining what happens in our brain when we avoid scary but important things, using cartoons, videos and drawings to explain the concept of brave behaviour, making a poster or a drawing to understand the good things which might happen to them when they get better at acting in brave ways.

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

28/11/2025

As mental health professionals working with children and young people, our primary focus is of course on the mental and emotional well-being of the young humans we have the privilege of supporting. However, anyone who has worked in child/adolescent mental health for more than 3 minutes knows that working with parents and caregivers of young people is also a critical part of our job. Yet this parent work has many challenges and difficulties – in fact it is sometimes the hardest aspect of what we do. It can therefore (understandably) be easy at times to deprioritise or delay this work –especially when parents themselves are finding it difficult to engage with us - and prioritise and focus on providing intervention solely to the child or young person instead.

As mental health professionals working with children and young people, our primary focus is of course on the mental and emotional well-being of the young humans we have the privilege of supporting.  However, anyone who has worked in child/adolescent mental health for more than 3 minutes kno

27/11/2025

We can work toward preventing bullying on many levels, including in the school, in the home, and all around us.