Mental Health & Wellbeing

‘For-now parents’ and ‘big feelings’: How Sesame Street talks about trauma

This longer read relates how Sesame Street is tackling tough issues that impact kids, such as foster care and family homelessness. Some are aware that the show has been starting to cover difficult real-world issues recently, but not many realise just how much research and consultation goes into making these topics kid-friendly while still conveying [...]

More research needed into ‘unpleasant’ meditation experiences

A recent study has found that over one quarter of regular practitioners of meditation have experienced unpleasant psychological experiences as a result, indicating a need for further research into the potential negative effects of meditation. The study, led by University College of London researchers and published in PLOS One, asked participants if they had experienced [...]

The power of perseverance

The more we persevere and sticks to life goals, the lower our risk of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression in the decades that follow, a new study suggests. In the study, which was published recently in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, researchers focused on three things in particular: goal persistence, self-mastery, and [...]

By |2021-03-03T16:40:44+11:00May 13th, 2019|Categories: Anxiety, Depression, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Five ways to build resilience in kids

By Rachelle Matheson What is resilience? It is the ability to ‘bounce back’ following a disappointment or adverse event. A child with good resilience generally has good social and emotional competencies for their age that help them name their emotions and their feelings, show good problem-solving capabilities and generally make good decisions. There have been [...]

Charting the difference between “toxic positivity” and support

Positivity is powerful, but it isn’t always the best way to help others, writes Sarah Schuster in Good Magazine. Her observations come in response to a “Toxic Positivity” graphic that has picked up steam on a number of popular social media platforms. The graphic was created by Whitney Hawkins Goodman, LMFT, owner of The Collaborative [...]

By |2019-04-29T18:00:55+10:00April 29th, 2019|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: |0 Comments

Student Wellbeing Program A Review

Generation Next ‘s first Student and Youth Wellbeing Program of 2019 was a huge success. The beautiful creative confines of the Casula Powerhouse Performing Arts Centre provided a backdrop for a day of wellbeing education. It wasn’t just the excellent students from local schools that got to participate, but also more than ten thousand teens [...]

The power of peer support: How sharing lived experience of mental illness offers ‘a different kind of hope’

"When you find other people going through it, it's like realising you belong on Earth once more." That's how Graham Panther, a mental health advocate and consultant, describes finding people who, like him, live with "big feelings". "It's feeling like you belong on Earth, even when you feel awful," Mr Panther said. In his early [...]

Triggering past trauma: how to take care of yourself if you’re affected by the Pell news

The conviction of Cardinal George Pell on childhood sexual abuse charges has dominated the media this week, rocked the Catholic Church and led to much public anger and confusion. But the most important consideration at this time must be with the survivors of clerical abuse and their families. While this conviction will provide a sense [...]

By |2019-03-04T19:11:04+11:00March 4th, 2019|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|0 Comments

Unwanted unacceptable thoughts: most people have them and we should talk about them

Imagine you’re lying in bed when a sack of cocaine falls from a plane, crashes through your roof and lands next to you. You call the police who come round and arrest you for possession. This would be ridiculous. You are not responsible for things that fall into your house. Now imagine you’re lying in [...]

By |2019-03-04T17:35:45+11:00March 4th, 2019|Categories: Mental Health & Wellbeing|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Wellbeing Education for Teens

“Participating in this event helped me see where my fellow peers sit in terms of different things that impact us in our teenage lives. Seeing the amount of people across the country who are thinking about the same things I am is encouraging and empowering” said a year 12 student from last year’s Generation Next [...]

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