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Bear in Mind - Play Therapy, Dublin (2025)

08/03/2023

When anxiety becomes unBEARable…

There are several things that can help..
Let’s start with building self esteem:

Self-esteem gives children confidence to:
* try new things and try again when things don’t go as planned
* do things that they might not enjoy or normally be good at
* face challenges rather than avoid them.
When children try new things, face challenges and bounce back, they learn and grow. This is why self-esteem can be an important part of child development.

One way to build self esteem, can be every evening, when tucking the child in or going through the nightly routine to talk to the child’s Teddy or favourite toy, and tell the Teddy / Toy how “brave”, “strong”, “happy” the child was today, and how you were so “proud”, “excited” “amazing” by the child’s behaviour. Telling the Teddy how great the child achievements are or how proud you are, lets the child hear this with out it being directed at them, and it can build confidence in the child. A simple trick but very effective.

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28/08/2022

Forest Bathing:
Relaxing your Mind, Body and Soul..

What is forest bathing? This Japanese practice is a process of relaxation; known in Japan as shinrin yoku. The simple method of being calm and quiet amongst the trees, observing nature around you whilst breathing deeply can help both adults and children de-stress and boost health and wellbeing in a natural way.

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04/07/2022

TV addiction:

Television for kids can quickly go from a fun way to spend time to an addiction. Finding other activities to do instead of watching TV helps engage your child with other things and practice useful skills, like reading, exercising, being creative, or playing a sport. Limiting television time and encouraging healthy TV habits when you do watch are also ways to help stop your child’s addiction to television.

1.Encourage your child to read a book instead of watching cartoons.

2.Write a story with your child instead of pressing the "on" button.

3. Stock up on art supplies and encourage your child to get creative.

4.Take your child on a day trip instead of the movies.

5.Go on a walk with your child instead of zoning out in front of the TV.

Show your child some options of places to go and have them pick out the place that interests them most.

If they refuse, take your child to run errands with you, like to the mall, grocery store, or gas station. Getting out of the house and doing something else will help cut back on TV time.

Play therapy can support children living with:
Academic difficulties
Challenges in self-concept and confidence
Trauma and adverse childhood experiences
Anxiety
Depression
Neglect
Grief

To book an appointment contact me:
[email protected]

Like & Follow for more advise and tips.

04/07/2022

TV addiction:

Television for kids can quickly go from a fun way to spend time to an addiction. Finding other activities to do instead of watching TV helps engage your child with other things and practice useful skills, like reading, exercising, being creative, or playing a sport. Limiting television time and encouraging healthy TV habits when you do watch are also ways to help stop your child’s addiction to television.

1.Encourage your child to read a book instead of watching cartoons.

2.Write a story with your child instead of pressing the "on" button.

3. Stock up on art supplies and encourage your child to get creative.

4.Take your child on a day trip instead of the movies.

5.Go on a walk with your child instead of zoning out in front of the TV.

Show your child some options of places to go and have them pick out the place that interests them most.

If they refuse, take your child to run errands with you, like to the mall, grocery store, or gas station. Getting out of the house and doing something else will help cut back on TV time.

Play therapy can support children living with:
Academic difficulties
Challenges in self-concept and confidence
Trauma and adverse childhood experiences
Anxiety
Depression
Neglect
Grief

To book an appointment contact me:
[email protected]

Like & Follow for more advise and tips.

02/07/2022

Play therapy can support children living with:
Academic difficulties
Challenges in self-concept and confidence
Trauma and adverse childhood experiences
Anxiety
Depression
Neglect
Grief

To book an appointment contact me:
[email protected]

Like & Follow for more advise and tips.

29/06/2022

Self Esteem:

Children who accept and love themselves feel more capable, confident, and are more likely to engage in healthy relationships.
Self-esteem is about valuing yourself and feeling worthy of love, care, and acceptance.

Feeling this way is essential for a child’s development. It allows them to securely navigate the world, stand up for themselves, and confidently try new things.

Since most children don’t have the vocabulary or understanding to express their difficulties, play therapy can be a very effective tool when trying to support a child’s healing process.

If you’re trying to help your child build confidence, play therapy activities can help

Play therapy uses play as a means for children to naturally express what may be troubling them.

Children, particularly very young ones, may not have the developmental resources to identify, understand, and communicate big emotions. Instead, they may tend to act out their challenges.

“The beauty of play therapy is it creates this avenue for kids to talk about some of their most challenging life experiences without actually having to talk about them,” Play therapists look at the language of children. The children play freely in a way to express their experiences.

Play therapy can support children living with:
Academic difficulties
Challenges in self-concept and confidence
Trauma and adverse childhood experiences
Anxiety
Depression
Neglect
Grief

To book an appointment contact me:
[email protected]

Like & Follow for more advise and tips.

23/06/2022

Help your child learn to Spread their wings and Fly…

Self-esteem is about valuing yourself and feeling worthy of love, care, and acceptance. Feeling this way is essential for a child’s development. It allows them to securely navigate the world, stand up for themselves, and confidently try new things.
Since most children don’t have the vocabulary or understanding to express their difficulties, play therapy can be an effective tool when trying to support a child’s healing process.
If you’re trying to help your child build confidence, play therapy activities can help.

The SandTray, Art & Pretend Play are all helpful in building confidence and resolving issues.

To book an appointment contact me:
[email protected]

Like & Follow for more advise and tips.

21/06/2022

Through play, therapists can help children learn more helpful behaviors, understand their emotions, and gain insight about resolving inner conflicts. Through play therapy children also learn self-control, self respect, to express their feelings, problem solving, communication skills, and to modify problem behaviors

For more contact me:
[email protected]

Like & Follow for more advise: or contact me for an appointment.

14/06/2022

“I just want my child to be happy”. Something every parent wants for their child. However, the truth is - it is not uncommon for children to experience times of sadness.

Ways to help:
* start by recognising the sadness.  Say “I’m sorry you are feeling sad at the moment”.

* If you can, look at them and sit with them for a minute.  Stop and notice how this feels to you.

* Try to be patient with the child.  Remember the child can’t “make themselves” be positive or happy

* Help the child to notice when they felt good or interested or absorbed in something.

* Keep working on increasing social connection – it is very difficult to reduce sadness in children if they are socially isolated and have no positive source of friendship.

* Help them make a list of “busy brain” activities so that when they are sad they do not withdraw or ruminate for long.

For more contact me:
[email protected]

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12/06/2022

Anger Management

Anger is a normal and useful emotion. It can tell children when things are not fair or right.
But anger can become a problem if a child's angry behaviour becomes out of control or aggressive.

It may not be obvious to you or your child why they're feeling angry. If that's the case, it's important to help them work out what might be causing their anger.

Team up with your child to help them deal with their anger. This way, you let your child know that the anger is the problem, not them.

With younger children, this can be fun and creative. Give anger a name and try drawing it – for example, anger can be a volcano that eventually explodes.
How you respond to anger can influence how your child responds to anger. Making it something you tackle together can help you both.

Tips to help them self regulate:

You could encourage your child to:
* count to 10
* walk away from the situation
* breathe slowly and deeply
* clench and unclench their fists to ease tension
* talk to a trusted person
* go to a private place to calm down

If you see the early signs of anger in your child, say so. This gives them the chance to try their strategies.

01/06/2022

Play Therapy has successfully managed to bring Separation Anxiety Disorder among children under control.

Here are some tips on how to manage it:

1. Practice your goodbyes. An extension on the previous tip, doing a rehearsal can be a clever way of helping children practice for the real drop off. ...
2. Create a routine. ...
3. Parents should always say goodbye. ...
4. Don't drag it out. ...
5. Leave a special token. ...

18/10/2021

The Many Colours of Me:

It is normal to experience different emotions on different days and even on the same day, which sometimes makes it hard to understand and express yourself. For children it’s hard to express themselves and understand their emotions. And this can cause angry outbursts or crying to get attention. Play Therapy can help children to process their emotions and help them through difficult times.

30/07/2021

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
is a condition that causes children to have unwanted thoughts, feelings, and / or fears. Which are called or become obsessions, and these can cause a child to develop anxiety or feel anxious. To relieve these obsessions and anxiety, OCD leads a child to do behaviors called compulsions (also called rituals).

Children don't generally talk about their fears and the behaviors OCD causes. They may feel embarrassed or confused about their fear and keep it to themselves. They often try to hide rituals they do. They may worry that others will tease them about their fears and rituals.

Children with OCD feel unable to stop focusing on their obsessions. They feel like they have to do the rituals to guard against bad things they worry about happening. For some children, doing a ritual is the only way they feel "everything's OK."

* Make sure that parents and caregivers take a consistent approach in helping a child manage their OCD.
* Accommodation and enabling OCD reinforce the disorder rather than weaken it.
* Rewards and brief praise provide important incentives for children to work through their OCD.
* Do not model or encourage OCD behaviours in your child.
* If you have OCD symptoms, seek your own treatment and be open with your child about it.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can be a disturbingly distressing mental disorder for any sufferer, but especially for a child who may not know why they feel the way they feel or think the way they think. However, there are multiple therapy resources for children available to parents and therapists alike. Types of therapy games and child play therapy toys may help to assist a child with OCD express themselves. After all, children use play to communicate up until the age of 12.

30/07/2021

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
is a condition that causes children to have unwanted thoughts, feelings, and / or fears. Which are called or become obsessions, and these can cause a child to develop anxiety or feel anxious. To relieve these obsessions and anxiety, OCD leads a child to do behaviors called compulsions (also called rituals).

Children don't generally talk about their fears and the behaviors OCD causes. They may feel embarrassed or confused about their fear and keep it to themselves. They often try to hide rituals they do. They may worry that others will tease them about their fears and rituals.

Children with OCD feel unable to stop focusing on their obsessions. They feel like they have to do the rituals to guard against bad things they worry about happening. For some children, doing a ritual is the only way they feel "everything's OK."

* Make sure that parents and caregivers take a consistent approach in helping a child manage their OCD.
* Accommodation and enabling OCD reinforce the disorder rather than weaken it.
* Rewards and brief praise provide important incentives for children to work through their OCD.
* Do not model or encourage OCD behaviours in your child.
* If you have OCD symptoms, seek your own treatment and be open with your child about it.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can be a disturbingly distressing mental disorder for any sufferer, but especially for a child who may not know why they feel the way they feel or think the way they think. However, there are multiple therapy resources for children available to parents and therapists alike. Types of therapy games and child play therapy toys may help to assist a child with OCD express themselves. After all, children use play to communicate up until the age of 12.

11/07/2021

Shyness : The Vicious Cycle

Many children are shy, and it is easy for them to get trapped in a vicious cycle that keeps them from connecting with others: Feeling uncomfortable in social settings, means they avoid interacting with their peers. In turn this leads to less practice talking and playing with other kids, so they have less opportunity to develop social skills—including having conversations, resolving arguments, taking turns, or figuring out fun things to do together. Then the lack of social skill further contributes to them feeling uncomfortable and wanting to avoid social situations. And so a vicious circle continues. Play Therapy helps shy children is a safe environment explore their anxieties and process their emotions and build confidence in social situations.

Helping Shy Kids Connect

Tips:

Follow your child’s interests: Kids make friends by doing fun things together.

Teach and practice social scripts:

Focus on one-on-one interaction:

Help your child be on the lookout for kind behavior from other kids—this could be a sign of a beginning friendship!

Talking about feelings helps kids label and understand inner experiences. Mentally putting themselves in other people’s shoes can guide kids in how to get along.

Be patient: It can take time for your child to feel more confident..

14/06/2021

Schools out for Summer..
Schools are winding down for summer, and this can be a stressful time for all.
Parents are wondering how they’ll keep everyone busy.
Kids are missing their friends and perhaps all the extra supports they were getting.
And although it’s generally a time to wind down and have family time, this may not always be as easy as it sounds.
When you find yourself or those around you getting a little fired up.. try this grounding exercise:

* The first step is to look around the room and name five things that you can see around you. For instance, a painting on the wall or a car. Think about how that thing looks to you or what is it that you like or don't like about it.

* 2.The second step is to focus on four things that you can feel. Suppose that you notice how the wind is blowing through your hair or how the sun feels on your skin. It can be helpful to say these things out loud, such as 'I can feel the couch that I am sitting on"

* 3.The third step is to name three things that you can hear around you. For example, you may become aware of the traffic in the background or some birds chirping in a nearby tree.

* 4.The fourth step is to notice two things that you can smell around you right now. To illustrate, you may notice the smell of grass or perhaps the smell of perfume wafting around. If you can't smell anything around you, then it can be helpful to name two or three smells that you like such as fresh baked bread or a flower.

* 5.The fifth step is to focus on one thing that you can taste. If you can't taste anything, then instead you can choose to name a taste that you like.

04/05/2021

Detox from the Digital Monster.

So much of our lives are spent online. This is where we communicate with other people, share information about ourselves, learn more about others, and build connections. More and more of our day-to-day lives and interactions have become dependent on technology, and we have now reached a stage where it’s hard to ever imagine our lives without it.

However, in many ways we can become too dependent on technology. We might spend more time on our phones, tablets or computers than we even realise, and often the things we’re looking at online can make us feel bad about ourselves.

Taking a break every now and then to detox from the digital world and reduce screen time can be great for our mental health.

Five Digital Detox Tips
You can use many strategies to take a break from screen time. Different methods work for different people because of our unique lifestyles and personalities. Try these five ways to do a digital detoxification:

1. Set time boundaries: Schedule technology-free hours every day, stay away from your phone during meals or add technology-free activities to your schedule like classes.
2. Use your phone with purpose: When you want to use your phone, consider the reason why. If it involves negative coping behaviors like avoidance of an activity, think about how you can better handle that feeling.
3. Set physical boundaries: If you have trouble putting down your phone, try storing it in another room to discourage yourself from using it.
4. Enjoy more paper media: Try out non-digital media like books, newspapers and comics. You can also pick up a pencil and paper to write or draw.
5. Take advantage of your phone’s apps and features: Your phone’s features can help you control your overall technology use. For example, you can turn off notifications for certain apps or turn off your phone entirely for a while.

07/01/2021

Sometimes just taking a few deep breaths can give you the time to gather your thoughts and reconnect with your body. And sometimes things might actually be brighter..

Bear in Mind - Play Therapy

08/03/2023

28/08/2022

04/07/2022

04/07/2022

02/07/2022

29/06/2022

23/06/2022

21/06/2022

14/06/2022

12/06/2022

01/06/2022

18/10/2021

30/07/2021

30/07/2021

11/07/2021

14/06/2021

04/05/2021

07/01/2021

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