The Role of Diet in Memory and Mental Health

We all know the effects that a poor diet can have on our physical health.

In the long term, a diet high in fat and sugar can lead to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and a huge range of other physical ailments.

And in the short term, a poor diet lacking in nutrients can make us fatigued, lethargic and interrupt our ability to concentrate.

But doctors and neuropsychologists are increasingly discovering the impact that our diet has on our mental health, as well as our physical health.

And this impact has a significant affect on children and how they perform at school.

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How Therapy Can Rewire Your Brain

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an approach used by many psychologists to help their patients deal with a variety of mental and emotional challenges.

It’s a problem-focused, action-orientated talking therapy that has proven to be extremely beneficial in the treatment of depression and anxiety. 

And the principle that underlies the therapy is that if we can change the way we think, we can change the way we feel…

By training ourselves to identify negative, dysfunctional and destructive thoughts (a less intuitive task than you may think), we can then begin to work on replacing them with healthy ones. 

And the benefits of CBT have been championed by psychologists for decades.

But now, new research suggests that CBT can not only change our thought patterns, it can literally rewire our brains! 

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The Simple Reason that Meditation Works

You’ve likely noticed that there is something of a ‘meditation’ trend happening.

Prominent figures such as Oprah have even jumped on the bandwagon, having launched a meditation app collboratively with Deepak Chopra.

But this is one ‘fad’ that we can definitely get behind, and one that shouldn’t be going away any time soon.

Why?

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A New Way to Look at Anxiety

We all experience ‘anxiety’ in some form throughout our lives.

We can describe this anxiety as a feeling of worry or nervousness about something.

And for many people, these uncomfortable feelings are both fleeting and surmountable.

In many situations, it may even be more appropriate to ascribe these feelings to ‘stress’, rather than anxiety.

But for those who suffer more seriously or frequently from anxiety, or even from generalised anxiety disorder, it can be hard for those who don’t to relate.

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Helping Childhood Anxiety with a ‘Worry Box’

The prevalence of childhood anxiety has more than doubled in the last twenty years.

And while we all experience anxious feelings at times, certain children will suffer more greatly, with their anxieties interrupting the functioning of their daily lives.

This could mean that it affects their sleeping, their socialising, or their ability to concentrate at school.

We’ve discussed a number of techniques for dealing with childhood anxiety on the blog…

But a useful tool for very young kids dealing with anxiety can be introducing a ‘worry box’ into their daily routine.

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Practical Tips for Helping Your Child Through Exams

We’ve discussed a lot of issues surrounding the final years of high school on the blog over the years…

How to help your child survive the VCE, part 1, part 2 and part 3;

How to deal with the pressures of year 12 (by reducing them);

Motivation and success during VCE; and

How to help your child pick their final year electives.

But for many of you, you will now be in the grips of the climactic point of your child’s high school education: their final exams.

So Australia’s leading online mental health organisation for young people — ReachOut — has published some practical tips for parents, to help you help your child through this stressful period.

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Dealing with the Immense Pressures of VCE

We’ve talked about motivation and success when it comes to study and examinations.

But an increasingly important issue surrounding these ideas is the pressure that is put on our students…

By the education system, by parents, and by the students themselves.

Studies show that in Australia, we are bordering on an adolescent mental health epidemic.

Instances of anxiety and depression in young people are becoming increasingly and alarmingly common.

And a huge source of these conditions is stress from schooling.

The pressure is even taking a toll on parents, with a mental health organisation setting up extra counselling services for parents of high school students.

So how do we help our kids, and ourselves, to deal with the pressure?

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Evolutionary Psychology – A Way for Kids to Understand Their Anxiety

Most of us will understand the concepts of evolutionary biology:

The theory that all species have developed from earlier species, and have continuously adapted to the environment through a process of natural selection.

Evolution has been instrumental to developments in our understanding of science and medicine, but it has also led to developments in ‘life sciences’, such as psychology.

And although evolutionary psychology has its skeptics, it can provide a foundation for understanding why we think, feel and behave the way we do.

These explanations can be particularly useful in creating self-awareness and acceptance in children.

Especially when it comes to anxiety.

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Is Your Child Suffering, or are You?

An interesting article in The Age recently brought up concerns regarding parents who may be unnecessarily anxious about their children’s health.

The article cited a recent survey that showed that 75 per cent of pediatric specialists said many of their referrals could have been handled exclusively by the referring GP.

The relevant issue at hand here is that parents are increasingly seeking out specialist support for normal issues in childhood development…

Common issues such as bed-wetting, constipation, and even concerns about their children’s height.

This speaks to an increasing anxiety among parents, and their quest to ensure their child is developing ‘normally’.

Understandably, this kind of pattern of anxious parenting comes up not only in the physical development of the child, but also their emotional and psychological development.

So how can we know when we’re self- or over-diagnosing our children?

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The Psychology of Cleaning

‘Tidy House, Tidy Mind’.

A phrase we have most likely all considered at some point in our lives… usually when we’re in the middle of a distinctly un-tidy situation!

And in recent years, the topics of cleaning and de-cluttering have even featured in the NYT best-seller list…

Why?

Because tidying has been linked with both good and bad outcomes.

Read more…

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Why have 2,866* parents chosen us?

(*As of 24th July, 2019.)

  • Private and confidential: We are a private service so you will receive 100% independent and confidential advice.
  • Child and adolescent experts: We only work with school age children, teenagers and parents.
  • Education and school experts: We will help you navigate the school system to get the best possible results for your child.
  • Qualified and experienced: We only employ psychologists with a master degree or higher and experience working in schools.
  • Fast appointments: We don't keep a waiting list and see most new clients within 7 days.
  • Convenient location: We are in Middle Park with easy access from many parts of Melbourne and unrestricted street parking.
  • Trusted methods: We use approaches that are strongly supported by research evidence or clinical experience.
  • Lovely beachside office: You will love our quiet, modern and attractive office, with its beach and ocean-themed rooms.