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Supporting Children Through Anxiety – Insights from Modern Research and Te Ao Māori

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Parenting can be a journey full of joys and challenges, and one of the most common hurdles many parents face is understanding and supporting children with anxiety. In our recent HELP radio show, we discussed practical strategies rooted in both expert research and te ao Māori (the Māori worldview) to help families navigate childhood anxiety. Understanding Childhood Anxiety Childhood anxiety is not uncommon and can arise for various reasons, such as new social situations, academic pressure, or change in routine. Leading psychologists, like Dr. Anne Marie Albano, suggest that while it’s natural for parents to want to protect their children, finding a balance between support and independence is crucial. Over time, this balance can help children develop resilience, confidence, and the ability to handle stress more effectively. The Family’s Role in Building Resilience Research shows that children often model their parents’ emotional responses. Dr. Susan Bögels’ studies emphasize how mindf
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The Myth of Having It All: Redefining Success for Parents

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 In today’s fast-paced world, the pressure to achieve perfection as parents can feel overwhelming. We often hear the phrase "having it all," suggesting that parents can seamlessly juggle careers, family, and personal lives without breaking a sweat. However, this week's show on Help!, dismantled this myth, revealing the unrealistic expectations placed on parents, especially mothers, and the toll it can take on mental health. What Is the Myth of Having It All? The idea of “having it all” implies that one can succeed in every aspect of life simultaneously. For parents, this means excelling in their careers, being present for every milestone in their children’s lives, maintaining a perfect household, and finding time for personal fulfillment. Unfortunately, this notion creates a false ideal that is impossible to achieve and can lead to feelings of inadequacy and burnout. Societal Pressures and Expectations Society plays a significant role in perpetuating the myth of having it
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Take a break and be kind to yourself.

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It's a beautiful day, hubby and I are meeting in his lunch break so we can shop for little miss's birthday present, feeling really proud about how we have saved for her present and excited for the upcoming events.  Then I think about those events, there is this sick feeling in my stomach again, this feeling has been following me around all week.  Every morning I've been feeling nauseous, I've been exhausted, overwhelmed, emotional, heightened anxiety. I even googled 'Can I get pregnant after a vasectomy', thinking that maybe this is what is going on. (As I discovered, 4 years on from that momentous event in hubby's life, it is highly unlikely for me to be pregnant).  We are standing in the book isle and then it hits at full force, a panic attack, I'm struggling to breath, my stomach is turning, my thoughts a racing, I'm trying not to cry, barely able to tell my husband what is going on. Outwardly I look fine, internally there is a complete nuclear me
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Perinatal Mental Distress Discrimination and Prejudice Survey

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Have you ever experienced prejudice and discrimination while walking through perinatal mental distress? Have you seen it happen to others? Or have you experienced discrimination towards yourself in your own thinking which just kept pulling you down when it was already so hard to stand up? Then we would love to hear from you. We are currently gathering information around this issue from our local community. We would like to understand the common thoughts, behaviours and impacts upon individuals along with ideas about what we can do to help stop and change the way we as a community think, interact and support parents experiencing mental distress. Click this link below which will take you to our survey you can fill out, you can keep it completely anonymous and any information shared will be respected and kept private. Perinatal Mental Distress Survey Thank you for you support and help.  
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Remembering the 11 year old you

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I was scrolling through a news app this morning, and came across an article reviewing Meghan (Duchess of Sussex's) new podcast on Spotify -  Archetypes . I had seen this come up on my Spotify account when it was released last week and wondered if I would give time to listen to this new venture of hers.  Now, I'm on the fence about having an opinion of Meghan and Harry, I am a fan of the British Monarchy, not just the current family but the Royals of the past as I am a mad history lover, so I do tend to follow, to the best of my abilities, what the Royal family gets up to and who is connected to who. However, I find it hard to follow happenings through modern day media and news stories as it does come across one sided. Yes, they have their sources, but how do we as the readers really know that the source is actually telling the truth? Anyway, this is starting to guide my ponderings towards a much longer conversation that is not what todays thoughts are about. Why did I start dow
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Low Motivation Tip - Get Yourself Moving

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 A very simple thought for this week to help with low motivation, that is to get your body moving. When you are a parent struggling with depression or anxiety as well as the responsibilities of parent life, regular work outs and exercising can be overwhelming. Something I have learnt to help challenge low motivation with depression is to take smaller bites. Making the decision to exercise can be the first hurdle. This is really your first bite, challenging all the negative thoughts and insecurities that can hold you back from making a decision.  The next bite is getting someone else on board to help you. Simply talking to someone about wanting to do some exercise or simple movement helps to shift the thoughts in your mind that can hold you back, your person is able to encourage you and potentially give some helpful suggestions. Bringing other people in on the journey means you can share what some of the challenging thoughts are and allows them to help you process and move forward. Deci
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Low Motivation Tip - Review your nutrition.

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What we put into our bodies can impact the level of energy or motivation we have each day. The science and research in our world also shows the connection between food and our mental wellbeing as well as our physical wellbeing. As parents it can be easy to fall into unhealthy food habits whether it be emotional eating or not eating enough. There can be many influences towards these habits being created - mental distress/illness, sleep deprivation, busyness of the day, snacking on kids food, lack of planning, snacking on processed snack food are a few of these influences. When we as parents are depleted of the good nutrients we need to keep going we slip into low motivation, unhealthy cycles, bad habits or negative thinking. Todays tip - Stop and review.  Review your mind and your eating habits. Are there perceptions and thoughts that are unhealthy that need to be broken? Is there emotional eating happening? This is the time to reach out to someone in your community who can help you to
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