Parenting for Mental Health

Are you trying to help your child manage their emotions or build better relationships? 
Are you feeling tired or even hurt by your child’s emotional behaviours?
Are you wondering how things have come to this point, and why the parenting strategies you know haven’t worked?

Our process may be a little different to what you expect or are used to. We believe treating mental health issues relating to children and adolescents must involve their family or care system (including partners, child protection or other carers). Individual treatment of the young person is important (eg. medications, psychological or functional therapy) but is not enough to achieve recovery.

At Relational Minds, our first goal is to understand and support your family system, to facilitate your young person’s emotional development and recovery from mental illness.

The Parenting for Mental Health Process

Parenting is incredibly challenging. What if you already have good parenting skills but there may be other factors (eg. Biological or developmental factors) that have caused a mismatch in your parenting style and how your child experiences you? For example, maybe you already know how to parent a child who has developed ‘typically’, but your child requires a different style.

We can partner with you to help you and your child build stronger connections, allowing you to help them develop better emotional regulation skills and build closer relationships. It starts with us building trust with you and providing the mental health support for your family. You will have someone to contact, someone who will respond to you and discuss your family’s mental health needs.

The Parenting for Mental Health process involves the following phases:

  • Engagement
  • Assessment
  • Formulation
  • Diagnoses
  • Safety Planning
  • Goals and Recommendations
In the Discovery Phase we do a mental health assessment and together with you co-create a ‘Formulation’ which is an understanding of why your young person has presented in this way at this time. We will address possible diagnoses, set goals for treatment and together find ways to intervene as early as possible.

Parent:

  • Building Relationships
  • Foundations for Attachment

Child:

  • Emotional Expression and Literacy

The Understanding Phase is the next step where we use the Foundation for Attachment program to work through the challenges of parenting your child, learning skills to parent in a more therapeutic way and learn to look after yourself.

  • Family (Diyadic) Sessions
  • Applying skills
  • Monitoring
  • Mentoring
The Connection Phase is where you implement the different ways you will communicate with your child and as a family. Your clinician can help you monitor your progress along the way.  We will also help you to build connections and a support network with other parents who are experiencing similar challenges.
  • Summarise Learnings
  • Look forward with hope
  • Prevent Relapse
  • Close Episode
The Empower Phase is where we put all of your learnings together and look towards the future continuing to implement your skills. We will consider possible setbacks or pitfalls and how to avoid them.

 

We pride ourselves on working in partnership with you. This means we encourage you to communicate with us via our reception contact details or via email with your clinician. Your Family Clinician will be your point of contact, and they will check in and guide you through the process.

To proceed we will require some referral information, a GP referral will be required if you need to see our Psychiatrist. If you would like more information regarding our other services, please feel free to contact us.

Ready to make an appointment?

You can call or use webchat if you are feeling suicidal, are affected by suicide or are worried about someone who you think is considering suicide to get support and help. The web chat option does require you to register and create a password, so there are a few steps to this in case this may add to your overwhelm.
If you’re experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide:

Call Kids Help Line any time for any reason if you need help, especially if you are struggling with difficult emotions or are feeling distressed. They are there to talk to you and help. For anyone 25 or under.

The Lifeline phone line is available 24/7. Their text line is open midday to midnight and requires you to answer some pre-survey questions to register to use the service. Text: 0477 13 11 14 Webchat is available 7pm-midnight and can be anonymous, there are questions, but they are not mandatory to answer.

For all ages.

If you have difficulties relating to your gender or sexuality, the Q-life service may be able to help.

Q-Life is a free anonymous phone or webchat service run by Switchboard. The service is open 3pm – midnight every day. They do not offer ongoing counselling, rather they can offer support regarding any issues you are having related to gender or sexuality that you would like to discuss anonymously.

We are hiring! Please see our Careers page for currently open positions.