Helping little people deal with big feelings | Mildura Intimate Boudoir Photography

Helping little people deal with big feelings | Mildura Intimate Boudoir Photography

​Recently, I was chatting to my sister, who works in the mental health field, about some big emotions my seven year old was experiencing.

During the conversation she happened to mention Kids Helpline - a service I had definitely heard of before, but to be honest, thought things had to be pretty extreme to contact.

Appropriate local services can have a lengthy wait for appointments, and if you are like me, you’d like to see your little one’s mind put at ease sooner rather than later.

In our case, Kids Helpline certainly hasn’t replaced these services, but it is a good go to in the interim.

Chatting to other local mums since, it seems to be that when big things are troubling little minds, Kids Helpline really is an under used and untapped resource.

Kids Helpline was founded in 1991 and on the first day alone answered 3200 calls. By the end of that year, nine months later, their counsellors had taken 90,000 calls.

In 2018, after 27 years of service, eight million calls had been made to Kids Helpline, well and truly establishing its need within the country.
​

So what can Kids Helpline assist with?

Plenty of things. 

But first let’s look into what Kids Helpline is and who it can help.

In Australia, Kids Helpline is the only free, confidential and private counselling service available 24/7 either online or by phone.

It assists those aged five to 25 years of age, although there is an associated service available to help parents.

There are so many big emotions our little ones feel, and it’s expected they might not know how to handle them all. After all, it’s something adults often still struggle with.

They might be feeling angry, anxious, lonely, sad, scared or stressed. This could be from something that has happened at home or school. 

Maybe it’s body issues, bullying or cyberbullying, family or friendship issues, mental health or feeling unsafe.
​

The message from Kids Helpline is there is no issue too big or too small that they can’t support you with. They are there to help.

​Kids Helpline can be contacted by email, phone or WebChat, 24/7, every day of the year, including Christmas Day.

All Kids Helpline counsellors are university qualified and trained to work with young people and you can choose to speak to a female or male counsellor if preferred.
​

Probably one of the biggest, most impressive things for me was that despite being apprehensive when first calling, the counsellor quickly made my son feel comfortable. 

He was so comfortable that he came running out of his room mid conversation asking for paper and a pen as the counsellor told him her name so he could ask for her next time if he wanted.

And after a lengthy conversation with the counsellor you could see the positive result it had on him.

There are some things to encourage your child to, or if you are a young person calling, think about before you call, such as what problem are you hoping to discuss and what is your goal or outcome from the session. 

While your call is confidential, Kids Helpline do have a Duty of Care, which means they might need to tell somebody if you or someone else are in danger of being significantly harmed or in a life threatening situation.

The Kids Helpline website can be accessed through https://kidshelpline.com.au/

Its layout is really easy to navigate and not only can you access counselling through the page, but it also provides plenty of advice and information about a range of topics that impact young people - from ADHD, feelings, respect and setting boundaries.
​

- Zoey Andrews​