Six Steps to Good Mental Health

Name emotions and feelings

This helps your child develop a vocabulary to explain their feelings.

Explain the physical sensations

Help your child recognise how different emotions feel physically.

Understand when/why

Once your child can spot/name their emotions, help them understand the triggers.

Help regulate

Once they understand the source of an emotion, help them regulate.

Keep everyone safe

When feeling a big emotion, your child’s brain doesn’t work in the same way as when they are calm. Help them stay safe and maintain boundaries.

Once your child is calm, relate

Listen, empathise and share similar experiences to help them understand their feelings and know you care.

Example of Steps 1-3

Name

“I can see you are really angry.”

Explain

“Your face is scrunched up and your fists are clenched.

Understand

“I am wondering if you are angry because someone didn’t let you play.”

Regulate

“Take a deep breath with me.”

Keep Everyone Safe

“I cannot let you hit me. If you need to get your anger out, try hitting this cushion.”

Relate

“Once I was so angry I wanted to throw things. Your grandad helped me calm down by giving me playdough to squeeze.”