Penrhos Full Circle: turning a traditional school psychology model on its head

Penrhos Full Circle: turning a traditional school psychology model on its head

Tracy Hart College Psychologist

I would wager that mental health has never had a higher profile. Wellbeing awareness campaigns are all around us, wellbeing in schools is everywhere, and the multimillion-dollar wellness industry is realising a consistent increase in profit.

All this, and yet our young people are still suffering. Approximately one in four young Australians will experience a common mental health problem (anxiety, depression, substance abuse) in any given year, with girls being particularly vulnerable. In spite of all the research, awareness campaigns, school programs and interventions, there are clearly still some big pieces of the puzzle missing.

Here is a theory. We have complicated things.

Our minds are problem-solving machines. Combined with access to information, we are hungry to learn more about what we can do. We want to know all the tips and tricks to solve our problems. When we experience difficulties, we want to know how to get rid of them; when we experience troubling feelings - like sadness, worry, anger - we want to get rid of them; and we want to offer our children the knowledge and resources to fix things too.

So, we look to research to find out what works; there is supporting evidence for all the tried and tested strategies we know of and practice. We strive to eat well, sleep and exercise. We teach our children and young people about their emotions and social skills. We focus on strengths and look for meaning in what we do. We teach our young people about their brains, and we support the practices of mindfulness and gratitude. We arm them with as much knowledge and awareness as we can. And that is a good thing, right? Of course, it is.

But maybe it’s just the icing on the cake.

What about the basic ingredients?

As humans, we are all wired for connection. Schools can provide a safe place in which to develop friendships, social skills and networks. Relationships with teachers and the broader school community provide a safe environment in which children and young people can grow and develop.

Everyone knows that finding other adults as mentors for young people is important - but we should not forget that parents have a superpower that no-one can replace.

So, what if we were to put more resource into supporting our parents; arming them with the skills and understanding they need to support wellbeing, right from the very beginning? What if we developed parents’ confidence to tune in to their child’s emotions; to talk with young people about how they feel; to sit with big ugly emotions, and respond to anxiety, worry and being overwhelmed. What if we could assist parents in finding helpful strategies for dealing with social media, for talking about sex, relationships, pornography and body awareness. What if we could support them in building strong connections as well as in setting boundaries and mapping out consequences, for young people in this ever-more complex world?

Full Circle psychologists do just this.

The 2021 Commissioner for Children and Young People’s report 'Exploring the decline in wellbeing for Australian girls', highlights the number one protective factor we can employ as follows:

“Supportive family relationships, including honest and open communication with parents and adults is critical”.

Our work at Penrhos further aligns with the 2022 joint call from psychology academics across the country to make evidence-based supports for parents more widely available.

Maybe the mental health and wellbeing puzzle is not as complicated as we think.

To learn more about the Full Circle program and upcoming sessions with Tracy Hart, please head to penrhos.wa.edu.au.