Wellbeing Hub
Helping Our Children Build Resilience
It is often a hard thing to watch your child struggle with something, whether that be academically, personally or socially. Luckily, there is good evidence suggesting that adversity, although often something difficult or unpleasant, it is something we can support our children to grow through and increases their resilience.
Resilience helps children to develop skills and habits that will support them through adolescence and into adulthood. Resilience is also important for children’s mental health- stress is a risk factor for mental health conditions, so building habits to manage stress is building the foundation for good mental health and wellbeing.
Ways to Build Resilience:
• Let children experience their emotions – acknowledge how they feel, help them put words to feelings.
• Take time to listen attentively when children speak about what worries them.
• When children experience a difficult situation, ask them how they would like you to support them.
• Help children develop strategies to deal with difficult situations and encourage them to come up with their own solutions.
• It can be helpful to encourage children to experience failure rather than protect them from it. When they do fail at something, help them put the failure into perspective.
• Suggest more helpful self-talk if your child is talking negatively – for example, if your child says, “I’m going to die of embarrassment speaking in front of my class”, help them reframe it to something like, “Public speaking isn’t my favourite thing, but I’ll be able to cope”.
Reference: Beyond Blue Ltd. (2017). Building resilience in children aged 0–12: A practice guide
Mental Health & Wellbeing Resources
Kids Helpline or 1800 551 800
Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free (even from a mobile), confidential 24/7 online and phone counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25. Also has fact sheets and information about a range of topics for parents to support their children.
Access to trusted mental health and wellbeing information, online programs and digital resources.
Learn more about depression and anxiety or talk it through with our support service.
Phone: 1300 224 636 (24/7)
Email or chat online
A confidential, free and secure space where young people aged 12 to 25 or their family can chat, email or speak on the phone with a qualified youth mental health professional.
Phone: 1800 650 890 (9am – 1am everyday)
Access to crisis support, suicide prevention and mental health support services.
Phone: 13 11 14 (24/7)