Wellbeing Matters

Eating disorders and Body Image

Please see flyer below for 2 FREE webinars for Parents and Carers – To support healthy body image in your child. 

These webinars have been developed by the Butterfly Foundation, which is the national charity for all Australians impacted by eating disorders and body image issues, and for families, friends and communities who support them.                

Support for Eating Disorders and Body Image Issues | Butterfly Foundation

Alcohol and Drug Use in Young people

Also please find a link to a fact sheet for parents, carers, families, and friends …about alcohol and other drug use in young people. The pandemic and lockdowns aren’t much fun… but they do provide us with a bit of extra time on our hands that we can use to read up on some interesting topics that can affect the teenagers and young people in our community. 

This fact sheet comes from ORYGEN, which is a Melbourne based youth mental health research organisation. This fact sheet is a long read but has lots of fascinating practical tips about how you can support a young person with these issues. 

orygen-aod-family-friends-factsheet-pdf.aspx

But with teenagers and young people, Prevention of serious problems with alcohol and other drugs is better and begins earlier. However, it’s never too late (or early) to learn some strategies to help protect your child/teen from alcohol problems. Parenting strategies consists of a team from Eastern Health, Turning Point, University of Melbourne, and Monash University. 

Please see this excellent website which focuses on preventing alcohol misuse and preventing depression and anxiety in our children with a specific Teen (12-17) site Parenting Strategies: Protecting your child's mental health

Pandemic

The current situation with the pandemic is akin to a natural disaster and for many of our children and teens this has been a traumatising time. The Emerging Minds website has a wonderful 4-minute video which talks to how parents and carers about how to talk to their children about natural disasters and traumatic events. As with many things in life, talking about our feelings is one of the big skills, we need to practice as adults and role model for our children. This video also focuses on parents and carers taking care of yourself, this is SO important if you are to be there to care for your children. 

Supporting children during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (emergingminds.com.au)

Other Resources and Information