How To Use Psychology To Help Your Children With Difficult Times

When times are hard, parents turn to all kinds of parenting practices to help their children cope. They use techniques like bribery, limiting screen time, and coddling to try to keep their kids happy and calm. But what if the best way to help your kids is with a little psychology? Research shows that in certain situations — like when your child is going through a hard time — it’s helpful to have some pro-social and feeling-oriented methods of parenting. By helping your children feel better through understanding the reasons for their behaviour and giving them positive feedback, you’re helping them deal with stress more constructively. Try these five tips for using Psychology for children Adelaide to help your children during difficult times:

Tell your child the truth.

This might sound obvious, but a lot of parents don’t tell their kids the truth. If a child asks you why they have to do something, try to be direct with your response. “That’s why I have to do that because I’m a good person, and you aren’t.” If you do have to lie to your child about why they have to do something, do your best to keep it as simple and to the point as possible. Avoid using words like “don’t” or “can’t.” It’s better to be direct and to the point, than to mince words and make assumptions. When you don’t tell the truth, you’re simply being nice and trying to be helpful, even if you don’t know why your child is doing something. But kids need to know the truth, and lying is not an option.

Be Consistent in Language and Behavior

Parents can try to be consistent in the language they use and the behavior they demonstrate with their children. Be consistent in asking your kids why they do things and in giving them correct answers. If your 10-year-old wants to watch TV because they love it and you, don’t say you don’t have time for that. Be consistent in saying your child has to do chores because that’s what kids do on a daily basis, and you should be there for them. If you don’t do something, it’s not because you don’t want to; it’s because you don’t know how to. Parents need to practice showing their children how to do things so that their kids can learn.

Help them make healthy choices

You might think that telling your child you love them will make them feel better, but in fact, making healthy choices can make your child feel guilty and/or bad about themselves if they know the truth. So instead of saying you love them, try saying something positive like “I love how you do your best in school,” or “I love that you finished your chores.” The key here is to help your child make healthy choices, not sugarcoat things. “You should try this new restaurant because it looks really good.” “That’s a really nice sweater you have. Do you know how to make that?” Help them understand why they should choose healthy options and correct them if they make a mistake.

Stay calm and reassuring

Asking your child to count to 10 or to put away one of their toys can make them feel proud or competitive. But instead of trying to overload them with too many demands, you should stay calm and reassuring, giving your child a hint as to what to do next. Let them finish what they’re doing, give them a piece of your mind when they need it, and don’t become aggressive or push them into doing something they don’t want to do. Avoid being too hard on the kids and on yourself for making mistakes. All kids learn from experience, and in this case, that experience might be doing things at a younger age than you’d like. Try to use your experience as a positive to help your child learn from their mistakes too.

Don’t give up on your child.

Apart from psychology for children Adelaide has a common sense tip for parents, but so many never apply it: Don’t give up on your child when they’re down. When your child is having a bad day, don’t expect them to change behaviour just because you’re having a bad day, too. Stay strong for your child, and try your best to stay calm and reassuring. Don’t compare yourself to other parents or their perfect parenting. Be the best parent you can be, and try your best not to let your kids see you as a failure. Just because you don’t know how to fix a screwdriver right now doesn’t mean you can’t try. The most important thing is to stay calm and try your best to carry on as normal while your child is having a bad day. Don’t give up on your child just because they’re going through a hard time — they’re still your child, even when they don’t feel like it.