How to Help your ADHD Child
Most healthy children are busy, active and constantly running around. But if your child has been given a diagnosis of ADHD, you’ll be looking for answers. Understanding your child and…
Children in Mind : Their mental health in today’s world and what we can do to help them
Are today’s children and teenagers more mentally distressed than they used to be, and if so, why? What is it about today’s world that seems not well suited to children?…
Keeping children safe
According to the late professor of psychiatry and infant mental health specialist, Daniel Stern, one of the psychological challenges facing parents, especially mothers or primary caregivers, is that of keeping…
Today’s Child – Raising 21st Century Kids
Today’s children are growing up in a different world to the one most of us experienced as children. Adapting to this new and constantly changing world is a challenge, not…
The Transgender Child
When a young boy repeatedly dresses up as a girl, behaves like a girl and is absolutely determined to be treated as if he were a girl, it can put…
Why you should play team sport, whatever your age!
I often find myself recommending to parents that their troubled children should play a team sport. It isn’t the cure-all, and there are usually a multitude of other aspects to…
Playing with games and toys that are not digital
Some children as young as two years old can navigate their way around cel phones, laptops and ipads. Toys and games are fast going out of fashion. New millenium kids…
Playing makes children happy!
As a psychologist I am privileged to be able to spend a lot of time with children doing play therapy. This gives me a unique and special opportunity to see…
When your child needs you less!
For some people, the hardest part of being a parent is knowing when and how to let go. When it comes to the psychology of babies and young children, everyone…
Does your child have anxiety?
When children are distressed, they often don’t show it and they can’t always find the words to say how they are feeling. Anxiety in children can manifest in a number…
Parenting through Adoption
BY JANYS ORELOWITZ BABIES IN MIND PRACTITIONER, SPECIALISING IN ADOPTION One of the toughest problems adoptive parents face is that of talking to children about the reasons they were placed…
Children’s Rights
Children in Mind is concerned with anything related to the mental health, behaviour and emotions of children. So we support these 10 principles of the UN Convention on the Rights…
High self-esteem or just narcissistic?
Eight year old Shaun seems extremely confident and self-assured. He tells everyone that he is a genius and the cleverest boy in the country. He is desperate for approval by…
Donor egg and sperm children: What should parents tell them about their origins?
Recently I attended a fascinating workshop called ‘Mothers and Fathers of Invention’ facilitated by the skilled and highly knowledgable Cape Town based clinical psychologist, Diane Sandler, and based on the…
Child-raising has become more gentle in 21st Century
The Harvard based psychology professor, Steven Pinker, in his life-changing book entitled The Better Angels of our Nature makes a powerful argument for the fact that, contrary to popular belief,…
Parenting in the Digital Age
Johannesburg-based Imago Relationship and Parenting Therapist, Lome Koekemoer, has this to say about parenting in the age of technology: “When we grow up, we learn a great deal about problem…
The value of a mother
Do you ever feel under-valued, under-paid and unappreciated as a mother? The commitment and devotion is takes to raise a child means being there every day – and night –…
Protecting your child from sexual abuse
The effects of sexual abuse on a child are very serious and they can last a lifetime. It is devastating for parents to discover that their child has been abused,…
Are computers bad for kids?
Parents often have concerns that modern technology could be harmful to children. For those of us who did not grow up with computers, it can be really hard to watch…
Does your child need physio?
I attended a really interesting lecture recently at the Western Cape Association of Infant Mental Health. Pam Versfeld is a physiotherapist who works a lot with babies and children who…
Advice from a Bipolar Mom
I have just finished reading the most fabulous book by Rahla Xenopoulos entitled, A Memoir of Love and Madness. Rahla has a bipolar disorder (manic depression) and she is the…
The Tiger Mother
I have just read the famously controversial book by Amy Chua called, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. The author and tiger mother is from a strict, Chinese immigrant background,…
Delinquent behavior in children and teenagers
What do you do when your child or your teenager breaks the law? How should you react when your child is caught stealing, shoplifting, using drugs or engaging in other…
Can children learn two languages at the same time?
When two parents speak different languages – for example, one parent is French and the other is English – it can be confusing to decide which language to use when…
Mistakes parents make
Making mistakes is the price you pay for knowledge Anonymous Knowledge about babies and children comes less from parenting books and much more from personal experience. As parents, we…
Effects of childhood stress, trauma and mental illness
Someone sent me a link to a fascinating article on medscape news today. It’s about the link between stress and trauma during childhood (including childhood-onset mental disorders) and physical illness…
How to get kids to eat
Because of the possible health implications, it can be scary when your child refuses to eat. A poor appetite may be an indication of an underlying illness so if your…
Attention seeking twin
Recently, I went along as a guest to a Thinking Moms Group in Cape Town. This lively, intelligent group of women get together once a month to talk about issues…
Children need grandparents
Marion Barends e-mailed me recently to ask some advice about her high need grandson. It got me thinking about how lucky her daughter is to have a mom who is…
Understanding your child’s eating disorder
Anorexia and bulimia are extremely complex psychiatric disorders and there are loads of different theories about what causes them and how to treat them. Inevitably, as with so many other…
Sleep Problems in Children
Loads of babies are notoriously bad sleepers. Meg Faure, author of a range of baby books such as Babysense and Sleepsense, offers useful tips for helping babies to get…
Parenting a Sick Child
A mother of a critically ill child once said to me, Children are easy – until they get sick. Most parents are familiar with the stress of having a sick…
Does your child need therapy?
Although it has become much more popular in recent decades, play therapy has actually been around since the 1920’s. Early pioneers such as Anna Freud and Melanie Klein created models…
What is a good parent?
Part of the madness about being a parent is the feeling that you’re getting it all wrong and your kids are suffering as a result. It can cause debilitating guilt…
How to be a parent
The thing about parenting is that loads of people like to tell you how to do it. There can be a real pressure to parent the right way. This can…
How to raise a happy child
When thinking about how to raise your child, you will no doubt be trying to create a happy childhood for him or her. But your child will not always only…