Has your teenager experienced a trauma that’s effecting their mental health? Perhaps you’ve asked them to see a therapist but they resist because it takes ‘too long & they can’t fit therapy in with all their studies’ & other commitments. If this sounds like a problem your family has been struggling with, you’re going to get a lot of ideas during this episode. Introduction & Welcome Dr Marie Thompson is a Clinical Psychologist and Medical Director at Vivamus. She specialises in EMDR w...
Nov 24, 2021•19 min•Ep. 15
How do we know when headaches, tummy aches & feeling sick have turned into an anxiety disorder? 😷 🤕 🤢 Introduction & Welcome Dr Devinder Kapoor is a Specialist in Homeopathy and certified in NAET and Functional Medicine. She brings over 18 years of experience specializing in Homeopathic practice, and she believes in Holistic Medicine, all about addressing the root cause of the disease, not chasing the medicine to treat the symptoms. The Homeopathic treatment facilitates the patients w...
Nov 17, 2021•19 min•Ep. 14
Did you know that children's quality of their mental health greatly affects their personal, academic and professional success? How do you think your children cope with conflict, uncomfortable situations, and stress? How can you know if they are getting the right balance? Welcome to the Raising Mentally Fit Kids podcast! I am so thrilled to finally introduce you to podcast your kids NEED you to listen to. Tune in to my pilot episode, where I dive deep to help you clarify just how mentally “fit” y...
Nov 10, 2021•19 min•Ep. 13
Teenagers spend such an enormous amount of their lives at school. It’s where they develop their friendships, grow as people and learn to deal with pressures in their learning environment. Therefore creating a supportive environment and teaching them that they always have a team behind them, they just sometimes need to be brave enough to reach out and get that team support. In this week’s podcast, I invite Rachel, head teacher of Smart Vision School, an amazing new establishment within the Dubai ...
Nov 03, 2021•29 min•Ep. 11
School is a stressful experience for teenagers all over the world as they attempt to navigate the educational pressures, home life and difficult relationships all while just trying to simply live their lives and grow into amazing people! That’s why schools like the Dubai English Speaking School employ Student Advisors to support the kids through those tough times, allowing them the opportunity to speak about their thoughts and feelings openly. Following a tricky year with lots of uncertainty, I ...
Oct 27, 2021•20 min•Ep. 10
What does being mentally fit really mean to you and your family? Coping with the burden of being a high achieving teen can be a mental and physical drain for your child and can impact your whole family. Guiding and facilitating your child’s journey into self-acceptance and encouraging a new way of thinking is an important task to undertake. Join Jasmine and I as we talk it out here and chat about the ways we can support our children and teenagers with practical tools and tips to prepare them for...
Oct 20, 2021•31 min•Ep. 9
Raising kids is HARD. Trying to keep them healthy, help them to keep their grades up, supporting them in the turmoil of teenage relationships and friendships as well as ensuring they are as happy as they can be - it’s no small challenge! You want the best for them, but trying to manage that on top of everything else that life throws at us is never easy. We’re trying to support our children to be the best versions of themselves that they can be, but how can we truly do that if we aren’t the best ...
Oct 13, 2021•29 min•Ep. 8
Join me for a new episode of Raising Mentally Fit Kids with Linda Bonnar, best-selling author of Press Play: A teenager's guide to becoming the drivers of their success. Together, we break down how teenagers deal with issues and insecurities surrounding the constant judgment they feel while at school and how this affects them psychologically. Linda and Claire discuss how best to support young people's mental well-being as teachers, friends, parents, or loved ones and what can we do to help them ...
Oct 06, 2021•35 min•Ep. 7
In this week’s podcast a mother of three anxious children, Fiona Cameron, joins us to share her journey. This is an incredibly honest podcast and is essential listening for other parents in a similar position. We hear her battles and her triumphs, we empathise with her yearning for her children to experience all life has to offer despite their anxiety. Join us to be reassured you’re not alone and there are many parents walking in Fiona’s shoes every day. “One particular time my daughter decided ...
Sep 22, 2021•41 min•Ep. 6
In this episode we discuss the benefits of journalling. Does your teenager journal yet? If yes - awesome! It’s a great tool to help your anxious child process their thoughts and feelings and to gain perspective. If not, please buy one they’ll love using and encourage them to start by thinking about the negative thoughts they have in their head — ask them to journal whenever they find themselves mentally beating themselves up and what’s happening in their environment at the time. They’ll so...
Sep 22, 2021•21 min•Ep. 5
Fear or Excitement? We all feel nervous occasionally, we all feel anxious occasionally - we need to feel these feelings - they are there to protect us - to alert us to potential threats and help us get out of danger if we need to. But what we can do is say, "Am I actually in danger... or am I just a little bit scared?" You see fear protects us from danger, so we do need it to survive - but did you know that anxiety has the same physiological symptoms as excitement? So what your child interprets ...
Sep 15, 2021•20 min•Ep. 3
External validation seeking can lead to low self-esteem. Our children look to their adults, teachers and their peers to confirm for them how they rank within their community bubble - answering questions such as “how do I fit in?”, “how good am I compared to others?”, “am I popular?”, “am I clever?”. School is so full of judgment! We've been conditioned to constantly look for approval and seek validation in the form of compliments and acknowledgements for our achievements - we feed off other peop...
Sep 08, 2021•17 min•Ep. 2
We know that there has been a significant increase in mental health issues with our young people due to lockdown. Leaving home after a prolonged lockdown where home is a safe place changes the experience radically. It’s a far cry from previous years of children leaving home. Although we must be mindful and safe by preparing our children for life in the big wide world during a pandemic, we must also remember that they are about to start an adventure. It’s a rite of passage - and a very exciting o...
Sep 02, 2021•30 min•Ep. 1
