Just as with all animals on planet Earth, it is perfectly natural, and instinctive, for humans to procreate. The need to bring new life into this world is present in the animal kingdom through the instinctive need for survival of the species. Within the human race procreation is more about want and desire in the vast majority of people. A recent American study suggests that no more than 2% of the population have no desire to raise children.
From conception onwards, parents are protective of their offspring. They nurture and care for their wards, being positively proactive throughout their growth and development through to adulthood. Even then, parental protectionism doesn’t fade.
When a child is suffering some form of malady, or suffers any physical injury, the parents or guardians seek professional help; they call on the expertise of a qualified physician. They consult a doctor or visit a hospital in order to access medical diagnostics and treatment that only these trained professionals can provide.
Of course, sickness and physical injury in a child are usually obvious, but there is much more to the health and wellbeing of a child. A young person’s mental health is as important as their physical health but is all too often unseen or dismissed. Undiagnosed and untreated, mental health problems can be a health time bomb which can explode if ignored or not treated. This is not only an issue for the child’s health, but also that of the close adults.
At the Samitivej Hospital Parenting Center there are dedicated professionals committed to the treatment and preservation of the mental health of children. Treating what cannot be seen with the eye, or under a microscope, requires very particular skills from highly trained professionals. Fortunately, at the Parenting Center a team of practitioners specializing in mental health, and with a comprehensive range of skills, has been brought together to provide an unrivalled level of mental health care for children.
Parental Understanding of a Child’s Mental Health Issues
Understanding and diagnosing mental health issues in children requires particular skills. A young child doesn’t have the ability to communicate in the same way as an adult. As such, the parents or guardians play a vital role in the diagnostic and treatment procedures, the information they can impart will be invaluable. And so, as well as the child being monitored and assessed, the parents or guardians will undergo consultation and coaching with a trained professional.
A child with mental health issues will be assessed by specialist pediatricians, adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, and occupational therapists to aid the child’s social and cognitive structural development and behavior. However, the Parental Center is committed to supporting the parents and guardians, imparting to them the required skills to be care givers.
The team will assess, evaluate, and advise upon the adult’s emotional quotient, normally referred to as EQ. This is parental ability to understand and manage their own thoughts, feelings and emotions that come with dealing with an offspring that has mental health issues.
The emotional quotient also appertains to the individual’s ability to communicate, deal with conflict and stress, efficiently face challenges whilst also being able to empathize with others. This is not only with the child, but with all those within the family unit and those close to, and aiding, the child.
Equally important is EF, or executive function. Assessing the adult’s executive function ability tells the experts of the effectiveness of the thought processes of the guardians, their planning ability, the setting of realistic goals and flexible reasoning leading to successful mood management.
At the Parenting Center the adult’s levels of resilience will also be assessed. Where necessary, the team will coach the adults to build their own levels of resilience as part of their mindset growth which will enable them to overcome the pressures and emotional difficulties that they face following difficult or stressful situations.
It must be stressed that for a child with mental health issues, the parents or guardians are the full-time care givers, and for most, this will not be their natural calling. As such, the skills required to care for their offspring have to be learnt, only at the Samitivej Parenting Center can these skills be imparted professionally and skillfully to the adults.
As a result of the in-depth consultations and skilled coaching, the adult care givers will be uniquely placed to develop the child’s potential whilst helping the child to avoid potential trigger points which can bring about behavioral negativity.
They will be able to help build a stronger mindset in the child, allowing the child itself to overcome their fears and to build confidence in facing potentially problematic situations. As the child’s mindset becomes stronger, they will also start to recognize their own abilities of logical thought processes leading them to learn how to avoid confrontational situations.
The coached adults will be able to convey to the child the need for authority and the necessity to be obedient to that authority using subtle skills, and without the wagging finger of a dictatorial parent.
One of the hardest areas of impaired mental health in a child to deal with as a parent or guardian is violence and aggression, which is quite common. Episodes of this nature not only have the potential to be injurious but are also worrisome and distressing for all concerned.
It is through the coaching by them at the Parenting Center that will enable the adults to very often avoid such situations, but also effectively deal with an episode of this type when it occurs. Occurrences of this ilk often occur due to anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts in the child.
The skills imparted to the adults, along with ongoing coaching and advice, allow them to recognize the triggers and potentially avoid the episode, or successfully deal with an outburst. Also, as they, with the child, confront such situations they can turn the success back towards the child, thus helping the child to build their own understanding of their behavior and improve their thought processing.
It is an assembled team of highly trained experts that coach and advise parents and guardians. They can then, not only use those new skills to deal with a child suffering with mental health issues, but then turn those newly found skills back towards the child, helping them to understand their own mindset, and positively build upon it. Ultimately, the child can learn to treat itself. It is the circular theory of learning which leads to the success enjoyed by those attending the Samitivej Parenting Center.
