Here are some of the problems that we help children and teens and their families with:

+ Childhood Anxiety. Adolescent Stress and Adolescent Anxiety.

Anxiety in kids and teens is one of the most common presentations for our child psychologists. Worry about change, social situations, getting sick, getting anxious, coping with school, being separated from parents (separation anxiety), going to school, thinking about death and injury are all very common for many children and teens. Our psychologists provide counselling for kids and teens to manage stress, help them feel calmer, stop avoiding situations and act in confident ways. We also have courses within our online Calm Kid Central program for primary aged children to help them learn to manage anxiety.

+ Teenager Depression/ Adolescent Depression/ Sadness or Depression in Children

Some children and teens go through times when they cry a lot, don't want to do anything, "drop out of life" and question themselves and the world. Our psychologists work with teens and kids in therapy sessions to help them re-engage with life, get more motivated and act in more positive ways.

+ Study and Organisational/School Skills for Children and Teens

Many kids and teens have trouble organising themselves, remembering things, motivating themselves to do homework, coping with tests and exams and managing the distractions of phones and social media. The psychologists at Developing Minds work with students to find strategies to do better at school, become more organised, increase concentration and motivate themselves to study more effectively. We also provide seminars and training in school based settings for young people, as organised by schools themselves.

+ Conflict/Bullying and Social Problems in Children and Teens

Many kids and teens experience mild or severe forms of harassment and bullying at school or in the world of social media and need help to cope and re-engage with other friendships. Other children have difficult friendships and need help managing these. Wewirj wutg children and young people cope with these difficulties in our therapy sessions. We also have courses for primary aged children to help them manage social relationships in our online Calm Kid Central program.

+ Body Image Problems and Eating Disorders in Children or Teens

Pre teens and teens in particular often struggle with wanting to be thinner, being anxious about food or engaging in unhealthy eating behaviours (like starving themselves, excessive exercise or vomiting). Please note that we do not treat severe eating disorders (ie those young people who have a GP issued eating disorder plan) we do support young people with mildly disordered eating and body image problems. Our psychologists work with these young people to feel better about their body and act in healthier ways.

+ Frustration Management and Challenging Behaviour in Children and teens

Some children and teens have problems managing frustration with siblings, parents or friends and get exceedingly angry when things don't go right. Some children have trouble with following instructions or listening to parents, regular lying or hitting/hurting others. Our psychologists work with children and teens in therapy sessions to help them manage frustration and also with parents to help them know how to respond when children and teens act in challenging ways. We also have courses for primary aged children to help them manage social relationships in our online Calm Kid Central program.

+ Childhood and Adolescent Sleep problems

Many children and teens have trouble getting to sleep, waking up a lot during the night, feeling sleepy and tired during the day and maintaining good sleep habits. Our psychologists help young people to create better habits and understand what is causing these sleep problems.

+ Trauma, Grief and Loss

Some children and teens we see have experienced traumatic events such as divorce/separation of parents, the death of a family member, abuse, sexual assault and other trauma. We work with these young people to help them process the trauma and loss, and to minimise the negative effect on their lives.

+ Learning and Attention Problems

Some children and teens we see struggle with "keeping up" at school, being able to pay attention, stay focussed, understand concepts and ideas at school. They often become discouraged and have little confidence in their abilities. Our psychologists work with parents, students and schools together to help young people increase motivation, attention, concentration.

+ Challenges with disabilities

We have worked with hundreds of families supporting children with Autism Spectrum Disorder,Global Developmental Delay and/or NDIS funding- and know the challenges this often involves.

We see these children aged(if they are aged 11 and under) - or other children who have NDIS (self or planned managed only) funding for early intervention - under our separate Developmental Support Stream (for children with ASD/developmental delay). Seeing children under this separate stream ensures we allow an adequate number of sessions for them, have space to see them for the length of treatment these children generally require and also ensures the right clinicians are working with this group of children at the right level.

Unfortunately, given a very high level of demand, at the moment this disability stream has a longer waiting list than our general mental health stream (up to 18 months) and so we will support you to find alternative providers if you need to see someone more urgently. If you believe your child with ASD/other disability/NDIS funding should not be seen under this separate stream, please feel free to email one of our team leaders.