It's not at all unusual for mums to express doubts about how I will get their child or teen talking about their feelings. I understand that. Sometimes it's because they don't have the words. Maybe they fear the consequences, what we as parents might do when we know. They know we love them and this might blind us to the darker side of what's happening or they might panic us. They don't want to be responsible for our feelings. There are resources at school of course but they don't always want to involve school.
Children google their symptoms and talk to their friends and usually decide that what they have is anxiety which as we know covers so much. This is what I'm told in the parent's enquiry from my website or on a phone call. Here are some of the questions I might ask you.
- what specifically have you observed?
- is it both at home and at school?
- are there any patterns, triggers or anything that seems to make it worse?
- when did it start?
- what happened just before it started?
- what wa…
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