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Foster Your Mind

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25.01.2022 I am trained in ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), and I absolutely love it! (It is researched, evidence based therapy) Recently I was teaching my Diploma of Counselling students about ACT, and they were a little challenged around the concept of ‘Acceptance’ How can a client go through a really traumatic situation and just accept it and move on???... Good question, and yes that Acceptance bit can certainly be challenging. The Acceptance bit, is certainly not about minimising, not even really about moving on, its definitely not about avoiding the hard and uncomfortable feelings that come with awful situations. The goal of ACT is to build ‘psychological flexibility’ in those INEVITABLE hard times we will ALL encounter. It builds an acceptance and awareness that not everything goes in life the way we would like, there will be hard times, REALLY hard times. I can use a personal experience to explain Last year I had a really hard situation, it was heart breaking, awful, and ongoing. During this this time, I definitely called on my ACT strategies, feeling my feelings, being kind to self, leaning on others, and LOTS of self-compassion, and LOTS of acknowledging this is really hard. The opposite of this could look like Lots of ‘I’m fine, everything is fine, it will be fine Not letting others in Unhealthy coping strategies Squishing down of feelings (until they come at another time!) LOTS of distraction, not feeling the feelings, cutting off from what is actually happening Avoidance, deflection, aggression/anger, denial The point is, the misconception is you have to accept the situation and be OK with itof course we can’t be OK with it! You can look at the situation, and understand what parts are out of your control, that’s Acceptance, but all those feelings, we need to feel them....feeling is healing... Part of ACT is sitting with discomfort. Sometimes, as human beings, we want to be selective about the feelings we feel, we might ONLY want to feel happy, content, joyful and of course that sounds rather lovely. However, as ACT talks about, having a rich and meaningful life, and part of this is feeling ALL our feelings. Sorrow when we experience loss Frustration when things don’t go the way they ‘should’ Heartache when our children experience distress ALL our feelings serve a purpose and are needed. So ACT doesn’t take away the hard things, but it does help build that psychological flexibility to help through those difficult times, with kindness and self-compassion xx

25.01.2022 Woo hoo!! We’ve finally put our degrees up and this absolutely stunning canvas We love our office In 3 Minds Psychology Services, and I love sharing with you, my gorgeous friend and colleague, Christie from Helping Hearts Heal

11.01.2022 Heavy Work I often talk to clients, and in workshops of the value of heavy work, and heavy objects, and how they be helpful for children. How??... Heavy objects and ‘Heavy Work’, can be helpful for some children to calm themselves and self-regulate, as it activates their Proprioceptive system. Proprioceptive input tends to have a calming and organising effect on the body, particularly when feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed When children participate in these types of activities (Heavy Work), and in the specific amount of time and intensity their body needs, we often see them become more calm, organized in their behaviour, and able to follow through with daily activities such as getting dressed, participating in meal time, and following directions. Christie Kiley, Occupational Therapist. So what is ‘Heavy work’? ANY activity where children can push, pull, hang, climb!! At our Kids Hub Outside of School Hours Care, our children are allowed to climb trees, and engage in loose parts play (pulling heavy ropes, stacking large objects, building swings and cubbies) Here’s a great list created by Mama OT if you are after ideas for some heavy work - http://mamaot.com/40-heavy-work-activities-kids/ Also, there is some research, that those heavy objects, such as Calming Blankets have the same effect on the Proprioceptive system. So I was VERY excited to find these calming shoulder pads in ALDI! They are only $30, and easy enough to try out (purchasing a Heavy Calming Blanket can be very expensive and you might find your child doesn’t even like it) I was also VERY excited to bring one of the shoulder blankets into our Kids Hub Outside of School Hours Care, and pop in our Calm Down Tent, thinking the children would try it out and pop on each others shoulders. However, I’ve been informed by a few of the children, that it looks like something you put around the toilet I’m actually fairly certain its going to end up in our Homecorner by the end of the week, in the bathroom section. Any way, it’s worth trying, especially for our ‘wriggly ones’ it may help calm that whole nervous system that gets elevated in worry and big emotion. A word of caution if you are using heavy objects, please do follow manufacturers instructions, the blanket above is not suitable for sleep time or unsupervised, I also use heavy door stops, but these are just to sit on the child’s lap, or they can drag around. p.s Have a think about all the ‘heavy work’ we might have done in previous generations but not so much anymore (e.g the good old monkey bars!) p.p.s I can certainly see the resemblance of the toilet bath mat

07.01.2022 Welcome to Foster Your Mind, Kate Foster I offer support sessions for children, young people and adults, as well as Mindfulness and Well-being programs. My qualifications and experience include -... Bachelor of Social Science (Children & Family Studies/Psychology) Completed ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) Training with Dr Russ Harris Completed ACT for children and young people training with Dr Louise Hayes Completed Trauma Training with Complex Trauma Training WA and Department of Child Protection and Family Services First Aid in Mental Health Advanced Diploma of Management Diploma of Community Services (Education and Care) Certificate IV in Training and Assessment Certificate IV in Business Lecturer Central West TAFE - Diploma of Counselling Accredited Facilitator MAP - Mindful Awareness Parent Course, evidence-based 5 week course developed by Dr Rebecca Coleman Engaging Adolescents, developed by Michael Hawton (Psychologist) Bringing up Great Kids in the first 1000 Days, by the Australian Childhood Foundation. I also work with adults using ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). "ACT gets it name from one of its core messages: accept what is out of your personal control, and commit to action that improves and enriches your life. The aim of ACT is to maximise human potential for a rich, full and meaningful life. ACT does this by: a) teaching you psychological skills to deal with your painful thoughts and feelings effectively in such a way that they have much less impact and influence over you (these are known as mindfulness skills). b) helping you to clarify what is truly important and meaningful to you i.e your values then use that knowledge to guide, inspire and motivate you to change your life for the better." Dr Russ Harris www.actmindully.com.au Kate :)

02.01.2022 Tickets are now live for this workshop session! Event info in the comment section :) https://www.fosteryourmind.com.au/tickets/workshop-one