The effects of lockdown have been far-reaching, we are aware – children are influenced greatly by what they see and experience being modelled in the world around them. How this will impact their long term wellbeing and education will be seen in the years to come, so how can you support your child who may be facing behavioural and anxiety-related issues?
We know that children are nurtured by their environment – that is a given. So, over the past year and a half, our children have been in the strangest of environments – an environment where parents have had to endure stress bereavement lost family lots of jobs, loss of emotional contact, loss of physical contact with those who they love to name but a few – and this has all been a model for the children around them.
It would be fair to say that children, therefore, have lived amongst uncertainty and have been unable to read behaviours of those who care for them – simply because, as adults, we try to safeguard our children from that which we believe will be harmful to them – it is only natural that situations which we find difficult ourselves, we then hide from our children: knowing that that would disturb them or make them feel uneasy – understanding that our own concerns may be too much for them to comprehend.
Children fill in the gaps
The fact is, that children fill in the gaps, whenever we don’t give them the full information they will try and make sense of the world around them and this means, that what they don’t understand they will try to make sense of with a limited experience.
This can cause:
- misconceptions,
- anxiety,
- attachment issues,
- shutting self-isolation and shutting down,
- anger outbursts,
- loss of concentration,
- lack of ability to sleep,
- a reduction in performance in education
- lack of ability to form meaningful relationships with peers (this has been a huge impact on those who are at the age where they are developing the skills).
Added to this, parents are themselves in the unfamiliar position of not only having to balance all of the emotions and turmoil unfolding, but also having to teach their children to keep up with the curriculum – a new skill for parents on top of their own daily stresses.
It goes without saying that this has been a very stressful time on so many levels, leaving families needing advice and support.
How Finding Natural Solutions can help
Finding Natural Solutions is all about providing that support for both parent and child, using a range of skills across a number of disciplines. This enables me to support children and their families in a bespoke manner, having the fluidity and skills set to adapt and change support as and when needed – ensuring that the support is tailor-made for the client at all times.