Parenting in the midst of community trauma 1

Parenting in the midst of community trauma

Dear parents,

I hope that you are safe and that you are ok. Your family and your children have been on my heart this past week. We may all still be in shock, still processing and trying to wrap our minds around all of the happenings. Sandy Meyer, an OT friend and colleague and a fellow play therapist (in training), were guests on Emma Wijnberg’s Mum’s supporting mums webinar on Friday morning. We spoke about community trauma, the impacts on us as parents and on our children and how we can respond in the short term.

Next week Friday morning we will be on again, looking further into healing from community trauma. Please feel free to contact me to get details if you wish to attend, webinars are held via Zoom.

I am posting the link to the recording of our webinar here. Let me know if you need extra support at this time.

Sending love,

Linda

A recording of Sandy and Linda’s Webinar stored in Dropbox.

Good Enough

1 November It’s the first day of the second to last day of the year, how are you? Let’s all just take a deep breath. NICE! I admit to borrowing liberally from someone else’s post today, and it’s just too good not to share. Peter Gray is a Research Psychologist and neuroscientist at Boston College.…

Read More

Am I the problem?

25 October 2024 I don’t take lightly the fact that dozens of parents each year take the step to make an appointment with me and talk about the need for play therapy for their child. For some, this can be an incredibly vulnerable space. Perhaps because of the turmoil they’re going through. Perhaps because it’s…

Read More

Four Harms of a screen-based childhood: Learning from The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

18 October 2024 As promised in my post a few weeks ago, I am unpacking some of my learning from reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. In chapter 5 of the book he looks at 4 major harms caused by social media, online gaming and increased screen-based childhood in general. The four harms are social deprivation,…

Read More

Mental Health Awareness Month: Spotlight on Men

11 October 2024 It is Mental Health Awareness Month in October. The Masiviwe project has produced a video highlighting men’s mental health. One of the men interviewed states: “If you’re a man, you don’t cry. The question is; if you’re going through pain, where do you go? In your childhood you used to cry. Today,…

Read More

On Not Being Polite

4 October 2024   I have been telling my children recently when not to be polite. Don’t let people walk all over you – if sports is a metaphor for life… On the sports field, don’t be polite. You don’t say “please” when trying to get the ball away from your opponent. One hockey match, I…

Read More

Awe

27 September 2024 We spent part of the holiday in a cottage in a wood (literally) and got happily snowed in (literally), but only for 24 hours. For a family like ours, born and bred in mostly the sub-tropical parts of South Africa, the snow was a delightful, awe-inspiring experience. We saw the snow forecast…

Read More

Make PLAY your family heritage

20 September 2024 Hey South Africans, happy Michaelmas holiday! During this quick 10 day break, on Tuesday 24 September in South Africa we celebrate Heritage Day (also known as Braai Day!) On this day, we celebrate heritage and culture; who we are, where we come from and what we value. The South African braai is…

Read More

The worst therapy dog in the world

13 September 2024 Ziggy. Is the worst therapy dog in the world.   I don’t know if you have ever encountered one of those therapy dogs (or cats or horses) that assist people emotionally and physically? They are truly amazing. They are used in all sorts of different settings; old age homes, children’s homes, hospitals…

Read More

An Interview with a Sandplay Facilitator: Bongekile Ngcobo

6 September 2024 Bongekile and I have crossed paths through our working and personal lives over the last decade or so. She’s a fellow professional I respect and admire and one thing I love about her is she is always willing to try new things, she’s intentional about self-awareness and personal growth. Bongekile is a…

Read More

Mastery: the struggle towards growth and development

3o August 2024 The Brene Brown quote I used in my blog on Being Deeply Human,  got me thinking about the concept of mastery and how important it is in the development of a child. I thought it might be useful to explore a bit more. First, here’s that quote: “It may seem counterintuitive, but…

Read More