Helping Children Smile Again with Amanda Seyderhelm
Whether it's the grief of bereavement, the strain of divorce or the uncertainty of a new home or school, loss and change affect children in countless ways. Teachers and parents frequently find themselves ill-equipped to help children struggling with the difficult feelings that these situations, and others like them, bring. Helping Children Smile Again offers guided support for teachers, health professionals and parents through interviews with experts in the fields of education, healthcare and parenting.
Episodes
38 episodes
S2 #13 If you can't say it, sing it with Sophie Garner
"If you can't say it, sing it" is not only Sophie Garner's mantra, it's the title of her new book, a journal going deeper into supporting children in navigating their emotions through creative expression.Having started her professional c...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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38:09
S2 #12 Helping children to engage with their grief in order to heal with Justin Bowen
After his wife died in 2016, Justin Bowen wanted to create a resource for Schools based on the caring support his young children received from their local School in Worcestershire. Be The Rainbow is that resource. His young daughter pai...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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36:43
S2 #11 Is there such a thing as "Good Grief" following a bereavement with Jane Harris
Can there be anything called ‘good’ grief especially when it follows from the death of a child?Surely grief is that most abject of conditions in which you are thrown into an endless darkness, where despair overcomes hope, and longing fo...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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50:52
S2 #10 How to talk to a child about bereavement with Ann Chalmers, Chief Executive, Child Bereavement UK
Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one will know that you never stop grieving for those you have loved, and what an important journey it is to find a way to live with that loss.Child Bereavement UK has been helping families f...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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47:46
S2 #09 What can parents do 'in the meantime' while they wait for a professional assessment with Safeguarding expert Kayla Shepherd
Waiting can be stressful. While the waiting lists for child mental health assessments get longer, our anxiety ramps up. Parents and children wait in limbo. Feeling helpless. Do professionals hold all the answers? What can we do ‘in the meantime...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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34:41
S2 #08 What can nature teach us about coping with anxiety with Play and LandPlay Therapist Kate Macairt
The world is in crisis, from climate change, the Pandemic and now the Russian war in Ukraine. We are feeling the impact of this collective trauma in our bodies, and seeing anxiety levels rise higher than ever. Our sense of belonging is being qu...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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46:19
S2 #07 Finding Hope after Parental Loss with Phoebe and Ian Gilbert
A child loses a parent every twenty-two minutes in the UK. Childhood bereavement brings with it a whole series of challenges for the children involved - challenges they will deal with all their lives.What to say to a bereaved child stump...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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36:10
S2 #06 Managing your wellbeing through the pandemic with Dr Tina Rae
The Covid Pandemic has been a collective trauma. A crash course in learning how to cope with uncertainty and change. If we were anxious pre-Covid, this suddenly escalated for children and families to a frightening level and threatened all aspec...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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41:43
S2 #05 How music therapy can support children through bereavement with Music Therapist, Marion Barton
When a child is struggling to express their feelings verbally, music therapy can be a suitable medium through which they can 'drum out' their feelings.Listening to and creating music is a powerful connector to our feelings and emotions, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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46:29
S2 #04 Exploring emotions through game play with Arts Psychotherapist, Karen Stallard
The pandemic has taught us the true importance of emotional connections. While we protect our bodies from infection, emotional bonds protect our minds from poor mental health and the disconnection that comes with isolation. Within t...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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36:32
S2 #03 Practical tips for helping a child through divorce with The Parenting Coach, Sue Atkins
What happens when the dream of marriage dies, and the reality of divorce sinks in? Where does all the love and pain go, and how do families begin to process the grief of this loss and change? How do they navigate not only new custody arrangemen...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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31:34
S2 #02 The Wellbeing Curriculum with Andrew Cowley
Andrew Cowley, author of The Wellbeing Toolkit and co-founder of Healthy Toolkit (@HealthyToolkit), talks about his new book, The Wellbeing Curriculum - the ultimate guide to help primary schools develop a practical, principled and values-drive...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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44:11
S2 #01 The secrets of how Super parenting can help overcome trauma-triggered behaviour with clinical psychologist and author Dr Amber Elliott
Dr Amber Elliott, Clinical Psychologist and author explains why children who have experienced early trauma need something different - therapeutic parenting - a kind of everyday 'superparenting' which champions empathy over punishment.Try...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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51:07
#26 How nutrition can affect a child's mood, with author and nutrition consultant Jayne Avery
Today’s episode looks at the connection between mood and food in children through the lens of storytelling. My guest is a teacher and nutritional consultant Jayne Avery, author of The Secret of the Golden Cauldron.Talking about food, the...
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27:06
#25 Why creative writing helps children build empathy with Fiona Clark
Teacher and author Fiona Clark's new book A Practical Guide to Creative Writing in Schools: Seven Creative Writing Projects for ages 8-14 is not only well timed, it is also rooted in psychobiology.We talk about the research of Dr Daisy F...
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42:33
#24 My Dad's death didn't break me with children's author Mark Lemon
When Mark Lemon was 12, his father was killed. Even at such a young age, he knew he had to make peace with himself in order to have a future.But how to do that at such a tender age, before puberty, and without a male role model? He talks...
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47:55
Childhood bereavement - how journalist Flora Baker learned to grieve the loss of her parents
Flora Baker was only twenty when her mum died suddenly of cancer. Her coping strategy was simple: ignore the magnitude of her loss. But when her dad became terminally ill nine years later, Flora was forced to confront the reality of her grief. ...
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52:17
#21 A conversation about loneliness amid loss with Alex Smith, founder and CEO of The Cares Family
Have you felt lonely during 2020, or even before that? I know I have.While loneliness can subjectively come and go like sadness and happiness, there are people who live with loneliness much more chronically, and for whom it's a form of m...
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1:02:40
#20 Healing from grief and loss with integrative GP Dr Rosy Daniel
After a year of loss and isolation, we need tools to reintegrate.This podcast interview with integrative GP Dr Rosy Daniel looks at grief through a holistic, and regenerative lens.Actively taking a role in the changes loss brings ...
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39:05
#19 Writing your way through grief with trauma therapist Meghan Riordan Jarvis
Grief is something I’ve been growing the muscles to carry.In some ways it’s a back alley experience.We try to keep the front of house shiny and bright. Fresh flowers in a vase.We grievers will use all the words we ...
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1:10:45
#18 What to say to a bereaved child with clinical psychologist Dr Rebecca Hershberg
Teaching parents how to separate adult emotions from those of their children, their own pasts from their children's presents is the foundation work of Dr Rebecca Hershberg, clinical psychologist and parenting coach. So often, she says, we don't...
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42:21
#17 Removing the mask of talking about male suicide with Man On! Inverclyde founder Chris Paul
The topic I am asked most about in my trainings is suicide. There is so much fear, and shame attached to suicide, as well as myths that I was delighted to talk to Chris Paul in this episode who founded and runs a suicide peer support service fo...
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58:12
#16 What are monsters for kids with play therapist Dennis McCarthy
Children come to therapy with monstrous feelings - monstrous grief, monstrous rage, and longing. I talk to Dennis McCarthy, dance and play therapist about how the stories of children, and their monstrous feelings are transformed through play.
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26:09
#15 How do we talk about death and dying with Palliative Care Consultant, Dr Kathryn Mannix
The pandemic has raised the bar around our fear of death and dying, and how we approach death and dying is as important as how we are birthed. Kathryn Mannix talks about why the contemplation of one's own death is a complex affair, and how when...
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56:19
#14 How bereavement charity Harry’s Rainbow has adapted to support children and families during the Pandemic with founder and CEO Odette Mould
Bereavement charities have had to adapt quickly to the rising need for support during the pandemic, and Harry's Rainbow have done an inspiring job posting out Positivity Boxes to every grieving child in the post, along with the range of craftin...
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57:14