This week we launch a new set of conversation cards called ‘Conversations about Mental Health with Children and Young People’.

They are designed to help children explore and talk about mental health and wellbeing.  

With current research showing that as many as one in ten children aged between 5 and 16 years (three in every classroom) has a mental health problem, and that over half of all mental ill health starts before the age of 14 years, it is vital that action is taken to help children talk about and understand mental health.

The cards have been written by Place2Be, a leading national children’s mental health charity, providing in-school counselling support and therapeutic services in primary and secondary schools. 

Julia Clements, Principal Educational Psychologist from the charity explained why the resource was needed and how it could help young people.

“Teachers tell us that although they want to have conversations about mental health with their pupils, they find this difficult. This was our motivation for writing this much needed resource. Teachers can use the cards in a variety of ways to help pupils understand what mental health is and how good mental health can be maintained”. 

Simple and easy to use, this resource is designed to be used by school staff to help pupils start having conversations about mental health. The questions help explore and develop children and young people’s understanding about mental health, including: what it is; how good mental health can be maintained; and how to access help when needed.

If used sensitively by a trusted adult, these cards will encourage children and young people to talk about mental health without feeling it is a taboo subject.

Conversations about Mental Health with Children and Young People Cards are ideal for Teachers, Counsellors and Social Workers.

The cards are being launched in time for Children’s Mental Health Week which runs from the 6th -12th February.

This years theme is Kindness. 

Find out more about Conversations about Mental Health with Children and Young People. 

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I am so delighted to announce that we are publishing a new pack of cards to help children develop confidence.

Confidence affects all areas of our lives from work to relationships to health. If we help children be confident we are giving them an important tool and a great start in life.

The cards have been written by Becky Goddard Hill (author of Healthy Friendships) and will help children develop self-esteem and self-belief as well as develop strategies for keeping their confidence high.

Becky explained to me earlier that confidence is important for many reasons. Confidence can help children approach life positively. Confidence can help them takes risks (which are such an important part of growing up) and reach their potential, it also helps them assert themselves.

Real confidence helps children’s emotional health enormously. It helps them stay robust when life challenges come along such as bereavement or parental separation. It helps them deal with transitions to new schools and evolving and tricky friendships.

These cards aim to give focus to these important issues and really help children begin to talk about how confident they feel, and why. The cards will also work to affirm strengths and help children value themselves. Finally the cards will offer conversations around ways to develop confidence.

The cards can be used at home and at school and are essentially in four colour coded categories

• Defining Confidence
• Current Confidence
• Affirming Confidence
• Increasing Confidence

Becky Goddard – Hill is a parenting author and blogger. She is also a qualified psychotherapist. She has many years’ experience of working with children in regard to their health and well being. 

Developing Confidence will be available from 23rd November and is priced at £18.99.

You can pre-order your copy up until 22nd November for only £16.99 and save over 10%

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Fink got a mention in a great article in The Telegraph today. 

The article is about children’s friendships and makes some great points.

From the article – 

Psychologist Emma Citron believes it would help if all children were taught more about friendship…

‘It’s true that some children pick up social skills just like anything else, like spelling. Some need to have unpacked and explained in order for them to get it. I would love to see more friendship education in schools.’

“it’s always been assumed that making friends is just something youngsters have to learn to do by themselves. However, a ground-breaking approach from the US is treating social difficulties in the playground in the same way as any other learning difficulty.”

 

The article makes some very good points about how children learn about friendships and what we can parents can do to help. In the article Tanith Carey gives parents 4 tips on how to help their children make friends. I am delighted to see she suggested Healthy Friendship Fink Cards. 

Talk about friendship: The shrinking of today’s playtime, excessive after school activities and screen time are two means many children are missing out on ‘friendship practice’. In response, Becky Goddard-Hill, a trained psychotherapist, created Fink Friendship cards  (finkcards.co.uk). 

You can read the full article here, and you can find out more about Healthy Friendships here. 

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We have worked really hard to keep the cost of a pack of cards low but a sudden price hike of raw materials has given us no option to rise our prices.

Although this has been the last resort I am happy to say that our cards are still printed locally and still offer great value.

I still believe that Fink conversation cards are a valuable resource. They improve communication. They help strengthen and deepen relationships. They support people to talk about things that matter.

Thank you so much for your support over the years, it has been my pleasure to serve you. We look forward to continuing to help people learn, grow and connect through the power of conversation.

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One Punch Murder is something I knew very little about until I met Sarah Murphy. I learnt that on the 21^st August 2011 her brother was killed in a sudden, unprovoked attack.

Sarah explained that people killed by the impact of just one punch was not as uncommon as I thought. She told me how her brothers death had impacted her and her family. It is a meeting I will never forget. Murder is a painful and difficult topic.

Sarah went onto write Talking About Trauma, a resource to help people discuss ways to move forward after experiencing a traumatic event. Working with Sarah has opened my eyes to One Punch Murder and the pain families suffer.

Recently Sarah posted a link to a TEDX talk by Jamie Denyer.

Jamie’s nephew, Connor Saunders was killed by One Punch and I have got to be honest, I did not make it far into this film before I cried. As the mother of a 19 year old son myself I could not help myself.

Jamie talks about grief, care, compassion, forgiveness, about forgetting materialism, human connection and family. He talks about the justice system, and what it is like to find yourself in court eye to eye with the person who had murdered someone you love.

This video is about suffering and loss but it is also inspiring. Jamie shares honest reminders about what is really important in life. He explains that as an organ donor 7 people’s lives have been saved following Connors death.

This isn’t easy to watch but we need to share Connors story. Young people need to hear this. 

If you are a teacher, youth worker or parent please talk to young people about One Punch Murder.

You can reach Jamie at www.connorshelpinghand.com and on twitter @griefpreacher

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I am moving house and uncovering all sorts of treasure as we clear out and pack up. This week, hidden in the shed, I uncovered a disc of some filming I did way back in 2009 when I first started Fink. It was wonderful to watch the footage again and to be reminded how we started out. 

I had made our home made conversation cards into a product to help families create fun family mealtimes.

Mealtimes had given my own family more than just food. The time we spent together around the table had nurtured our relationships, created strong bonds and enabled my children to develop great communication skills. It was a place where we connected every single day, where we explored the ups and downs of daily life and where we ate good food.

I am still as passionate about family mealtimes today as I was then and still believe that this one action has the power to positively impact society. Family mealtimes can create stronger, more connected families, while enabling children to become confident communicators.

A lot has changed since then, in addition to families we now publish conversation cards for education, health, social care and organisations, and instead of just one pack of cards we now have over 50 covering a wide range of topics. We have certainly come a long way – all thanks to skills learnt around the dining table. 

Good conversation starts with a great question, here are a couple for you to ask your family this evening…

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I am OK with this. I can do it but I used to feel a freak for starting random conversations with strangers, that was until I watched this Tedx Talk by Danny Harris.

Danny talks about the importance of starting conversations with strangers and how a project he started called Peoples District transformed his life.

He realised that he lived in a city where he didn’t know his neighbours and he wasn’t connected to his community so he made a commitment to interview a stranger everyday and tell their story in their own words.

He set out to meet the people of his city one person at a time.

Something that Danny mentioned that resonated with me was when he talked about conversations desserts, which are places where you stand next to people in silence, like a bus stop or elevator. He put talking prompts in these places and suggested that people just needed a spark to start the conversation. This is something that I believe too, it is the reason why I started Fink. I believe that we are hard wired for connection and that our lives are richer for it. Starting these conversation can be tricky to start but sometimes we just need one question to get the conversation started.

Please take some time to watch the video, he makes some great points. You can find our more about People’s District on facebook

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This week we are launching a NEW pack of Conversation Cards

Co Parenting After Divorce will help divorced and separated parents

• communicate more effectively
• bring up children free from anger and resentment
• put aside differences and focus on raising children to be happy, confident and resilient 

A divorce or separation can be a difficult time for everyone, including your children and other family members. Although you are no longer together, you are still parents and it’s vital that you put aside your differences and focus on raising your children to be happy, confident & resilient, together, despite living apart.

Topics include Residence, Financial, School, Special Occasions, Activities, Medical and Wellbeing.

Co- parenting is NOT easy but it is worth it for the long term wellbeing of your children.

Written by Sue Atkins, an internationally recognised Parenting Expert, Broadcaster, Speaker and Mum. Sue is the author of many parenting books including  Amazon best seller, Parenting Made Easy and Raising Happy Children for Dummies. Sue regularly appears on TV and is a regular contributor on radio, her parenting articles are published all over the world.

This is part of a series of conversation cards around the subject of Divorce written by Sue, including Talking About Divorce, Questions Children Always Ask About Divorce and Talking About Divorce – Legal Conversations

All this week we will be focusing on Co Parenting After Divorce. Sue will be sharing tips and questions from the pack every day this week as well as joining us for a Facebook Q&A and #finkchat on Twitter.

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Healthy Habits -who are the cards for and how can they be used?

The cards usually work best over several sessions consisting of two to three questions. Using them all at once can lead to information-overload.

Remember to relax and have fun! There are no right or wrong answers. The deck is simply a tool to help you explore ideas and get you thinking about eating, moving and living healthily.

The cards are versatile and can be useful in various environments, including:

With Families
The cards are a great way to get families thinking about healthy living. You could set time aside once a week to discuss a couple of the questions, ensuring that everyone gets a turn and has their voice heard in the discussion.

With Schools
The cards can also be used as discussion point in schools to help raise awareness of healthy living. This could involve classroom debates, group discussions, presentations and even written assignments.

With Individuals
The cards can also be used with individuals to help them explore their own habits, or in consultations with students/children/clients to further their understanding of healthy living.

For additional resources and a free starter guide to forming healthy habits, head on over to Hero Health Room or visit the Fink Shop

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