Group Programs

Our group programs aim to promote better sleep, concentration, listening skills, attention span, confidence and self-esteem. It teaches and supports kids to be more mindful and happy, reduce their stress and anxiety levels and manage their moods and emotions. It also supports the development of social skills and social-emotional awareness in young people.

The courses are run as group sessions to learn similar skills that are introduced in individual counselling sessions - such as positive thinking, self-esteem building, relaxation, affirmations, breathing - but in an environment that is chilled, comfy, relaxing and with peers (strengthening those social skills!)
 
Also, the courses are great for kids who have already learnt some positive coping skills through individual counselling, but who now may need a 'refresher' to continue practising and using them.
 
The Relax Kids program is for 5 to 8 year olds. These classes will help build self-esteem, inner strength, power and confidence. Using fairytales, fun games and activities, and adventures, children are introduced to the concepts of relaxation and mindfulness at a very early age. The kids will have lots of imaginative fun while learning simple relaxation techniques to help them grow up into calm, healthy and happy children. It helps them learn skills to become resilient, capable and confident of their abilities and self-assured. Exercises and activities include dance and movement, which allows children to express freely. Fun games allow them to interact, share and communicate. Stretching and breathing exercises build self-awareness and restores calm to the nervous system. Peer massage encourages children to interact in a kind way to each other. Positive affirmations develop a strong sense of self-worth and confidence. Relaxations and visualisations let children explore their imagination, teach mindfulness and learn to calm themselves down. After each session, children receive work sheets with a variety of activities to help them continue their journey.

The aim of the Growth Mindset program is to help 8 to 10-year old students develop a growth mindset. When teaching students to have a growth mindset you are teaching to believe in themselves, improve their skills and abilities by putting in effort and trying their best. This course is designed to help them build a strong self-esteem and in hope they come to the realisation, that they are in charge of how smart they are, and they determine how much they want to learn or be persistent and keep trying to achieve their goals. The course will also develop the student’s emotional literacy, equipping them with the coping tools to manage their emotions, moods and behaviour in a positive way.

The Chill Skills program is for 9 year olds to 14 year olds. The course has been devised to help raise self-esteem and confidence, as well as support the development of self-awareness and social-emotional skills. It is designed to help young people improve their learning potential by providing them with tools and resources to manage emotions in a positive way. Chill Skills helps teenagers to de-stress and learn to relax with a variety of relaxation and mindfulness exercises. Each session can include breathing exercises, peer massage, visualisation and discussions about mental health and physical health and wellbeing. Topics such as positive thinking, stress management, anger management, healthy living, social and friendship problem solving, looking after the self and happiness will be covered. After each session, students receive work sheets with a variety of activities to help them continue their personal journey. These will include mood diaries, goal sheets, vision planning, affirmations and exercises to practice at home.

The Friendship Program is a wonderful course and highly popular. Choosing and being a good friend definitely requires a set of skills you can use throughout your life. The friendship workshops are designed to help you learn more about yourself, identify the effective aspects of your friendships, and find better ways to use newfound skills to develop and maintain healthy friendships that bring out the best in you – that help you be true to yourselfWeekly parent handouts summarising each class will be provided to parents and are a helpful way to talk to your child about what they did and what they have learnt in each class. You can also use these sheets to encourage your child to continue to use and practise their Relax Kids skills throughout the week and into the future.

Individual parent feedback sessions held at the end of the course gives you the opportunity to understand what has been learnt and to know more about how you can help your children to continue to develop these skills at home and beyond. The feedback session is also chance for you to gain some further understanding into how your child in developing and in what areas they may need more support or encouragement. Relevant SPACES tipsheets/handouts will also be provided as a pack as part of the feedback session. The parent feedback session is optional and is not included in the cost of the course.

Amanda Kelly is a trained Relax Kids practitioner and is also currently completing her Bachelor of Education/Teaching, as well as being a mother of two boys. She is passionate about the skills that Relax Kids offers children, after seeing the benefits first hand that the activities have provided to her own children. Amanda is fun, young, engaging, and also down-to-earth, personable, warm, and brilliant at dealing with children of all ages.

For specific information about the programs run each Term or to register contact:
Amanda Kelly at relaxkids@student-psychology.com