Clinical psychologist Dr Rick Norris who works in both clinical and occupational settings has just published his second book The Promised Land for Children, which highlights the causes of stress, anxiety and depression in children caused by low self-esteem.

Below he gives five tips for parents, teachers and child-carers to help reduce stress, anxiety and depression in children:
  1. Help children to understand that the more time they spend thinking about the negative aspects of their lives then the more likely they are to feel stressed, anxious and depressed.
  2. Encourage children to have more positive thoughts about themselves, their lives and their families rather than focusing on what’s not going well.
  3. Celebrate their uniqueness – every child has talents and strengths - they may not be great at academic subjects at school but they might have a real talent for singing or a genuine interest in buying and selling things on the internet.
  4. Help children to challenge the thinking errors that make them think negatively for example when a child says “I’m no good at anything” or “Everyone has it better than me” gently challenge this perception to help them think more positively.
  5. Create memories of positive events – help children celebrate positive things at the time they are enjoying themselves… then try to groove this in by regularly repeating these positive events.
The Promised Land for Children by Rick Norris is available from Amazon. To order a copy, please click the link below:

 The Promised Land for Children: How to Improve Children's Confidence and Raise Their Self-esteem20071103