Terry I’m collecting stories about times, moments, seconds that parents & teens enjoyed each others company, felt close, cared for or felt the love. I want to include stories from people of different ages and back grounds, and small simple moments, profound, funny, sad or inspiring stories are all welcome. I’ll be putting them up…
Jane Dunbar of The Press does a very positive job of writing up our recent seminar for parents in Christchurch http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/10432337/Teenage-depression-a-widespread-concern On a blustery and cold night this winter, almost 200 parents turned up at a public meeting in Christchurch to hear about teenagers and depression. The numbers making that effort suggest that teens and…
Info evening re getting help for teens who are down or depressed aimed at families with teens but all are welcome, Papakura, 10 Sept, free. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/quake-hit-teens-highest-users-new-video-game-6022395 Speaking at the event are – Me – Dr Theresa (Terry) Fleming, co-creator of SPARX and senior lecturer at the University of Auckland; and – Dr Ainsleigh Cribb-Su’a, Senior…
What should we do next after SPARX serious game for depression? (You can see about SPARX at http://www.sparx.org.nz if you are in New Zealand or via linked wellness.com elsewhere). I am working on ideas about a serious game re social skills (making and keeping friends, dealing with bullying…) and another one re happiness, feeling good.…
This graphic shows the percentage change in key health indicators for New Zealand secondary school students from 2001 to 2012 using Youth2000 data. This is data from the University of Auckland Adolescent Health Research Group surveys of 8500 secondary school students in 2012 and over 9000 students in 2001 (stuff I do when I am…
Well if you have been reading this blog you have probably spotted it already, despite issues re friends, fitting in, school…, in general, at the heart of teenagers happiness; it is family, it is family, it is family. We carried out an analysis of results from our 2007 survey of 9107 New Zealand high…
Terry: I’m delighted to announce that SPARX computerised therapy for teenagers feeling down or depressed is being made freely available in New Zealand via the Ministry of Health today. The short story is that SPARX is a computer program for learning and practising skills for dealing with feeling down or depressed. It uses gaming elements…
ML: I knew I was different from a very young age, by the time I was a teenager I knew I was gay – it was my ‘terrible secret’. Unfortunately for me I grew up in rural New Zealand (I would have fitted in much better in New York or London as an adolescent) I…
David is a parent of three girls, aged 25 16 and 13. 1. Tell us about a time when you ‘felt the love’, felt connected or close to your teen: Driving two of them to school in the morning and being part of cool three way conversations about friendships, school, growing up and family. 2.…
Recently I did an interview for TVNZ Sunday programme. In it we talked about how teenagers are primed to be social. They are wired that way (so are lots of other mammals at the same life stage, even adolescent rats I believe). They are wired to care about social status and to want friends, probably…
On the whole I was pretty well cared for as a teen, however there were some nights where I needed to escape my house. I had a holiday job, so can remember from the age of 12 booking into a motel. The proprietors looked at me very suspiciously so weren’t very friendly, and it used…
Once Mum of Two had submitted her post about looking forward to having teens, she said “In a way, I feel like saying ‘I want to lock my kids up until they are 30’”. Not that she would – but there is that wish to protect them. That sense of wanting to lock ‘em up…
Today’s post is from a mum with two little children thinking ahead to having teens. After her post we chatted about wanting to protect kids & not let them get hurt. That led to some interesting stuff which appears as the next post. Mum of Two: What is one thing you enjoy about parenting your…
When did you feel close to your teens? When my kids were teens, there was a cute term used by one of my workmates ‘tama-freakies’ that I liked to use to describe their strange moods and attempts to be more assertive. I supported them with their sports, kapahaka, school trips and I was involved at…
Andreas, ex teen, Germany, & Tania Wilson and Dr Ansleigh Cribb-Su’a, Clinical Psychologists and parents, New Zealand: Andreas: When did you feel loved by your parents? I felt really loved by my parents when they listened to me and supported me during my depression. When they fought for me and helped me to get over…
Parenting teens: joy, learning and hearing loss 