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Growing Emotionally Strong Kids

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Helen Davidson

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Clinician

I am Helen Davidson, licenced Therapist in Perth, WA.

Parents have many different dreams and hopes for their child, but there is not one who doesn’t want their child to develop into an emotionally strong, resilient human being. However, those skills develop slowly; emotional development is a marathon not a sprint, and yet every child will experience various circumstances – short term or more enduring – where their ability to deal positively with difficulties is challenged. Perhaps it’s their best friend moving away, nastiness in the playground, fearfulness about class presentations or more enduring circumstances arising from loss or trauma.

Parents are the primary supports to help their child learn the skills to manage their emotions and to develop a positive ‘Can Do’ mindset when facing difficulties. But sometimes they also need support – and that’s where therapy can come into play. The level of emotional distress experienced by the child, its duration and whether the child’s job of learning, playing and developing is impacted are the key determinants.

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Jane, mother of a boy aged 8 years.

Helen assisted our son to feel comfortable in his peer group – no small feat as he had been bullied and teased at his previous school and was wary of making new friends in case history repeated itself.

 

The strategies and tools she taught him about joining in with his peers were fantastic, but it went a lot further, taking him through a process that enabled him to see and value his own personal attributes which gave him tremendous in sight and self-confidence. This assisted him to connect with similar children and find the common threads that can sometimes be so elusive in a busy playground. I recommend Helen’s services to anyone who thinks their child may be struggling to make friends or joining in with their peers

Psychological Therapy for Children, Parents & Families

As of 2025, Helen continues to work with parents and children on emotional or behavioural issues that are impacting a child’s opportunity to enjoy school, cope with playground or peer dynamics, learn the many skills of emotional self-regulation or to be a mainly-contented-family-member whose life is developing positively.

The therapy takes the form of:

  • Face-to-face therapy located in a Perth suburb, 12 km from the CBD.
  • Online and phone consultation Australia-wide: if the child is under ten years of age this will usually be parent-focused. However, if the child is over ten years, online therapy can be remarkably successful.
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Professional Development, Training & Clinical Supervision

Helen also provides:

  • Clinical supervision for occupational therapists who are working in children’s mental health or developmental paediatrics
  • Training seminars and workshops
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Marion & Andrew

5 year old with difficulties in self-regulation and attention:

I was absolutely delighted with the results of our consultations with Helen. She formed an immediate connection with my son, speaking to him on his level, which enabled him to be open about the problems he had been having. She had great practical advice for me and “tricks” for my son which he was able to put into practice at school. This has made a huge difference to his schooling experience. My son is no longer the “silly” boy who interrupts the class and finds it hard to make friends.

His teacher has remarked to me on what a turnaround she has had with him (and given him his first-ever merit certificate!) My son now points out other children who he says “don’t know their tricks”. In her kind and understanding way, Helen has used her in-depth knowledge of child behaviour and up-to-date knowledge of behavioural techniques to have a quite profound positive impact on my child. I cannot recommend her highly enough.

…and then received January 2025 on the now 17 year old son’s successful high school graduation:

Our son absolutely would not have gotten to this point without the help he had along the way, especially from you. I can’t tell you how often we referred to your books, or the advice you gave us during our appointments, so we wanted to thank you for helping him get through school successfully and helping us to help him. What you do is invaluable for families like ours.