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Survival Mode for Mental Health: a list of things you can do to help your mental health during the lockdown

By EK Wills This week we had our first family meeting in a long time. When the idea was floated, our middle child piped up and claimed that “it didn’t work before”, to which I suggested that it was worth trying again since failure does not mean defeat. I got a look and a shrug. So this time we started with a look at Clean Communication. It is usually used for couples to teach them how to talk to each other without blaming, accusing and to be able to figure out what each perso

by EK Wills The Simpsons© unhappy family “…. every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” – Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina All groups work in different ways and everyone has their own perspective within that group whether it is a family or at work. But when things get difficult it can often be traced back to the dynamics in the way the people relate to each other. I joined a team recently where I experienced issues in group dynamics and become one of the contributors myself.

By EK Wills What better way to spend time with friends and family than to get together for an activity? It could be to socialize over drinks, bake with the kids or make Christmas decorations. This time of year is the opportunity to reconnect with community and we’ve been squeezing as much of it in as we can. Christmas Cookies Baking is a great way to get kids off screens and teach them kitchen skills. Plus you get to spend time together with the objective of creating somethin

By EK Wills Driving home with my son yesterday, we were listening to the radio and I was struck by how specifically directed it was to my generation. We started talking about how there used to be popular songs, bands and types of music mainly dictated by what we were exposed to as kids. We wondered then what he would listen to as an adult because he also plays in a band. This led to thinking how different it is now because everyone has access to so many forms of media at thei

By EK Wills “I can only find myself in and between me and my fellows in a human conversation” Robert Hobson This week I discovered The Long Conversation. That is to say, I learned about it(1) and it seemed to fit like a glove. I have always been a talker and the idea that conversation can be so useful and necessary resonated well with me. We as humans live in a world of language and symbols as much as we do in a world of immediate physical surroundings. As such, all human int

by EK Wills When your heart skips a beat for a prospective partner, all you care about is your feelings for each other. You probably think a little further to what it would be like to have a baby together and even what sort of parent they would make. But do you both share common goals for the future? Are you both prepared to make sacrifices to achieve those goals? And what are those goals? How many children do you want to have? Do you want to raise your family in the city?

By EK Wills I recently heard that perfectionism in a child can be related to having an authoritarian and critical parent. And since there are traces of perfectionism in our family, it prompted me explore it. In looking at parenting styles, there is a mountain of research on theories, stages, approaches and interpretations. One common approach, sometimes called the Baumrind or Maccoby and Martin parenting styles (because they all contributed to the model), is based on two pa