On Wednesday 24 May the Year 7 and 8 students were visited by representatives of the Crusaders and I am Hope. Both groups shared some important messages about thoughts and emotions and how these can be positively managed.

You could have heard a pin drop in the hour the guests were speaking - in between the laughing and calling out of answers! Here are the key messages that were shared:

From Mike King, I am Hope

• We have positive and negative thoughts but there is no such thing as good and bad thoughts, all thoughts have importance.

• We have emotions for important reasons, such as:

  • To tell us our mood

  • To alert others to our mood and thoughts

• We often mask our thoughts or emotions from others, for example so that we are not made fun of or do not impact others with our feelings. Yet, it is important to be able to communicate our feelings so that if we are not in the mood for a joke or an activity we can say to our friends and family something like, “Not today thanks” or “Not right now please”.

• We all have an ‘inner critic’, that voice inside our head that tells us we are not good enough, or we did something wrong, or we cannot do things. Whilst this is normal, it is important to be able to manage our inner critic by:

  • Talking to support people, such as friends and family

  • Seeking advice from a professional, like a counsellor

  • Listening to our ‘inner supporter’ (the voice inside our head that gives us praise and encourages us) rather than our ‘inner critic’

From the Crusaders representatives

• Going to see a counsellor regularly has been really helpful to work through challenges

• Journalling can be a powerful way to work through thoughts and emotions

• Catch, or notice, your feelings and understand what they really mean (or in other words rather than listening to the ‘inner critic’, listen to you ‘inner supporter’)

• Reframe your thinking from the negative to the positive. For example, in rugby, rather than thinking about dropping the ball think about catching the ball and scoring the try.

• Acknowledge that we all have fears and worries at times, that this is normal, and that we can all become better at managing these.

It was a very powerful presentation and I hope that you can take the time to talk through the above points with your child, especially if they were not at the presentation. If you would like to learn more about the groups involved, please see the links below.

Crusade with Heart: The Crusaders, through Crusade with Heart, are committed to having a positive impact on our community.

I am Hope: Works across the community, but in particular with schools, to normalise conversations about mental health so that young people are more likely to seek formal help and understand that struggles are normal and support is out there.

Jenelle Hooson

Jenelle is a Registered Provisional Member with NZAC (New Zealand Association of Counsellors).

If you wish to discuss the services the School Counsellor can provide, please see your son’s homeroom teacher or Scott Johnson: scott.johnson@medbury.school.nz.