Dr Sarah-Jane’s Tips for Christmas
Well, it’s that time of year AGAIN. I’m tempted to check all the clocks as it seems mine must be running fast. At the time of writing, it’s almost December.
It’s been another busy year for Let’s all Talk Mental Health and we rounded up 2023 with our resident clinical psychologist. the fabulous Dr Sarah-Jane Knight, who was on hand to answer all of your questions in our last ‘Ask Away’ session of the year.
They were varied, ranging from social anxiety to concerns around teens smoking marijuana.
It was such an interesting session and if you want to listen again or watch for the first time, you can do so here.
Sarah-Jane (read more about her here) also gave us some great tips on how to help everyone over Christmas; as we’re all aware, it’s a time that can cause its own seasonal stresses.
Sarah-Jane’s top tips:
Talk to family members about plans and have reasonable expectations of family gatherings.
Allow individuals to have breaks away from others if that’s what they need.
Enjoy the peace when you can.
Be kind to yourself.
Sounds like perfect sense to me, which is what we have come to expect from SJ. I look forward to more conversations with her in 2024.
In the meantime, if you think your teenager is glued to social media, here’s some light reading that could kick-start a useful conversation.
Research has suggested that an increasing number of 13-27 year olds (Gen Z) are seeing the benefits of a social media detox.
Maybe the Christmas break is a time for all of us to try it out? Read more about it here.
Our next LIVE Let’s all Talk Mental Health webinar - Monday 8th January, 8pm
We are taking a break in December but remember the Let’s all Talk mental health hub is open all the time. It’s where you can also access our new student sessions if your teen is struggling over Christmas with anxiety or low mood.
We’ll be back in 5 weeks to talk to Dr Faith Orchard about the importance of sleep. It’s easy for teenagers to get out of routine over Christmas and Faith will be discussing how much sleep is enough and how to help them get back on track. We hope you can join us for what will be a very timely conversation.
To access more than 30 LIVE sessions and our full on-demand library of expert talks, you can subscribe for just £5 per month. 6 and 12 month memberships are also available at £30 and £50 respectively. Find out how you can subscribe here.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll join us in the New Year.
In the meantime, all of us at Let’s all Talk Mental Health wish you a lovely Christmas.
Tara