Early lessons lead to stronger adults
There’s a direct link between the life skills we develop in our formative years and the strength of our relationships and mental health as adults.
Statistics from BeyondBlue indicate that half of adult mental health issues begin in childhood — before 14 years of age. The majority of kids in Australia are doing pretty well but even pre-COVID figures indicate that one-in-seven kids under the age of 12 experiences some form of mental distress requiring intervention.
The pandemic has exacerbated community and household stress. Over the past year, more parents have been seeking help for their kids’ mental health needs. Common issues have included anxiety, fear, clinginess and sleep troubles, as well as low moods and worry. Furthermore, in one study one-in-five parents admitted they struggled dealing with the emotional and social needs of their children as well as their own financial, emotional and psychological needs.
Advances in neuroscience are highlighting a direct link between the part of the brain responsible for emotional processing, and the impact on memory, learning, cognition and social skills development. It’s also been found that the development of emotional intelligence can provide consistent positive social and academic outcomes for children, and lower the risk of depression.
Early interventions in preschool and primary years have significant potential to improve social-emotional wellbeing for children, across their lifetime and can provide protective factors against the onset of mood disorders in teens and young adults.
An innovative Perth company, Emotional Literacy and Mindfulness Academy for Kids, is re-conceptualising mental health. Through combining the science of sound therapy, play therapy, colour therapy, and mindfulness, ELMA offers a six-week program for children (aged 5-9) and a new program is aimed at pre-teens (10-12 years).
The concept for the academy developed from a quiet place, according to Tenille Bentley, the company’s founder. After running a global charity reaching 30,000 children in four countries, Ms Bentley realised there was more to do.
“I asked how can I create a lasting, sustainable and positive impact? A lot of problems in society have band-aid solutions and not sustainable ones,” she said.
“With the rapid increase of children’s mental health issues, ‘behavioural issues’ and suicide. Especially now because of COVID. Kids are feeling more isolated than ever before. Couple that with too much device time and we have hit a generation that is unable to cope.
“We are different because we infuse a unique combination of teaching modalities.”
The academy helps children deal with big emotions, and builds mental resilience, empathy and compassion. In doing so kids develop greater awareness about how to regulate their feelings and develop coping skills. The appetite for these kinds of programs is growing — the academy has had more than 300 kids graduate. And passionate ELMA instructors are teaching programs across the globe — from Russia to Egypt and around Australia. Parents are reporting positive outcomes and kids openly communicating about their feelings as a result of the programs.
But there’s a larger imperative driving ELMA’s mission — it’s about skilling our future leaders to tackle some of the big issues we’re facing as a society.
“I also wanted our planet governed by leaders with emotional intelligence. If we start with our kids. They can build emotional literacy skills and then we have better leaders,” Ms Bentley said. And this is what sets ELMA apart. It’s their unrelenting desire to innovate, and to see beyond the surface and address root causes. The company takes bold but peaceful forward-thinking action. For the health and wellbeing of future generations.
This article was first published in The West Australian in Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in Agenda, 1 May 2021.