Connections that can help child and family wellbeing
Having access to supportive relationships can help a child to thrive. These relationships can also support parents and strengthen the whole family when a parent experiences a mental illness.
The ‘My child’s support network’ guide has been developed in partnership with parents who live with a mental illness, their children and supporters. It is designed to help parents think about the relationships in their child’s life and ways to strengthen these to support their child and the family too.
Use of the guide
The guide is designed to be used separately for each child in the family. There are three steps to completing it:
- Step 1:
Identify the closest relationships in your child’s life. - Step 2:
Consider the role of each of these relationships in your child’s life and how these connections could be strengthened, so that they can be used in tough times, or during times of major change. - Step 3:
Offer your child the ‘My connections’ worksheet to help them identify the people in their life that they feel comfortable to contact if they need or want to. Invite them to keep the completed worksheet in a safe place.