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Article

What is wrong with my child?

February 2, 2021 by Natacha Latouf

As a therapist, I am confronted with worrisome, concerned, frustrated and exhausted parents…. that have had enough or no longer know what to do with their child’s behaviour, or notice something unusual or out of the norm. Sometimes the behaviours or mannerisms are noticed by the parents themselves or parents receive feedback from the teachers.

The unfortunate thing is when parents don’t do anything about it, because they don’t have the knowledge or the resources, or have a lack of awareness and understanding and may misinterpret the behaviour or mannerism as “naughty”. . . Some parents are ignorant and may say how the child will just grow out of it, and then don’t seek help immediately. But in actual fact we are doing the children a disservice. It may be a mental health problem or disorder of some kind. If it is not addressed, the disorder or problem can lead to risk for academic failure, substance abuse and a clash with the juvenile justice system — all of which come at a tremendous cost for the parents, their families and the community.

I came across the Child Mind Institute, an organization based in USA. They came up with a brilliant tool on their website called the Symptom Checker https://childmind.org/symptomchecker/.

‘Here’s how it works:

You indicate the behaviors that are making you concerned about your child by answering a series of questions. The Symptom Checker analyzes your answers to give you a list of psychiatric or learning disorders that are associated with those symptoms.

Since individual symptoms can reflect more than one disorder, this tool will give you a range of possibilities and guide you toward next steps. This tool cannot diagnose your child, but it can help you inform yourself about possible diagnoses and will offer information and articles to help you learn about them, to facilitate a conversation with a professional.”

Check it out….. it can guide you in the right direction…..

Filed Under: Article

PARENTS! How NOT to be REACTIVE!

September 21, 2020 by Natacha Latouf

“Jonathan! How many times have I told you to pick up your shoes and put them in your room! I am gonna end up breaking my neck, falling over them. Stop, misbehaving and listen for once!”

“Why do you keep asking, Jessica? For goodness sakes, I already said NO, you cannot have sweets before dinner! DO NOT backchat and roll your eyes at me!”

“Musa! Hurry up! We are going to be late for school. Put down that iPad already and get to the car! How many times do I have to tell you! Juuust you watch, tomorrow morning you shall not have any iPad time.”

Do these sound familiar? Are you the parent that just cannot handle how your kids JUST DON”T LISTEN……and how they are rude and disrespectful?! Are you being a reactive parent?

[Read more…] about PARENTS! How NOT to be REACTIVE!

Filed Under: Article

RESILIENCE: bouncing back

August 26, 2020 by Natacha Latouf

Have you ever felt knocked down that the walls around you feel like they are just crumbling down and you feel so despondent and vulnerable and have no way of picking yourself up and it doesn’t matter what anyone says? You just don’t have the motivation, strength and courage, to get up and go. As a therapist I have seen some clients fall and call out for help and come through some really difficult moments in their lives.

Well, there is something called Resilience. Resilience as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/resilience: ” the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened.”

[Read more…] about RESILIENCE: bouncing back

Filed Under: Article Tagged With: resilience

What adults can do to teach their children that #differences matter?

June 25, 2020 by Natacha Latouf

There has been a lot of tension, sadness, conflict, hatred, fear, trauma and sometimes apathy that has been taking place in the world due to DIFFERENCES.

We have all grown up understanding that we are not the same as everyone else (not even amongst our siblings). We may be similar in some ways but not the same, therefore…. DIFFERENT!

[Read more…] about What adults can do to teach their children that #differences matter?

Filed Under: Article, Uncategorized

SOCIAL DISTANCING ACTIVITIES: still keeping the fun, interaction and connection going.

June 16, 2020 by Natacha Latouf

Social distancing as we know it now is to prevent the spread of the virus. We have to come to accept that. But we are humans and the primary function of survival in humans is having a social connection and interaction with others. We rely on a foundation of relationships but social distancing is disrupting our social connections and this disconnection is spreading something other than the virus… emotional distress and trauma within ourselves.

[Read more…] about SOCIAL DISTANCING ACTIVITIES: still keeping the fun, interaction and connection going.

Filed Under: Covid-19 & Lockdown, Uncategorized

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IMPORTANT – Covid-19 – Contact details for South Africa

www.sacoronavirus.co.za COVID 19 National Crisis Helpline: 0800 322 322 COVID 19 National Crisis … See more about Important Covid-19 Numbers for South Africa

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Who am I?

Hi there, I’m Natacha.
Play Therapist, wife and mother.

Social Worker specialising in Play Therapy.
BA (Social Work) MDiac (Play Therapy)
Practice Number: 089 000 0347361
SACSSP: 10-19833

I received my BA(Social Work) from the University of Pretoria, and wrote my dissertation “Parenting Styles affecting the behaviour of 5 year olds” for my Masters in Play Therapy through Unisa.

I am a speaker at events and have also been featured in articles for publications.

I have a practice in the East of Pretoria, but  also do Video consultations.

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