Advice for parents/caregivers

Wondering how you can start a conversation with a young person about their mental health or let them know that you've noticed something is up with their drinking or drug use? We've compiled the following resources to help parents and caregivers have these types of chats more easily.

Thrive te pae ora is a free face to face professional counselling service for young people (rangatahi) aged 12 to 19 and their family (whānau) living in the lower South Island. It’s safe, non-judgemental and completely confidential. We offer one to six sessions of coaching, talking and problem solving to help you cope with life's ups and downs. We focus on helping you build skills to manage mental health difficulties or substance use. Our aim is to improve your overall wellbeing by enhancing the qualities you already have, so you can bounce back more easily in the future.

Effective Communication

In this video Psychologist Clare Rowe gives some great tips on creating quality and effective conversations that can help your teenager to open up about their feelings.

Depression & Anxiety

Some great suggestions about how you can support your family through depression and anxiety in this video.

Your Teen and Self-Care

In this video Psychologist Anna Sidis explains why self-care is especially important for teenagers and how they can practice self-care at home to reduce stress.

Free Parent Helpline 0800 568 856

ParentHelp.org.nz provide practical advice. If you'd like to talk with one of their trained support workers – give their free nationwide helpline a call on 0800 568 856.

Alcohol & Drugs

Watch this video to see where the NZ Drug Foundation's Did You Know series fits in the suite of resources that are available for young people and parents/caregivers.

No Safe Limit

A series of resources to help parents understand the effects of alcohol on teens, as well as helpful strategies and advice to help keep their teens safe.

A Parents Guide to Instagram

Helping teenagers sleep better

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Support for resilience and coping skills

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