|
Update! In response to Cyclone Gabrielle the New Zealand Red Cross is funding The Rising Tide project to bring the Worry Bug resources to the families, schools and children of the Hawkes Bay for use in Term 1 of 2024. We will be in touch with Hawkes Bay schools shortly.
We all experience anxiety at times in our lives and often it can be triggered by an event. The experiences of the children of Canterbury first inspired these resources, however they can be used by any children, parents and teachers who wish to support children experiencing mild to moderate anxiety in a low-intensity way in times of change and stress and to support the worries that come with navigating family and school life.
|
|
'Everything is going to be alright' is a video exploring families' experiences of managing anxiety after a disaster, whilst ‘Making Everything Alright’ are three videos which address different themes within the Te Whare Tapa Wha model with bio-psychosocial ways for families to manage after disaster or significant familial change.
|
|
|
|
The Worry Bug Project books utilise Home and School Scaffolding. This is an approach that leans on trusted relationships that are already established between children and their families, and children and their teachers, to deliver therapeutic information, strategies and support to a child, within their family and school systems. In this project there is an assumption that there is already a relationship between the child and teacher and the child and family. Home and School Scaffolding works to support the child within these relationships but also to build or strengthen the relationship between the school and home to provide a collaborative wraparound of strategies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
"This is unmistakably a New Zealand/Aotearoa story – the use of Māori and the descriptions of what Ari notices in his rural township are so familiar. At no stage did I consider the themes in the book as having to relate to the Christchurch earthquakes. The strategies embedded in the story are useful for any young person whether they worry a lot or a little.
My daughter gave Rising Tide a solid eight out of 10. She told me it was “relatable” and that, “If I have secrets that feel really big and kinda out of control, I’d talk to someone… [like] you, nan or maybe dad.” Perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything more."
- Anna Mowat, Family Advisor at All Right?
"These books are terrific resources for helping young children and families to better understand anxiety and how to deal with it. They are age-appropriate, engaging, well written, and well-illustrated. The exercises at the end of each book provide great guidelines for further exploring anxiety, its effect on us, and how to manage it more effectively. The exercises are clearly based on cognitive behaviour therapy, which if done well, has been shown to reduce anxiety. I would whole-heartedly suggest that Christchurch schools and parents make use of these great resources."
- (Former) Children’s Commissioner Dr Russell Wills
My daughter gave Rising Tide a solid eight out of 10. She told me it was “relatable” and that, “If I have secrets that feel really big and kinda out of control, I’d talk to someone… [like] you, nan or maybe dad.” Perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything more."
- Anna Mowat, Family Advisor at All Right?
"These books are terrific resources for helping young children and families to better understand anxiety and how to deal with it. They are age-appropriate, engaging, well written, and well-illustrated. The exercises at the end of each book provide great guidelines for further exploring anxiety, its effect on us, and how to manage it more effectively. The exercises are clearly based on cognitive behaviour therapy, which if done well, has been shown to reduce anxiety. I would whole-heartedly suggest that Christchurch schools and parents make use of these great resources."
- (Former) Children’s Commissioner Dr Russell Wills
"I hope folks are enjoying the Worry Bug and continuing to use it. I know it's easy to get busy and move onto the next thing. As a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist I am really impressed by the care and planning that has gone into the Worry Bug."
- John Gregson (Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist)
"Our children have loved the books and we have enjoyed reading and sharing and mostly talking about things! I am sorry we do not have anything to share or show but just wanted to email to say what a great idea this was and how valuable it has been for all of our families, in lots of different ways."
- Belinda-Pebbles Preschools
- John Gregson (Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist)
"Our children have loved the books and we have enjoyed reading and sharing and mostly talking about things! I am sorry we do not have anything to share or show but just wanted to email to say what a great idea this was and how valuable it has been for all of our families, in lots of different ways."
- Belinda-Pebbles Preschools