Too often we have a reactive over a proactive approach to mental health, focusing on mental ill health rather than on thriving. Matt Bawler shares his work around this, including establishing strong foundations and providing children with the tools and agency to be able to thrive in life.

Read Matt’s article here:

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/proactively-promoting-positive-mental-health/

Listen to more:

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like: 

Matt’s previous episode and article around Growth mindset in early childhood - https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/growth-mindset-in-early-childhood/

Dawn Jone’s episode and article on Problematising behaviour management systems - https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/problematising-behaviour-management-systems/ 

Dr Mine Conkbayir’s episode and article on Self-regulation, co-regulation and mental health - https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/self-regulation-co-regulation-and-mental-health/

Maureen Hunt’s episode and article on Self-efficacy in young children - https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/self-efficacy-in-young-children/

Episode break down:

00:00 – What do we mean by proactive mental health?
05:00 – Reverse engineering and going ‘upstream’
07:00 – Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
08:00 – A deep belief of not being lovable
10:00 – Falling over to get back up again
12:00 – What is behind the behaviour?
17:00 – Watching the language you use
23:30 – ‘I am, I can and I will’ framework
27:30 – What’s wrong with affirmations?
31:00 – High self-esteem vs positive self-esteem
34:00 – Growth over happiness & reclaiming resilience
37:00 – Threat vs challenge
41:00 – ‘What’s right with you’ vs ‘what’s wrong with you’
41:20 – 24 character strengths
42:00 – ‘Use your tools’
43:00 – Moving away from sticker culture
44:00 – Moving away from ‘othering’
48:20 – Using stories to explore challenges
50:45 – Embodied agency
53:00 – Matt’s current projects
57:00 – Book recommendations

For more episodes and articles visit The Voice of Early Childhood website: https://www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com