FLASH

Feedback from a mum - July 2025

Feedback from a FLASH Mum – July 2025

Hopeline

If you, or a young person you know, not coping with life? For confidential suicide prevention advice contact:

Hopeline 0800 0684141

This service is run by an excellent and supportive charity called Paryrus their website is www.papyrus-uk.org

On line course

• About the Understanding Young Minds course. Free digital Self-Harm course available for parents/ carers. At Virtual College we have worked in partnership with SelfharmUK to create a free online course designed to help parents talk about the issue of self-harm with their children. This online course, ‘Talking to your children about emotional resilience and self-harm’, has been designed to provide you with a basic awareness of the subject to help you approach your children with confidence about the issue. This course comes with a downloadable certificate and is crucial for anyone who works with vulnerable children, young people or adults. For more information see https://www.virtual-college.co.uk/resources/free-courses/understanding-young-minds 
• Self harm introduction- free course online for parents understanding-young-minds

Video Links

• Ted Talks
• The Adolescent Brain
• This animation video gives the viewer a glimpse into sensory overload, and how often our sensory experiences intertwine in everyday life. Sensory Overload – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2P4Ed6G3gw

Recommended Books

• Suffolk-Libraries-books-on-parenting-Understanding-teenagers-Sex-gender-and-LGBT-awareness
• Suffolk-Libraries-books-on-parenting-Understanding-teenagers-Support-for-parents-and-carers
• Suffolk-Libraries-books-on-parenting-Understanding-teenagers-Wellbeing-and-resilience

Nicola Morgan website & blog links

Nicola Morgan – We advocate the work of Nicola Morgan. Nicola, the teenage brain woman, is an internationally-acclaimed author and speaker who has been invited all over the world to speak about her work. She was a multi-award-winning teenage novelist before writing the best-selling Blame My Brain – the Amazing Teenage Brain Revealed, which has been a best-seller for nearly twenty years, translated into many languages, and reprinted countless times. As well as her novels and books for younger children, including Thomas the Tank Engine books, she has written on stress, peer pressure and friendships, screen time and social media, body image, sleep, resilience, brain health, anxiety, all aspects of wellbeing and looking after one’s brain, and the science of reading. In 2018, she was awarded the SLA’s prestigious award for Outstanding Contribution to Information Books.

Nicola Morgan website: https://nicolamorgan.com

Nicola Morgan Blog  https://nicolamorgan.com/all-articles/

Link to all the amazing  books written by Nicola Morgan Books – Nicola Morgan

The links below are key blog posts we strongly recommend reading.

• Teenage social brain: In 2023, there was a new edition of the book, Blame My Brain – The amazing teenage brain revealed. This blog introduces a whole new chapter on screens, social media and the social brain. Blog link: Teenage social brain – Nicola Morgan
• Empathy: This blog has articles about the role of books, and particularly the discussion about reading fiction or nonfiction plus links to Nicola’s reflections on empathy. Blog link: The Teenage Brain Woman On: Empathy – Nicola Morgan  
• Anxiety: In this blog Nicola uses the metaphor as “You are the cabin crew” to explain how you can make a huge difference to the mental state of the young people around you. Blog link: Adults are the cabin crew for young people’s anxiety – Nicola Morgan

Articles and links relating to self harm

• PAPYRUS Supporting-Your-Child-A-Guide-for-Parents (Self-harm & Suicide) https://www.papyrus-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Supporting-Your-Child-A5-Booklet-English-2023.pdf
• Coping with Self-Harm Brochure
• Recommended to us helpful Apps and web-sites

Articles and links relating to screen and social media

• Family Lives, Parents Guide to the latest Social Media and Instant Messaging Apps https://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/your-family/online-safety/parents-guide-to-the-latest-social-media-and-instant-messaging-apps
• Screen Time Log- https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/downloads/screen-time-log.pdf
• Screen time.. what as parents are we modeling

Communication with teens links & articles

• UNICEF
  

  https://www.unicef.org/parenting/child-care/11-tips-communicating-your-teen

• A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Teenagers. Oxfordshire CC-https://www2.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/sites/default/files/folders/documents/childreneducationandfamilies/workingwithchildren/publicationsparents/guide_to_understanding_teenagers.pdf

Raising Teens self esteem links & articles

• Queer-Futures-Summary-Report – https://www.queerfutures.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Queer-Futures-Summary-Report.pdf

Family issues links & articles

• “The-Spoon-Theory” Christine Miserandino, Metaphor for parents with child or young person with ASD https://lymphoma-action.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/2020-05/Spoon%20theory%20by%20Christine%20Miserandino.pdf
• The Courage of Parenting When You Have A History of Trauma by Gretchen-Schmelzer – https://gretchenschmelzer.com/parents-corner/2015/8/11/parenting-when-you-have-a-history-of-trauma
• Young Minds Mental illness-family – https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/coping-with-life/family/

Managing difficult behaviours & situations links & articles

• When Emotions Run High by Shelly Steel
• Depression Basic, by Child Mind Institute – https://childmind.org/guide/depression-in-kids-quick-guide/
• Anxiety Basics, by Child Mind Institute- https://childmind.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/CMI_2018CMHR.pdf
• The kids guide to staying awesome and in control

Articles & links relating to parents taking care of themselves

• Advice for crisis support
• 5 Ways to Unwind After a Hard Day of Being a Mom https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/mom-mother/unwind-hard-day-mom/
• The beach visualization relaxation script