Gheorg

Anxiety is basically predicting the future, but it’s all negative. It’s kind of like fear that has stuck around for a bit too long. The Gheorg app specifically talks about anxiety as those big worries that stick with us. Some anxiety is a normal part of a kid’s life. But how can we tell the difference between expected vs. disruptive anxiety? Here we discuss signs of an anxious moment, and how to role model accurate thinking. Gheorg founder and psychologist Dr Louise Metcalf speaks with Gheorg’s Schools Program Manager and Mindset Coach, Cynthia Painter, about supporting your child to balance both positive and negative perspectives. Listen to the episode to learn about the science of anxiety, and how to nurture a growth mindset in your child. --------------------------------------------------------- TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro: Anxiety - It’s something that worries a lot of parents about their kids. So let’s see how we can understand it to better support them 01:21 What is anxiety, how can we help our kids reduce or navigate out of those situations 03:04 Scientific overview of the genetic causes and purpose of anxiety: predetermination, methylation and hypervigilance 05:34 Learned aspects contributing to the development of anxiety: it’s not just what a parent communicates, but also how a child receives the message 05:53 Acknowledging that communication is complex, and anxiety is a complicated result of both genetic and learned factors 06:50 Understanding personal and cultural sensitivities, and role modelling helpful strategies 07:38 Anxiety can be a facilitator of avoiding things: social phobia in introverted children 08:04 What anxiety does to our thinking, capacity to deal with situations, and our body 9:10 Fight or flight mode and its link to the survival of our prehistoric ancestors: adrenaline and noadrenaline’s physiological effects 11:28 How does anxiety affect our thinking processes ‘in the moment’ vs ‘longer term, including scientific effects on the brain’s prefrontal cortex 12:54 Negative impacts of anxiety on our memory and recall - school exams being a key area where kids need support 13:23 Patterns developed by anxiety around particular people and places, becoming predictions and social anxiety 14:01 How patterns of anxiety develop into fixed beliefs, mindsets and identities that create further challenges, including sensory and neurological issues 15:37 Some anxiety is normal: signals a child is having an anxious moment, and how to role model processing anxious feelings 18:17 Disruptions from anxiety: how parents and teachers can gauge when children need more support; including triggers, physical symptoms and avoidance behaviours 20:50 Language of anxiety: recognising anxious phrases and mindsets within kids’ communication; “I can’t …”, “It never …”, “... always bad” etc 22:30 Believing and supporting kids who are showing disruptive signs of anxiety, and how to reframe ineffective messaging 24:09 A mental checklist: Separate anxious behaviours from normal ‘kid behaviour’ by keeping track of frequency and consistency 25:06 Challenges for us as parents: talking to kids about their fears, hearing where they are coming from and supporting them away from avoidance 26:39 Strategies and techniques that parents can use to support kids, including the Gheorg app, mindfulness, sensory activities and practising reframing 28:37 Modelling language from a growth mindset, and getting curiosity about phrases from a fixed mindset 29:07 Acknowledging big emotions: Practising language to acknowledge kids’ reality, and not dismissing their feelings 30:12 Louise defines hope as the skill to see a positive future, and how it can nurture emotional regulation in our kids 32:15 ‘Hope techniques’: Practising gratitude and looking for positives when children are in a calm state 34:04 Reframing gratitude techniques as just a memory exercise, and why they are effective. You can replace ‘grateful’ with ‘great’, ‘fun’ or ‘interesting’ things that happened each day 35:10 Building emotional ‘muscle memory’ and resilience: Hope as accurate thinking, the practice of looking for hopeful opportunities, and grounded positivity 36:42 Confirmation bias: Training our brains to look for positive feedback, rather than just negative feedback 37:59 Podcast episode summary --------------------------------------------------------- Visit the Gheorg website: https://www.gheorg.com/ Follow Gheorg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gheorgtherobot/ Follow Gheorg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gheorg/ Follow Gheorg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gheorgtherobot/ Download the Gheorg app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/gheorg/id1508480035 Download the Gheorg app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gheorg.gheorg

If you ask any parent about big emotions, they will know exactly what you mean. When we talk about kids’ big emotions, it’s generally the challenging ones, rather than the big joys. Here we discuss why kids have big emotions, both the psychological and physiological reasons. Gheorg founder and psychologist Dr Louise Metcalf speaks with Gheorg’s Schools Program Manager and Mindset Coach, Cynthia Painter, about supporting your child to develop emotional regulation skills. Listen to the episode to learn about the purpose of big emotions, and how to teach kids to manage them in a purposeful way. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro: Big emotions, and how to help both ourselves and our kids with them at the same time 01:32 Navigating our world: the role of the brain’s prefrontal cortex in children's emotions vs. adult's emotions 05:00 The stages of emotional development from birth, and how each can affect big emotions 10:34 How we can help our kids have a positive & healthy relationship with their emotions, 11:54 What kids emotions are trying to to tells us, and how we can better understand them 13:48 How adult’s behaviour can trigger kid’s big emotions, and leading with empathy before logic 15:20 Being an imperfect parent is better for your child’s development, and the importance of self-compassion 17:26 Why managing our own emotions will support our kids big emotions 19:32 Tips to ground ourselves emotions during stressful moments 21:34 Discovering what helps your child to regulate emotions, and how to teach them to practise these skills 22:42 Discussing emotional regulation strategies with your child 25:05 Developing children’s language and vocabulary to describe their emotions, and tools you can use to support this 28:04 Teaching kids to locate emotions in their body, notice the sensations, and to recognise these same cues in others 28:58 The importance of having hope, and how it can help us to develop emotional regulation skills 31:30 The crucial mental and physiological mechanics behind fear, and why facing it creates positive outcomes 32:03 Dealing with guilt and shame as adults, and what their purpose is in our life 32:51 How to reframe challenging times through a hopeful mindset, and grow through processing difficult emotions 34:16 Key takeaways: Regulate yourself first and work out what works for you - as the beautiful, imperfect parent that you are --------------------------------------------------------- Visit the Gheorg website: https://www.gheorg.com/ Follow Gheorg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gheorgtherobot/ Follow Gheorg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gheorg/ Follow Gheorg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gheorgtherobot/ Download the Gheorg app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/gheorg/id1508480035 Download the Gheorg app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gheorg.gheorg

Social media has a huge impact on our lives. But it's not always good. Here we discuss social media, how it impacts kids and In this episode, Gheorg founder and psychologist Dr Louise Metcalf speaks with Gheorg’s Schools Program Manager and Mindset Coach, Cynthia Painter, about how to best engage with social media. Listen to the episode to learn about the impact of social media and how to best use it with kids. 00:00 The definition of social media and the many factors to review when considering social media use 03:00 How social media is designed to create tribes and the way different social media platforms work 05:50 The way Louise talks about social media as a psychologist and ways parents can talk to their kids about social media 09:00 The impact of procrasti-scrolling 11:40 The positives of social media and easy access to information 15:00 How scrolling impacts our brains, our cortex and our sense of connection to others 17:20 The unseen impacts of social media - it’s not actually socialising 19:00 How social media impacts self worth and the comparison elements of being online 22:00 The impact of comparing someone else's highlight reel to our lives 24:00 The evolution of technology and how we’re wired to care about what other people think 27:30 How we can help our kids and teens to deal with the series impacts that can come out social media 28:00 Some of the negative impacts of social media: FOMO, pressure to respond to messages, fear of not being enough, can increase negative self talk, and sense of isolation 30:50 The ugly scary stuff that can come out of social media: online abuse, bullying, online scams and what kids are up against 36:00 Ways to talk to your kids about their social media use and protecting them in the online world 38:00 How to really engage with kids and encourage them to have boundaries 39:30 How to break down complicated information and talking to young kids about safety 41:15 Questions you can ask kids help them open up and how to support them when they want to take initiative 43:00 The long-term impacts of parents sharing about their kids online 46:50 How to use social media to create more hope in your life and your kids lives. 47:00 How social media is like the story of the two wolves - which one do you feed? --------------------------------------------------------- Visit the Gheorg website: https://www.gheorg.com/ Follow Gheorg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gheorgtherobot/ Follow Gheorg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gheorg/ Follow Gheorg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gheorgtherobot/ Download the Gheorg app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/gheorg/id1508480035 Download the Gheorg app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gheorg.gheorg&hl=en_US&gl=US

In this episode, Gheorg founder and psychologist Dr Louise Metcalf speaks with Gheorg’s Schools Program Manager and Mindset Coach, Cynthia Painter, about how to make the most of technology with kids. When to use technology, different types of screens, the impact it has on kids, and ways to make technology even better for your family. Listen to the episode to learn more about kids and screen-time. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction to kids, hope and their screen time use 02:30 What are the different types of screens that we use 03:45 Breaking down screens - devices, the use of the screen, and what are we exposed to 08:20 The different types of screen time usage and the amount of time we spend on screens 14:30 Critical thinking and the psychological impacts of screen time 17:00 Emotional impacts of screen time 19:30 Screen time, attention, eye time and gaming 23:30 How parents can talk to their kids about their screen time and the importance of talking about what technology and incentives do 26:00 The impact screens have on kids socialising skills and using technology at nighttime 29:00 Taking care of your digital health and getting support from your kids, their friends and their parents by keeping them informed about the boundaries for your kids screen time, technology and hope 33:30 Practical tip: doing a screen audit of your technology use 37:00 The importance of regularly discussing and being away of your technology and screen use --------------------------------------------------------- Visit the Gheorg website: https://www.gheorg.com/ Follow Gheorg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gheorgtherobot/ Follow Gheorg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gheorg/ Follow Gheorg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gheorgtherobot/ Download the Gheorg app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/gheorg/id1508480035 Download the Gheorg app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gheorg.gheorg&hl=en_US&gl=US

During the world-wide pandemic, there have been some intense lockdown or stay-at-home orders for people around the world and in particularly in Australia and New Zealand. In this episode, Gheorg founder and psychologist Dr Louise Metcalf speaks with Gheorg’s Schools Program Manager and Mindset Coach, Cynthia Painter, about how best to transition out of lockdown with kids. Listen to the episode to learn about the impact of lockdowns and strategies you can use to empower kids to ease out of lockdown. --------------------------------------------------------- TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction, being in lockdown and building hope to transition out of lockdown 02:45 The impacts of lockdowns and big challenging events on people 12:00 The impacts of lockdown on kids and navigating re-entry anxiety 14:15 Dealing with challenging conversations and impacts of the pandemic 17:00 What kids are dealing with as transition out of lockdown 19:00 How has lockdown impacted the way we think about the world 25:00 Practical things parents can do to support kids in this transition 29:00 How to deal with upsets after going back to school? 31:30 What can we do to support our kids when they’re struggling with the transition back to school 35:00 How to prepare yourselves and your kids for the return to school and life outside of lockdown --------------------------------------------------------- Visit the Gheorg website: https://www.gheorg.com/ Follow Gheorg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gheorgtherobot/ Follow Gheorg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gheorg/ Follow Gheorg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gheorgtherobot/ Download the Gheorg app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/gheorg/id1508480035 Download the Gheorg app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gheorg.gheorg&hl=en_US&gl=US

What is hope and why is it important to our mental wellbeing? We all know that taking care of our mental health is important. After speaking to countless parents about their kids mental health, and their own mental health as parents, psychologist and Gheorg’s founder Dr Louise Metcalf wanted to do something more to support parents in these challenging times. In the first episode of Gheorg’s Hope Ninja Podcast, Dr Louise Metcalf speaks with Gheorg’s Schools Program Manager and Mindset Coach, Cynthia Painter, about HOPE and how hope can be a key tool for positive mental wellbeing. To be able to support kids with their mental wellbeing, parents need to be aware of their mental health too. And mental health is a big topic! Each week, we’ll be diving into a new topic around mental health and sharing ideas that can support parents and kids with their mental wellbeing. In our first episode, Louise and Cynthia discuss: - What is hope and why it's important - How parents can focus more on hope - A practical way you can integrate hope into your daily life - Dealing with challenging emotions TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction to the Hope Ninja Parents podcast, Dr Louise Metcalf & Cynthia Painter 02:20 What is hope and why are we talking about it? 03:30 What’s the neuroscience approach to hope? 07:00 Talking about big emotions and what does hope have to do with parenting? 08:30 Homeschooling during the pandemic and teaching problem solving 10:15 How do parents know if they need to focus more on hope? 12:00 How our brain structure deals with comparison and risks 14:00 When we focus on the positive, why it’s important and building hope muscles 17:45 How we practice and role model hope 19:40 How do we do this in challenging times like losing a loved one? Why should we process rather than suppress emotions? 23:00 Hope Ninja Parents practical takeaway: having a conversation about the day and having a conversation about hope 24:00 Positive psychology, why we need to make hope cool again for parents and why we need to be able to talk about things we hope for (even if they might not happen) 27:00 Being about to navigate both positive and challenging emotions --------------------------------------------------------- Visit the Gheorg website: https://www.gheorg.com/ Follow Gheorg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gheorgtherobot/ Follow Gheorg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gheorg/ Follow Gheorg on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gheorgtherobot/ Download the Gheorg app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/gheorg/id1508480035 Download the Gheorg app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gheorg.gheorg&hl=en_US&gl=US

Meet Gheorg! The friendly robot designed to help your child improve their emotional intelligence and mental wellbeing. In this video, you'll learn how the Gheorg app works. Gheorg has been designed for kids to use it for only a few minutes a day. Gheorg was designed first for kids with anxiety to help them feel calm. Within the app, kids perform a daily check-in so they can build emotional awareness. Then Gheorg shares stories to improve their emotional intelligence and suggests breathing exercises when they need to feel calm. Download the app and get 10 free check-ins! Learn more on our website: Gheorg.com DOWNLOAD - Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/gheorg/id1508480035 - Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gheorg.gheorg&pli=1