Gratitude Is An Attitude
Did you know that grateful people sleep better? Researchers have found that people who practice gratitude feel considerably happier (25%) than those in a control group; they are more joyful, enthusiastic, interested, and determined.
Grateful people not only feel good, but they act good, so to speak; their joy and enthusiasm is palpable to others. Studies show that people who have been taught to practice being appreciative offer more emotional support to other people. Grateful people are more likely to be both kind and helpful, and the spouses and friends of those who intentionally practice gratitude report increases in energy, excitement, and attentiveness.
We need to teach our children to be grateful because Australian culture glorifies independence and undervalues how much others help. We see our blessings as hard-earned. One gratitude researcher, in a recent article for Greater Good magazine, describes a scene from The Simpsons: “When asked to say grace at the family dinner table, Bart Simpson offers the following words: ‘Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing.’” This sense of entitlement will not lead to happy lives. Pioneering social scientists think that 40% of our happiness comes from intentional, chosen activities throughout the day. Choose to be entitled, choose to be grateful—whatever you decide, it is going to influence your happiness.
The good news is that gratitude is not a fixed trait. It’s is a skill that can be cultivated, like kicking a soccer ball or speaking French. Gratitude is one of the ways that we teach our children to forge critical social bonds. So as a society it is in our best interest to teach habits of thankfulness and appreciation to children. One way to do this is to keep a gratefulness diary – write down your blessings once a day or count your blessings once a week, in no time you will be paying attention to the things around you that make life worth living.
Practising the skill of being grateful is something that will insulate you from mental illness such as depression and anxiety, and is often used in treatment to assist in recovery. Using this with children is especially fun, and watching kids become more grateful is a wonderful experience, as is helping children to recover from depression or anxiety and live full, happy lives. I’m counting my blessings on that score!
Bright Ideas Approach
Bright Ideas is an innovative psychology and coaching clinic that provides a range of services for the prevention and treatment of mental health disorders. Taking an educational, clinical and family-oriented approach, we offer our expertise in child and adolescent counselling, mental illness counselling for adults, life coaching, psychological consultancy for behavioural therapy for children, parenting counselling and education. Bright Ideas uses positive psychology and the latest evidence based techniques to lead our clients to live a full, rich and meaningful life. Whether the issue is anxiety, depression, self harm or any other problem causing you or your child distress, Bright Ideas can help you to gain skills and strategies to help.
Teenager adolesent Counselling
Bright Ideas is skilled in providing the particular counselling required to reach out to adolescents. Whether the counselling is about issues at home, at school or with friends, Bright Ideas Child Psychologist can support the young person to gain skills and strategies. Using the latest techniques and research from around the world, Bright Ideas works with your child to make life better.
In particular, adolescent counselling is intended to help adolescents make sense of their feelings and behaviour. Approaches such as family therapy also provide both parent and teenager with the chance of exploring their relationship and voicing their feelings in a supportive environment.
Parents usually attend the initial session, which will generally be an interview or assessment session. This allows you and your Child Psychologist to develop an understanding of you and your child’s needs. Together you will make decisions about the type of intervention and support which best suits your child.
About the Author
Bright Ideas is an innovative psychology and coaching clinic that provides a range of services for the prevention and treatment of mental health disorders. Taking an educational, clinical and family-oriented approach, we offer our expertise in counselling, coaching, consultancy and education.
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