Supporting children in general practice using focused psychological strategies

Listen to the following audio (2 minutes, 10 seconds) to hear Dr Tim Jones, GP and Specific Interests Child and Young Person's Health Chair at the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), talk about how FPS training scaffolds your work with children and families. A transcript of the audio is available here.

After the introduction, the first module of content will provide you with an understanding of the current mental health support services available for children and families and invites you to explore the positive impact GPs can have for children within the mental health care system.

The next three modules focus on knowledge and skills in assessment and engagement, formulation, and implementation of FPS approaches with children. These modules draw on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, psychoeducation and transdiagnostic skills, many of which you will already be using with families in your current practice. This course aims to build confidence by demonstrating GPs’ existing, transferrable skills and introducing some of the additional skills needed to undertake FPS with children and families.

This course is for GPs who have completed their level two FPS skills training (FPS ST) and are registered GP providers of FPS. It is designed for GPs who wish to further enhance their FPS practice through gaining knowledge and skills related to addressing the mental health concerns of children aged 5–12 years.

This course will provide you with the CPD hours you are required to complete each triennium to maintain your FPS registration and ensure continued use of the Medicare (MBS) item numbers that relate to the provision of FPS.

This course assumes you have completed FPS ST and are registered as a GP provider of FPS. If you are yet to complete FPS ST, the following Emerging Minds course will help you obtain this registration:

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

• identify key techniques for establishing collaborative relationships with children and parents through effective communication and cooperation
• identify and implement several appropriate FPS interventions for common child mental health conditions by actively involving children and families in your case formulation practices
• formulate treatment plans for children based on the FPS of CBT, motivational interviewing, psychoeducation and transdiagnostic approaches.

It is estimated that this course will take you approximately 7 hours to complete, including reading material and watching videos.

You can undertake the course across multiple sessions at your own pace. The last screen you visit before logging off will be bookmarked and you will have the option of returning to that screen when you next log in.

This course does not cover the specific knowledge and skills required to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. We recommend the following courses to support your learning:

• Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and children: A framework for understanding
• Using Aboriginal cultural knowledge systems to strengthen families’ resilience
• Our Woven Ways: Connecting practitioners with the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families (RACGP, Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine [ACRRM] and General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration [GPMHSC] accredited course)
• Replanting the Birthing Trees: Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and children in the first 2,000 days (RACGP, ACRRM and GPMHSC accredited course)

For knowledge and skills on working in culturally safe and appropriate ways with children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds, we recommend the following courses:

• Understanding children’s mental health in culturally diverse communities
  
• Culturally responsive practice strategies for children’s mental health

The reflection activities placed throughout this course are designed to help you consider the content presented and relate it to your own context. You will be prompted to enter your thoughts into a text area, and your writings will accumulate as you progress through the course. Treat it like a learning journal.

Use these activities to think about what you are currently doing in your practice, or what you would like to do, and to respond to the content presented in the course. You will also be encouraged to ‘name the FPS’ in many of the reflections. This is where you will be required to identify the FPS skill you have observed a practitioner using within a particular practice demonstration video.

GPs are human. It is important to put boundaries in place to ensure your own safety, and to attend to your own self-care and the care of your family by creating strategies that promote resilience. It is especially important as you move further into practice in mental health. This will enable you to provide effective, long-term health care.

Some essential tools for putting in place strategies for self-care include:

• being prepared – thinking through the ‘what-ifs’ step by step
• understanding personal signs of being overwhelmed
• setting prompts that will notify you that you need to recognise your limits
• pre-determining how you will take a break to reflect and review, and how you know you will be OK to re-engage
• linking into peer supports
• engaging in and prescheduling regular stress-reduction activities
• seeking opportunities to reflect on your experiences with your professional colleagues.

For more tips on self-care, visit the RACGP mental health resources for GPs.

You can begin the process of self-care as you work through the course by being aware of your emotional responses. Please seek help if needed.

Here are some general tips:

• We do not recommend undertaking the entire course in one sitting. Give yourself some breaks. Even if you feel that you don’t need a break, it’s a good idea to take one regularly anyway.
• Be aware of your emotions as you progress through the course. Take action if you are starting to feel stressed or upset.
• Be aware of your emotional responses after you complete the course.

If this content raises concerns, please seek help. Call Drs4Drs on 1300 374 377, Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, or SANE Australia on 1800 18 7263.

For the purposes of this course, the term parent encompasses the biological and adoptive parents of a child, as well as individuals who have chosen to take up a primary or shared responsibility in raising that child.

Within this course, child or children is used to describe to any child aged between 5–12 years.

Social and emotional wellbeing refers to the way a person thinks and feels about themselves and others. It incorporates behavioural and emotional strengths and is a facet of child development.¹

In broad terms, social and emotional wellbeing is the foundation for physical and mental health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is a holistic concept that results from a network of relationships between individuals, family, kin and Community. It also recognises the importance of connection to Land, culture, spirituality and Ancestry, and how these affect the individual.²

‘Social and emotional wellbeing’ is also used by some people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, who may have differing concepts of mental health and mental illness.³

Social and emotional development involves the development of skills required to:

• identify and understand one’s feelings
• read and understand the emotional states of other people
• manage strong emotions and how they are expressed
• regulate behaviour
• develop empathy
• establish and maintain relationships.⁴

Watch the following video (2 minutes, 7 seconds) for a quick guide on how to navigate Emerging Minds Learning courses.