May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, and it's the perfect time to address the five best ways parents and caregivers can support the mental health of a highly intuitive child. Post-COVID, many people, especially our children, are still rebounding from the strains and stressors this worldwide illness put on our nation's mental health. Our highly intuitive children are experiencing the rebounding effects of a changing world and are trying to figure out how to navigate these changes with their unique sensitivities.
Research shows that our children thrive best when they feel fully seen, heard, supported, and loved for who they are and how they perceive the world. The five tips below will help support parents with their efforts.
Way #1 - Give your child positive feedback for their abilities, and don't dismiss them.
Give these children positive feedback for their abilities, and don't make a big deal out of them. Talk about them as if they are just like any other talent your child has, and don't dismiss them. Normalizing their intuitive experiences builds their self-trust, self-confidence, and self-love. It removes potential fear and anxiety from their experience and lets your child feel understood, supported, and loved.
It's also important to build an intuitive vocabulary with your child so you both have common words and a language to explain their feelings and experiences. Doing this helps them understand there are actual words to describe what they are going through. The vocabulary doesn't have to be fancy, just understood by both of you. For example, clairvoyance, intuitive vision, or psychic seeing all have the same meaning. Use whichever words feel most comfortable to you and your child. Make the vocabulary age appropriate and let it evolve to more formal terms as the child grows older.
Way #2 - Help your child learn to deal with the stressors from living with heightened intuitive abilities.
Once you recognize your child is highly intuitive and empathic, teach them these basic things: how to set energetic boundaries, protect their energy, and process excess intuitive and empathic energy they accumulated during the day. If you are a parent who doesn't have these same talents or doesn't know how to teach them, you can learn by joining a support group or finding a professional intuitive or intuitive psychotherapist who can help support you and your child. Also, check out our Highly Intuitive Kids website and Facebook parent community (www.highlyintuitivekids.com), where you will find helpful information and resources.
"Perceptive children call for perceptive parenting and guiding. Parents and caregivers can help intuition stay strong in children and ensure it is a lifelong gift instead of a burden. Intuitive empathy is not really a choice in a child. It is an innate lens through which the child perceives life and it deserves respect and support. As parents and caregivers you can help solidify this gift for life by adopting supportive behaviors." – Catherine Crawford, author of the Highly Intuitive Child
Way #3 - Teach them life skills with their abilities in mind.
Help your child self-regulate their energy and abilities through movement and exercise for grounding, proper breathing for present-moment awareness, and creative activities for processing intuitive and empathic energy that can build up in their bodies. Creative endeavors for a child of any age can be very therapeutic. Remember, the intuitive mind is the creative mind.
Way #4 - Build a peer group with other highly intuitive kids so they know they are not alone.
Highly intuitive children have a unique way of perceiving their surroundings that is only easily understood by those with the trait of heightened intuition. This makes it hard for these kids to feel like they fit in and relate to their peers. Most highly intuitive kids live with a sense of feeling different. Building a peer group with other highly intuitive kids is one of the best ways to support these children. They can openly share experiences, relate to their friends, and participate in activities that let them know they are not alone.
Way #5 -Educate Yourself About Your Child's Abilities & Seek Support
Educating yourself about these unique talents is one of the best ways a parent or caregiver can support a highly intuitive child. Your child will go through various changes as they grow from toddler to teen. As they grow, so will their abilities. Their talents as a toddler will most likely morph into different and more expanded abilities as they grow into a teen and young adult. The more you know about the potential of what you can expect, the better prepared you will be, and this will help you provide them with the best support at every stage and keep the lines of communication open.
Where should you start? Visit our Highly Intuitive Kids Website and join our Facebook Parent Community.
These abilities were not understood in the past, and it was difficult for a parent to find resources to help them support their child with their unique talents. Today more individuals and groups are sharing information and advocating for these children. Where do you start? Start by checking out our Highly Intuitive Kids website and Facebook Parent Group. These two resources provide lots of helpful information, resources, and a community you can add to your parenting toolkit to help support you during your parenting journey.
Website: highlyintuitivekids.com
Helping our children honor and protect their mental health is very important, especially now. As parents and caregivers, we must do what we can to help our sensitive, highly intuitive children navigate their thoughts and emotions in a healthy way. We must stay tuned into them at every stage of their development so they get the support they need. Anxiety, depression, and suicide are real issues for our youth that can be minimized or avoided with proper self-care and support.
***If a parent or caregiver's efforts don't relieve a highly intuitive child's stress, anxiety, or depression within a reasonable timeframe, please seek help from a mental health professional as soon as possible. Search for an INTUITIVE psychotherapist or therapist open to hearing about, supporting, and honoring your child's intuitive experiences.***
If you want a professional intuitive to mentor/coach you and your child, please email highlyintuitivekids@gmail.com. I will help you make a connection.
You can find recommended books, videos, online articles, and other helpful information in the Resources section on the Highly Intuitive Kids website. Here are some books to get you started. You can purchase them on Amazon by clicking the button below.
You can learn more about our vision and mission or partner with us by sending an inquiry to highlyintuitivekids@gmail.com
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Peace & Blessings,
Ellen Edmondson
Founder of Highly Intuitive Kids
Highly intuitive mom to an amazing 13-year-old highly intuitive son who was featured on the A&E Psychic Kids show in 2019 and Inside Edition in January 2022.