Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

​

Unlike adults, children may not have the verbal means to express their emotional discomfort and challenges experienced in life.  Hence, it is common to find children manifesting their difficulties as various social or behavioural problems. 

​

The checklist below is adapted from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Copyright, Robert Goodman). Please provide your answers based on the child's behaviour over the past six months. If you have answered "Yes" for 3 or more of the items in any of the symptoms, please consult our therapists.

What are social skills?

​

Social skills enable us to interact, relate and get along with others.  They help us to build and maintain relationships, manage and resolve conflicts and co-operate with each other.

​

Social skills can be broadly grouped into the following five categories. 

Our personal history, family background, values, assumptions, knowledge and experience of the world affect the manner in which we interact and communicate with each other.  Each person is a distinct individual and can have their own unique viewpoint.  It is natural to find people having different priorities to disagree and in conflict with one another.  Conflicts are inevitable in lives and it is worthwhile to find out how you or other influential people in your life manage their conflicts.

​

The quiz below is adapted from the "Conflict Management Styles Quiz" (Source: Reginald (Reg) Adkins, PhD, Elemental Truths).

Please rate each of the statements below on a scale of 1-4 depending on how you would behave under those specific circumstances. Please provide your answers based on how you would behave rather than how you think you should behave.

Are you being what you teach?

​

Parents are their children’s best role models.  In the eye of the child, they are their world.  They are their very first and most important teachers.  The amount of influence that parents can impose upon a child is incalculable.  Children learn by experience.  They mirror their surroundings.  If children are exposed to a loving environment that encourages exploration, creativity, respect and gratitude, it is likely that they, too, will relate to the world in the same way.   

​

The following is a beautiful poem by Dorothy Law Nolte that highlights the importance of role model parents.

Don’t worry, be happy!

​

We all worry about different matters in life such as health, family, relationship or money problems.  However, people with anxiety disorder are extremely worried, even when there is little or no reason to worry about them.  They always believe that things would go wrong.  This worrisome feeling could interfere with their daily lives and their ability to perform their daily tasks. 

​

Common signs and symptoms of Anxiety :

Find more hope in life

​

Every person may feel down, sad or upset occasionally. If these feelings are only short-lived and pass within a couple of days, it is normal. However, when people have depression, it interferes with their daily lives and distorts the way they see themselves, their lives and people around them. Generally speaking, people who have depression usually have a more negative attitude and feel that they are not able to solve a problem or situation in a positive manner.

​

Depression is a common but serious illness. Many people with a depressive illness can improve with the assistance of counselling, psychotherapies, medications and other methods. 

The severity of depression depends on how much it impacts on a person’s daily life.

Time for better sleep

​

We generally need around seven to eight hours of sleep every night in order to be well rested.   However, most people do not get enough sleep.   Prolonged period of insufficient sleep can cause different health problems.

​

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is described by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep. People with insomnia have one or more of the following symptoms.

Restoring your marriage after an affair

​

Infidelity can be emotionally devastating and painful.  However, extramarital affair does not necessarily mean an end to a marriage.  It is possible to rebuild and save a marriage after an extramarital affair. 
 

Many problems can strain a marital relationship.  Financial problems, parenting issues and health/sex problems can be challenging to married couples.  However, there is probably nothing as destructive and heartbreaking as infidelity.  When trust, which forms the foundation of a marital relationship, breaks down, it could cause a lot of emotional stress to the couple and the family members. 
 

However, divorce is not necessarily the only option after infidelity. If the couples have the determination and share the mutual goal of restoring the relationship, it is possible to rebuild a more honest, stronger and healthier relationship. 

​

Coping with stress during pregnancy

​

Many expectant mothers will certainly experience varying levels of stress some time during their pregnancy term.  These challenges can make life miserable and difficult to accept.  Learning ways to cope with stress during this delicate phase in life can help minimize the risk of post-natal depression.

​

Firstly acknowledge that a tremendous change is happening to the body of an expectant mother in the period of the 40-weeks.  They may feel emotionally unstable as their body size increase.  It is important that they seek the right support in this time of change.  Joining some mothers-to-be support group may be something light to begin with.