Helpful Articles

What’s Wrong With Sticker Charts and Reward Systems?

Sticker charts to encourage good behavior in kids can sometime backfire.

You’ve heard this common advice: If you want your child to do something, set up a reward system. Give her a sticker or a point every time she does it. If she gets a certain number of them, she can turn them in for a bigger prize or reward.

At first glance, this seems like a harmless strategy. It’s certainly kinder than constantly punishing, scolding, or yelling at kids. You’ll probably even get an initial burst of the positive behavior you want to see. But there are some potential downsides of trying to use reward systems to influence children.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is often mistaken for ‘being perfect’ or ‘doing something perfectly’. Many people assume that it must be a good thing. Other people think of being a perfectionist as being something negative and embarrassing. So is it a good or a bad thing? Perfectionism involves putting pressure on ourselves to meet high standards which then powerfully influences the way we think about ourselves. Researchers have shown that parts of perfectionism are helpful, and parts are unhelpful. We’re here to help you identify and work on the unhelpful parts, so that you get satisfaction from your achievements and lead a more fulfilling life. This will involve setting appropriate goals and standards for yourself, making it more likely you’ll achieve your goals and experience a sense of fulfilment, rather than feeling frustrated and blaming yourself all the time for not getting things ‘perfect’. The modules in this Information Pack are to help you put your perfectionism in perspective.

Therapy for Anxiety Disorders

Want to control your anxiety, stop worrisome thoughts, and conquer your fears? Here’s how therapy can help.

Whether you’re suffering from panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, unrelenting worries, or an incapacitating phobia, it’s important to know that you don’t have to live with anxiety and fear. Treatment can help, and for many anxiety problems, therapy is often the most effective option. That’s because anxiety therapy—unlike anxiety medication—treats more than just the symptoms of the problem. Therapy can help you uncover the underlying causes of your worries and fears; learn how to relax; look at situations in new, less frightening ways; and develop better coping and problem-solving skills. Therapy gives you the tools to overcome anxiety and teaches you how to use them.