5 Love Languages for Children By Dr Brooklyn Storme
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s a Psychologist, I am blessed to be able to meet children from all kinds of different families and backgrounds. Sometimes parents seek our help to manage their child’s behaviour, especially when unwanted behaviours are having an impact on other siblings, friends or peers and so on.
Despite being able to articulate what they need, children, like adults, communicate mostly through their actions
I remember a time that *Sarah brought her daughter along for counselling. Sarah was concerned because her daughter had been expressing her anger in unhealthy ways. For example, if her daughter asked for a toy when they were shopping and Sarah declined, her daughter would throw herself on the ground, flail her arms and legs and scream really loudly. Sarah had tried everything to change the situation, but it kept happening. It even happened at a neighbour's birthday party. When the children were playing pass-the-parcel and the parcel didn’t land in her daughter’s lap, there were more tears, there was pushing and shoving and eventually, Sarah had to take her daughter home.
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Peninsula Kids – Spring 2019
But what was really going for Sarah? Depending on their age, children all behave differently and as they reach certain developmental milestones, they become more able to express themselves through language. But despite being able to articulate what they need, children, like adults, communicate mostly through their actions.
This is where the 5 Love Languages for children may be of help. If you aren’t familiar with the Love Languages, the general idea is that we each have preferences for how we like to be loved and how we like to give love or show others we care. When I first heard of this idea, it was intriguing and so I reflected on how I like to be loved. I really like it when people tell me I’ve done a good job with something, or that they have noticed or appreciate something that I’ve done. Once I’d thought it about it, I learned more. continued next page...