Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / Inside the App Helping Millions of Families Flourish [with Smiling Mind CEO Sarah La Roche]

Transcript

Inside the App Helping Millions of Families Flourish [with Smiling Mind CEO Sarah La Roche] · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hello, Welcome to the Happy Families podcast, where you get
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: real parenting solutions every single day. Today, what would be like?
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: How would you feel if your children and you were
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  Speaker 1: living mindfully, thinking flexibly, being able to feel recharged and
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: vital in your body, living your life on purpose, and
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  Speaker 1: feeling like your connections were growing strong. Those five elements
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  Speaker 1: underpin the Smiling Mind mental fitness model. And today we're
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  Speaker 1: going to have a catch up with Sarah Laoch. Sarah
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  Speaker 1: is the CEO of Smiling Mind. We're going to talk
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  Speaker 1: about the app that you can get for free and
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  Speaker 1: how it can build resilience and well being and thriving
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  Speaker 1: and flourishing in your kids at home where you can
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  Speaker 1: do the early intervention stuff before things get too bad.
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  Speaker 1: We know we've got some mental health challenges unprecedented for
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  Speaker 1: our young people and this may be an answer that
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  Speaker 1: your family could benefit from. Stay with us more on
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  Speaker 1: that next. Hello, and welcome to the Happy Family's podcast,
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  Speaker 1: where you get real parenting solutions every single day. This
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  Speaker 1: is Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast. My name is doctor
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  Speaker 1: Justin Colson. I'm so delighted today to be joined by
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  Speaker 1: Sarah Laroche. Sarah runs Smiling Mind. If you're not familiar
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  Speaker 1: with Smiling Mind, and I think it's kind of like
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  Speaker 1: almost a household name, so you probably might be. It's
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  Speaker 1: Australia's leading mental wellbeing at and Sarah brings a really
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  Speaker 1: delightful combination to the role, decades of experienced scaling world
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  Speaker 1: class organizations, and a very personal stake in this mission.
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  Speaker 1: She's a mum to five year old twin boys, so
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  Speaker 1: she's not just leading the charge on mental fitness, she's
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  Speaker 1: actually living it. Sarah, the mental health challenges we're facing
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  Speaker 1: this country are pretty significant for our young people over
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  Speaker 1: the last fifteen years or so, partly driven although not
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  Speaker 1: solely driven by the endemic presence of screens and social media.
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  Speaker 1: They're not the only drivers of this though, particularly in
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  Speaker 1: the five to twelve age group, but we seeing more
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  Speaker 1: and more challenges when it comes to mental health. I'd
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  Speaker 1: love to know from you when you do this research,
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  Speaker 1: when you build apps like Smiling Mind, when you're talking
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  Speaker 1: with practitioners and therapists and parents and everyone else that
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  Speaker 1: you work with on a day to day basis, what
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  Speaker 1: do you see in this specific five to twelve age
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  Speaker 1: group as the main drivers of mental ill health.
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  Speaker 2: I think this is an audience group that people don't
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  Speaker 2: necessarily broadly, and certainly our decision makers are policymakers think
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  Speaker 2: about from a mental health perspective, but it is, as
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  Speaker 2: you would know, a crucial developmental time. Fifty percent of
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  Speaker 2: mental illness has its onset by age fourteen, and that
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  Speaker 2: is a huge determinant for long term mental health challenges
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  Speaker 2: later in life. And we also know that preventive approaches
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  Speaker 2: can have a huge impact on that number. So when
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  Speaker 2: we're thinking about what's happening for children, and we also
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  Speaker 2: know that wellbeing declines with age, and it's a lot
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  Speaker 2: younger than people would think. It's things like self esteem
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  Speaker 2: and confidence, friendship and peer interactions that parents tell us
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  Speaker 2: are the top triggers or drivers for their concerns around
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  Speaker 2: their child's mental health and wellbeing. Bullying focus issues, behavioral issues,
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  Speaker 2: things like that. Excessive screen time is a concern for parents,
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  Speaker 2: and it's certainly something that we are very aware of
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  Speaker 2: and cognizant of, particularly being a technology led organization. I
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  Speaker 2: think there's absolutely validity in parents being concerned about screen
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  Speaker 2: time and excessive use of technology, particularly when it's unmanaged
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  Speaker 2: or unsupported through them as a caretaker a caregiver. Sorry,
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  Speaker 2: but ultimately, all screen time is not created equal, and
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  Speaker 2: there's a lot of evidence and we can see from
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  Speaker 2: our programs Efficacy and Impact on Wellbeing that using technology
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  Speaker 2: as a medium to build skills and capabilities is actually
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  Speaker 2: key to unlocking this mental health crisis that you talked about.
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  Speaker 1: So, Sarah, there's so many different things we could talk about.
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  Speaker 1: We obviously have limited time. I'm really interested in talking
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  Speaker 1: about the mental fitness model that you've got, helping kids
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  Speaker 1: act purposefully, live mindfully, recharge their bodies so they feel
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  Speaker 1: vital and strong. Grow those relationships you've highlighted in this
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  Speaker 1: age group, particularly relationships are very much at the core
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  Speaker 1: of their well being and self esteem challenges, and particularly
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  Speaker 1: be flexible in their thinking. Those things are all valuable,
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  Speaker 1: But in the limited time that we have today, my
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  Speaker 1: sense is the best thing that we can talk about
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  Speaker 1: is the Smiling Mind app. So a lot of parents
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  Speaker 1: won't have heard of it. It's a free app and
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  Speaker 1: it's a I think a great resource. It's something that's
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  Speaker 1: really useful for parents to get their head around and
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  Speaker 1: even to involve their kids with. You've just talked about
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  Speaker 1: how technology can be a positive in kids' lives. Tell
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  Speaker 1: us a bit about the app, how it works, what
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  Speaker 1: it's designed for, and how it can work in preventing
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  Speaker 1: literally act as a protection for kids when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to resilience.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, So, Smiling Mine was founded through the idea that
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  Speaker 2: we could better support millions of people if we were
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  Speaker 2: able to combine the best evidence based literature and an
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  Speaker 2: understanding around mental health interventionsgies with technology. And when Smiling
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  Speaker 2: Mind launched in twenty thirteen, we were very much a
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  Speaker 2: pioneer in this space. There was a lot of work
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  Speaker 2: that needed to be done by our founders to get
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  Speaker 2: the sector on board and behind this. And I think
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  Speaker 2: the fact that we've just celebrated ten million downloads of
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  Speaker 2: our app this month shows that this approach meets parents
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  Speaker 2: and children where they're at. I think we are exceptionally
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  Speaker 2: good at translating evidence into engaging experiences that work. Many
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  Speaker 2: parents come to use the app, or even find out
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  Speaker 2: about it through referrals from practitioners or clinicians as a
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  Speaker 2: supporting mechanism for issues that might have already started to emerge.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to you don't actually have to have
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  Speaker 1: a mentally ill child to use the app if your
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  Speaker 1: child is mentally healthy and you start using it, because
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  Speaker 1: totally that's the prevention piece, right as opposed to the
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  Speaker 1: let's throw the rope down and try and drag them
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  Speaker 1: out of the well that they've fallen into.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, And I think that's our vision is to
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  Speaker 2: help every parent realize that this is a tool that
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  Speaker 2: you can use every day proactively. You don't have to
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  Speaker 2: wait for your child or you'd have started feeling not great.
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  Speaker 2: And so the app has always been free, it will
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  Speaker 2: always be free, and there's seven hundred pieces of evidence
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  Speaker 2: based content in there. So people can search by skills
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  Speaker 2: and capabilities they want to build. They can search by
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  Speaker 2: challenges that they might be having around friendships or asleep
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  Speaker 2: for example. And what the intention of the app is
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  Speaker 2: is to be as accessible as possible and to enable
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  Speaker 2: people to build these skills and then translate those into
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  Speaker 2: real world experiences.
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  Speaker 1: After the break, we're going to unpack these mental fitness
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  Speaker 1: elements living mindfully and embracing flexible thinking and growing connections
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  Speaker 1: and so on and talk about specific things that parents
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  Speaker 1: can do with or without the app to build flourishing kids.
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  Speaker 1: Stay with us A's next we're back. It's the Happy
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  Speaker 1: Famili's podcast.
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  Speaker 2: Sarah L.
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  Speaker 1: Roach is the CEO of Smiling Mind. Ten million downloads
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  Speaker 1: on the app. That's that's an enormous accomplishment. Like when
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  Speaker 1: you said that, I knew that it was popular. I
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  Speaker 1: knew people used the app, but ten million is a lot.
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  Speaker 1: That's that's a really significant thing. Sarah. Let's talk about
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  Speaker 1: these these elements that you have in the Smiling Mind app,
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  Speaker 1: these skills for building well being. Let's go through all
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  Speaker 1: five of them just briefly, and we'll talk about a
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  Speaker 1: practical thing that the app would teach a parent to
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  Speaker 1: do with their child so that they can develop that skill.
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  Speaker 1: Live mindfully. Let's talk about like because kids, in some
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  Speaker 1: ways they're really present, the moment is all that matters
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  Speaker 1: to them, but in other ways they kind of miss
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  Speaker 1: everything because they're so focused on what they're doing. Right,
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  Speaker 1: So what would what would you say live mindfully is
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  Speaker 1: really about for five to twelve year olds?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? I think mindfulness I think we see as a
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  Speaker 2: foundational component of this model. It really is a skill
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  Speaker 2: that supports kid and adults to focus, build awareness, and
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  Speaker 2: cultivate an attitude of curiosity and non judgment. But I
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  Speaker 2: think in practical language, it's essentially about helping kids focus
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  Speaker 2: on what they're doing right now and in a way
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  Speaker 2: to manage emotions. So we start to be able to
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  Speaker 2: be in the present, not worrying about the future so much,
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  Speaker 2: not worrying about the past, but really thinking about what
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  Speaker 2: is now, and that is a really important skill for
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  Speaker 2: foundational mental health and well being. So things that parents
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  Speaker 2: could be doing is integrating a mindful moment in their day.
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  Speaker 2: That includes even just stopping and taking a deep breath
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  Speaker 2: before doing something. And I find when we're running out
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  Speaker 2: the door and things are getting crazy, we do a breath.
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  Speaker 2: I also do the starfish practice with my children, so
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  Speaker 2: taking a deep breath in moving your fingers along. They
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  Speaker 2: move their fingers along their hands, up and down each
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  Speaker 2: finger while they breathe in and out deeply. That's like
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  Speaker 2: an awesome way to just pour and reset. So mindfulness
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  Speaker 2: is our foundation, our history a smiling mind, and we're
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  Speaker 2: built out from mindfulness to incorporate these other evolving emerging
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  Speaker 2: areas of practice, Like you mentioned, critical and flexible thinking.
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  Speaker 2: Belonging is crucial, as we know, so let's talk about
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  Speaker 2: flexible thinking so that really supports people to look at
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  Speaker 2: things from different perspectives, consider other people's experiences and frames
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  Speaker 2: of reference, and support a mindset that's open to learning
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  Speaker 2: new things. So the power of yet is a really awesome,
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  Speaker 2: I guess concept to incorporating to you how you're talking
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  Speaker 2: to your children about challenges that they encounter. Another way
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  Speaker 2: to embed thoughts around flexible thinking is when they ask questions.
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  Speaker 2: Ask them questions like what do you think the other
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  Speaker 2: person was thinking or feeling when they said or did
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  Speaker 2: that thing, helping them understand it from somebody else's point
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  Speaker 2: of view, or what are you thinking and feeling when
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  Speaker 2: they're going through a strong or challenging emotion. And the
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  Speaker 2: app has a whole range of different types of activities
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  Speaker 2: in it that whether it's flip cards or little videos,
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  Speaker 2: whatever it might be, to help them reinforce these concepts
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  Speaker 2: and to be able to practice them in real life.
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  Speaker 2: One of the other pillars is around growing connections. It's
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  Speaker 2: actually about deepening and strengthening connections. You know, as human
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  Speaker 2: beings where social creatures. The quality of our relationships is
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  Speaker 2: one of the most important determining factors in the quality
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  Speaker 2: of our life. So really we're helping children to build
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  Speaker 2: skills around empathy and kindness, compassion and positive communication. One
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  Speaker 2: of the other pillars is purpose and belonging, So at
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  Speaker 2: a developmentally appropriate level, what are the values that are
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  Speaker 2: underpinning how you want to interact in the world. And
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  Speaker 2: then the final one is an acknowledgment around the connection
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  Speaker 2: between mental and physical health, and that is recharging your body. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people struggle with sleep. A lot of
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  Speaker 2: parents use some of ours sleep content at nights help
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  Speaker 2: support their children dressed off and relaxed before bed. But
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  Speaker 2: there's also a lot of content in there around movement
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  Speaker 2: and rest in recovery.
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  Speaker 1: I was just thinking as well. We were saying that
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  Speaker 1: I just love the name smiling mind, Like, wouldn't it
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  Speaker 1: be great if our minds smiled all the time or
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  Speaker 1: at least more of the time. The other thing that
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  Speaker 1: stands out to me, and we do need to wrap
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  Speaker 1: this up here, but when parents are working with their
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  Speaker 1: children on these skills, parents are going to be the
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  Speaker 1: ones who benefit as well. Like parents will learn the
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  Speaker 1: skills of flexible thinking and relationship building and vitality and
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  Speaker 1: acting with purpose. It works for the family, it works
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  Speaker 1: for the kids it's such a great a great app
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  Speaker 1: and it's been as light to talk with you, Sarah.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me today.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks so much. Question.
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  Speaker 1: Sarah Laroach is the CEO of Smiling Mind Australia, is
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  Speaker 1: leading mental well being app. You can download it free.
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  Speaker 1: Great conversation. Hopefully the app will be useful in your home,
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  Speaker 1: in your pocket and in your kids' lives. The Happy
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Family's podcast is produced by Justin Ruland from Bridge Media.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: We receive additional admin support from Mim Hammond. If you'd
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: like more info to make your family happy, visit happyfamilies
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: dot com dotu. Also in the show notes, we'll link
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: to everything you need to know about Smiling Mind, including
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the app and their webpage.