0°C | Saturday October 11, 2025 
By Living To Thrive’s Chuck Anderson
When it comes to parenting, teenage and child mental health can be scary and uncomfortable for many. There is no handbook provided when you become a parent on how to raise a mentally healthy child or young adult. We spoke with child, youth and family therapist, Jo Homsi of The Wellbeing & Mental Health Academy to demystify and debunk some common misconceptions on child and adolescent mental health.
Jo is a therapist with 14 years of experience in child, adolescent and family clinical counselling. She has worked in professional learning and training and is passionate about providing support and education to primary and secondary schools, families, parents and the community. Jo has worked across NSW and national school sectors to support and promote mentally healthy communities to empower children, young people, educators and their families.
Sun: Before we dive into the deeper discussion, let’s start with an icebreaker question. If you had to live in one Disney movie, which would you choose and why?
Jo: Encanto! Because it’s based on a village supportive of one another. It is about positivity, connection and working together to be resourceful for one another and explores the power of healing in a magical house.
Sun: What are some of the signs of mental distress in adolescence that may differ from “normal” teenage angst?
Jo: Adolescence years involve rapid growth and development; I like to call this stage “under construction”. Young people will experience physical, psychological, and social development that will commonly present across these areas: Physical development: puberty and secondary sex characteristics and ongoing brain development. Psychological development: establishing identity, values, autonomy, attitudes, beliefs and intimacy. Advanced thinking and reasoning skills. Social development: greater awareness and understanding of one’s sexuality, achievement primarily such as academic, sport or work.
To identify if mental distress is occurring across these three key components of an individual’s identity, it is important to look out for the below signs and symptoms: lack of concentration and motivation, withdrawal from school, social and family withdrawal, mood disturbances, maladaptive coping strategies to manage distress or emotions such as substance use or self-injuring behaviours, drastic fluctuations in weight, repeated outbursts of anger, lack of autonomy, poor self-esteem/self-worth.
Parents and carers can look out for severity and persistence across these signs and symptoms, and it should be noted that these in isolation do not correlate to mental distress but when compounded with other presenting signs could justify further action.
Sun: What are the risks of telling your child to “suck it up” or “stop being so sensitive” should they show signs of mental distress?
Jo: The words and validation of a parent or carer in their early and teenage years will shape and impact how this young person will view themselves later in life and into adulthood. One of the most important tools a parent possesses is to validate what their young person may be experiencing. This process allows for a parent to further strengthen the relationship’s foundation and increases opportunities for early intervention. However, by using the phrases mentioned above, a young person not only feels judged and not empathised with but may not develop the internal resources to manage these distressing situations in the future.
Sun: How do you suggest parents tackle the topic of mental health when some do not feel comfortable themselves or just don’t know what to say?
Jo: Go prepared for the discussion, do your research and look up the topic you would like to raise. You can begin by being curious and asking your teenager what they think mental health is, ask them to explain it to you. This provides an open and safe dialogue, and you can gauge your child’s understanding. Let them be the teacher of what they are experiencing or going through.
A great place to start is to discuss physical health and how when we physically don’t feel well that shows up in the mind and body and can then affect our behaviour. You can explore that connection by explaining that just like physical health when we are not feeling well it can show up in these areas. You can include the idea that we have physical health routines to stay “healthy”. Things like daily water, exercise, moving our body and eating well. A great activity you can do is discuss what a good mental health routine could look like to care for your mind. You can then ask your teenager to write a list of strategies they can engage in for ongoing positive mental health. Then on another list, you can add strategies that they could engage in when they have a challenging mental health day.
Headspace offers their “Headspace Action Plan” that you can fill out together. Develop your well-being plan and role model to your young person how to practice self-care for your mental health and keep each other accountable. On challenging days, you can pull this up and encourage them to engage in healthy coping strategies. For more information to get the conversation started check out Headspace’s “7 ways for friends and family to support a young person” info sheet.
Sun: Tell us about some of the services that you provide.
Jo: Clarity Minds Therapy provides inclusive counselling support for adolescent families and couples. The service focuses on building connections and helping young people and families manage adversity, and mental health difficulties, whilst creating internal and external resources to manage when things come up. Clarity Minds Therapy runs parenting workshops, educational seminars, and tailored group work programs for schools and families.
Further resources:
https://www.parentingstrategies.net: guidelines to help parents prevent depression and anxiety problems in their teenage years.
https://www.parentline.org.au: a free telephone counselling and support service for parents and carers with children aged 0 to 18.
https://headspace.org.au
https://kidshelpline.com.au (1800 55 1800): a 24hr telephone, web-based and email counselling service for young people aged up to 25.
If you are interested in exploring this topic further, please reach out to Jo directly at www.wellbeingmentalhealthacademy.com, 0431 272 196 or you can utilise the many resources that she has provided. She offers a free 15 min consultation to parents and carers.