Being happy, healthy and sharing time with those we care about is central to our wellbeing and living life to the full.

This is another of our special focus blogs on our mental health concepts and in particular for this feature, the concept of Relationships.

Having people around us that we care about and who care for us is so important for our wellbeing and being able to feel safe, loved, and special. Being able to have fun with friends or our family and to have people we can talk to, share ideas with and enjoy time with helps us to feel connected and to have a sense of belonging. Through strengthening the way we connect, communicate and interact with others we can navigate relationships in our lives and understand how to have an opinion, how to manage disagreements or differences and how to build relationships that are healthy and caring. It is important that we feel understood and safe with others as well as being able to listen to others, have empathy and kindness in our interactions and can develop reciprocal caring relationships throughout our lives.

Watch our special animation all about Relationships and why at stormbreak we believe it is so important to nurture and develop healthy relationships.

WATCH OUR RELATIONSHIPS ANIMATION

So why are Relationships so important?

Relationships are:
The connections we have with the people around us that help us to feel special and safe.

• Knowing and feeling loved and cared about
• Being able to talk to friends and say how you feel
• Knowing who you trust and who to go to for help
• Understanding that relationships can change, we can fall out but we can repair relationships too

Understanding our feelings and how they are affected by our relationships and how we might affect others feelings too

Our Stormbreak mental health lead, Clare Williams talks about Relationships and how they impact on our everyday lives.

WATCH CLARE WILLIAMS TALKING ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

Try this stormbreak with Darryl who shows us the importance of talking to our friends about things that matter to us whilst walking or running together.

Buddy run · Darryl · relationships

Try another stormbreak; Spiderman this time with Miss Patton as she shows us how it feels to connect with others and when we have friends or people who are special to us. When we move together as a team we can feel connection and belonging.

Spiderman · Miss Patton · relationships

Helping our children with their Relationships
We want children to have healthy relationships that are based on trust, respect, humility, compassion, kindness and empathy. Understanding that relationships can change, can break down but can be repaired again and having the confidence and care to talk and name thoughts and feelings whilst listening and hearing another’s point of view, is part of life in navigating the many relationships we come across in our every day lives. Helping children to develop these skills is essential in gaining a sense of belonging and for their ultimate wellbeing.

It is important that we help our children to recognise that:

• We can communicate in various ways with our friends and family
• Relationships are ever changing, they can shift and even break down but can also be repaired.
• Responding to each other with care, compassion and kindness drives connectedness
• Being empathic through listening to ourselves and others thoughts and feelings strengthens our relationships

We can help children to strengthen their relationships by supporting them to:

• Acknowledge and notice their feelings, to recognise what it feels like inside to feel loved, cared for and safe
• say to themselves “I feel happy when…”, “I feel uncomfortable when….”, “I need to give this friendship time to heal…”

We can encourage them to

• Show kindness and compassion to others
• Listen and hear different points of view
• Talk to someone they trust
• To repair relationships after an argument

Join Clare, our Stormbreak mental health lead, in thinking about how we can help our children with their relationships.

WATCH HELPING OUR CHILDREN WITH RELATIONSHIPS

This stormbreak; Cloud faces with Kate, helps us to think about how we can often see things differently to our friends, that it is ok to have different opinions and how listening to each other is important.

Cloud faces · Kate · relationships

Have a look at other stormbreaks that focus on Relationships. See if any of them help you think about the relationships you have. Do you have a favourite one? See if you can notice which ones help you to feel cared about, loved and special.

We really hope that you can celebrate the relationships you have and can enjoy time with people who are special to you.