Nurturing Young Minds,
Building Happy Lives
Nurturing Young Minds,
Building Happy Lives
Our Mental Health
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by emotions like stress, fear or sadness that it affected your daily life? That moment is an example of mental health at play.
Our mental health is our overall state of well-being and internal balance. It’s shaped by our environment and experiences and plays a crucial role in how we feel, socialise, and make decisions every day.
Every life transition brings its own set of challenges and opportunities. Throughout our lives, we all experience different levels of mental wellbeing, and this is especially true for children and young people who are developing their identity and going through social changes. Without the right skills and support systems to navigate these transitions, they are more likely to encounter mental health challenges.
Inside our Children’s Mind 💭
Our research team at Singapore Children’s Society conducted a study on *Tinkle Friend's online chats about mental health and identified three main sources of stress for children.
3 main sources of stress
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Children experience pressure caused by expectations that they place on themselves, and/or that their parents place on them to do well academically or attain certain ideals.
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Family-related triggers of stress include family conflict, harsh discipline, fear of family violence, divorce, being compared to siblings, and parents displacing work-stress on children.
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Peer issues causing distress in children stem from feeling socially excluded, having friendship issues, being bullied and gossiped about by peers.
Looking for support or know of any child or youth who needs help? Take the first step by scheduling a 30-min mental health check-in session.
*Tinkle Friend is the only national helpline and chatline providing support and advice to distressed primary schoolers
Ms Vivyan Chee, Deputy Director
and Head of Flourishing Minds
“Children often feel dismissed by adults because what stresses them is different from what their parents experienced in childhood. Additionally, adults often appear busy so children choose not to “trouble” them and suffer in silence instead.
It is therefore important for parents to give dedicated attention to children and take their concerns seriously. Never underestimate the power of day-to-day interactions as they form the foundation for trusting and supportive relationships”
Our Mighty Minds Workshop
Our workshops are coming your way! Stay tuned 🌟
How can you support your child to flourish?
Deepen your knowledge about children mental health with our resources. From spotting signs of poor mental health to validating their feelings, find out how you can create a supportive environment to encourage open conversations and help-seeking behaviour.
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Research Bites
How can we better support children and youth’s mental health? Gain insights directly from the voices of youth as well as expert insights.
Discover key recommendations from our studies, including emotional validation, modelling help-seeking behaviours, meeting children's psychological needs, and enhancing their sense of safety. -
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Buzz Magazine
Explore what mental health is, why it’s important, and how to maintain it. Learn about the signs of poor mental health and how to support children using the GRAB approach. Designed in a child-friendly manner, this is perfect for parents to read and discuss with their children.
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The Straits Times Commentary
Why are children afraid to share their struggles with parents? How can parents recognise subtle signs of distress and offer help? This commentary offers valuable insights for caregivers to better support children facing mental health issues.
Only have a minute to spare? Check out this infographic for a summary.
Flourishing Minds
Flourishing Minds was launched in 2022 by Singapore Children’s Society as a mental health service for children and youth.
The Society is also one of the four appointed social service agencies under the Supporting Youth in Community programme, a pilot project by the President’s Challenge and the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to boost community-based support for youth with mental health conditions.
Our Services
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Our aim is to provide accessible early interventions and recovery-focused services for children and youth to develop positively and live in a safe and inclusive community.
To achieve this, we adopt a trauma-informed, recovery-oriented and family-focused approach in supporting them. Interventions are implemented in phases, which include:Developing children, youth and parents’ mental health literacy,
Providing case management, and
Providing psychosocial and psychological interventions and transitional care support.
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Our Mental Health Literacy programme stems from the belief that mental health is a state of health, and it deserves to be promoted and protected.
This programme is designed for children, youth and caregivers to develop their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours in relation to various facets of mental health.
Participants will learn ways to promote their own mental wellbeing, cope with their distress, and support others who are in need.
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The mental health check-in service is set up to help identify early signs of mental health concerns in children and youth and facilitate timely and appropriate professional help.
If you are looking for support or know of any child or youth who needs help, a 30-minute mental health check-in is available here.