Safe to Grow: Psychological Safety and Children's Mental Health
Thursday Think Box Webinar
ARE THE SPACES WE CREATE FOR CHILDREN EMOTIONALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAFE?
Children’s mental health is often discussed in relation to signs of distress, anxiety, emotional struggles or behavioural concerns. These are important conversations.
But there is another question we need to ask earlier and more intentionally:
Are we building spaces where children feel safe enough to ask questions, participate, make mistakes, try again, build friendships and receive correction positively?
DESIRED OUTCOMES
By the end of the webinar, we hope participants will:
Understand what psychological safety means for children in practical, everyday terms.
Recognise how emotionally safe or unsafe environments can affect children’s participation, behaviour, friendships, learning and wellbeing.
Identify simple adult behaviours that help children feel known, respected, guided and safe.
Understand warning signs that a child may be struggling or feeling unsafe.
Know how to respond with care while maintaining appropriate boundaries and seeking further support when needed.
Reflect on how children’s ministry, school and community settings can become more welcoming, predictable and emotionally safe.
PANELLISTS and MODERATORS
Elvin and Esther Foong
Moderators
Elvin and Esther Foong are full-time children’s itinerant ministers and co-founders of The Treasure Box Singapore and Kidmin Singapore.
They work closely with children, families, churches and children’s ministry communities, creating resources and equipping platforms that support both family discipleship and children’s ministry.
Esther is a former MOE educator and now also a family life educator, with a Certificate in Advanced Psychological First Aid. Elvin is a trained HR specialist and is completing his Master of Divinity with Singapore Bible College this year. Together, they bring together their experience in education, family life, people development, ministry and theological formation to strengthen the children’s ministry space.
Through Kidmin Singapore, they are passionate about equipping children’s ministry workers with practical handles, thoughtful conversations and community support. They believe that when ministry workers grow in competence, they also grow in confidence, clarity and joy as they serve the children entrusted to them.
Gerard Das
Panellist
Gerard Das is the Clinical Director of Caring for Life. He holds a Master of Social Science in Counselling and Psychotherapy from Edith Cowan University.
He is also a Facilitator for The Classical Trauma Healing Program by the American Bible Society and conducts training in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training in Singapore, Sri Lanka and Mongolia.
Gerard has served as a lecturer and consultant at the Institute of Technical Education for more than 20 years, conducts seminars and workshops on depression, family and children in regional contexts.
For this webinar, Gerard brings a counselling, trauma-informed and community-care lens to the topic of psychological safety and children’s mental health. His experience in suicide prevention, trauma healing, psychiatric rehabilitation and training helps us consider how churches and ministry communities can play an important role in early care, safe relationships and timely support.
Woo Mei Hui
Panellist
Woo Mei Hui is a Senior Educational Psychologist at Promises Healthcare. She holds a Master of Arts in Applied Psychology and Master of Science in Developmental Psychopathology.
Since 2004, she has worked with children and adolescents across a wide range of settings and abilities in Singapore. She is experienced in psychological assessment, intervention and counselling for various special needs and conditions, with the goal of helping children and youths maximise their potential and improve their quality of life.
For this webinar, Mei Hui brings an educational psychology lens to the conversation on psychological safety and children’s mental wellbeing. Her experience with children and adolescents allows her to help adults better understand how a child’s behaviour, participation, learning, friendships and emotional responses may be shaped by the environments they are in. She will help us consider how children’s ministry spaces can become more attentive, predictable and supportive, especially for children with diverse developmental, emotional or learning needs.
Kidmin Singapore
Calling | Competency | Community