About KYDS
KYDS provides free, local, and confidential counselling services with trained psychologists for children and young people.
Specifically, KYDS helps young people understand, and manage, difficult issues in their lives. They do this by providing easily accessed, personalised counselling and mental health support services, family counselling, and early intervention wellbeing workshops and information events.
KYDS ensures issues such as grief, loss, family breakups, friendship problems, school and study stress, addictions, risky behaviour, anger, bullying, anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug use, body image concerns, mental health concerns, self-harm and suicidal thoughts do not overwhelm young people.
Founded over 15 years ago, in 2022 KYDS now has a team of 18 passionate and qualified mental health professionals that support young people to work through their challenges and to help them to achieve their potential. Over the past year, KYDS has provided 5462 counselling sessions to more than 400 young people.
Art of Smart and KYDS Partnership
Art of Smart Education has since 2018 partnered with KYDS to provide KYDS with a dedicated space at our Hornsby Campus so that KYDS psychologists can work to provide free support to students and families in the local North Shore region.
This has made it possible for more young people and families in the North Shore to get access to free, confidential counselling services to support young people’s wellbeing and mental health.
Drop-In Parenting Support Initiative
On Mondays and Thursdays from 10am to 2pm at our Art of Smart Hornsby campus, parents/clients of Art of Smart and KYDS can drop-in for consultations with Alice Cheok (Clinical Lead at KYDS).
These sessions are first come, first serve and no appointment or referral is required. The first consult is free but subsequent session(s) may be Medicare payable.
Parents of students in the follow years are welcome to drop-in and use the service:
- Grade 6 – transition to high school.
- Year 7 – 12
Any topic and area of support is open for discussion, however here are also some suggestions you may want to speak with Alice from KYDS about:
- Challenging behaviours at home
- What to do when your young person has trouble attending school
- How to support your son or daughter when they are unmotivated to do anything, including sports, socialising or study
- Emotion regulation — how to support your child during angry outbursts or when they isolate themselves in their room
- Family dynamic disharmony — what to do?
- How to initiate conversations regarding sensitive or uncomfortable topics
Languages:
- Fluent in English
- Speaks Mandarin
- Speaks Cantonese
- Able to understand parents who speak Vietnamese
Looking for tutoring for your child? Get in touch with our North Shore tutoring team to learn about your options!
Looking for other free online wellbeing resources?
Check out some of our wellbeing articles featuring advice from counsellors and psychologists from KYDS below:
