Mum’s Mission to teach kids techniques to deal with life’s challenges and BE HAPPY

A mother of two from Pinner is on a mission to make children and young people get the most out of life. Maria West, is a qualified Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner who is passionate about teaching children life skills to cope with a challenging and competitive world. This month she launched her company Smart Thinking 4 Kids after being frustrated by what she saw as a gap in the education curriculum. Maria said: “When we were looking for a secondary school for my youngest daughter I was struck by how little was offered in terms of developing emotional skills.” “The emphasis was all on academic achievements with next to nothing to improve a child’s emotional intelligence.” According to YoungMinds.org.uk more 8000 children under the age of ten suffer from severe depression. *(link to stats in Notes to Editor). It was statistics like this which drove Maria to study NLP for Children & Adults with the goal of making her skills accessible to both kids and parents alike.  She is now going into nurseries and primary schools with her NLP Curriculum based programme offering one to one as well as group sessions. She added: “Put simply NLP is like having a toolbox filled with strategies to get your brain thinking in a way that will alter your state, physiology and ultimately your outcome. “We’re living in a very target orientated culture and children as young as eight years old are showing signs of stress and anxiety due to demands placed on them. “There are so many things NLP can help children with. This includes boosting self confidence, improving communication skills, overcoming barriers, emotional awareness and self management and simply just focusing on things that they want and not on what they don’t want. All lessons are done in a fun and supportive environment. To find out how NLP can help your child be happier visit www.smart-thinking4kids.co.uk or call Maria on 020 7101 4808.