GUIDES FOR PARENTS

What we help with

Whatever your child is facing, start here. Clear, honest guides to the things young people most often struggle with.

A young person with ADHD feeling empowered

ADHD support

ADHD is a condition where the brain manages attention, activity and impulses differently. For children and young people, this can affect how they focus, learn and cope with everyday life.

boy sat outside classroom

Anger

Anger is a completely normal, healthy human emotion. But when a child or young person’s anger becomes explosive, unpredictable or out of proportion to the situation, it's time to seek help.

An anxious teenage girl

Anxiety

Anxiety is the body's natural response to feeling under threat, and everyone feels it sometimes. But when worry becomes constant, it can affect a child's sleep, friendships and daily life.

A group of teenagers are laughing together

Autism support

Autism is a different way of experiencing the world, shaping how a person communicates, relates to others and processes their surroundings. With support, Autistic children and young people thrive.

A young man with a backpack holds a phone while walking through a field of tall, dry grass.

Bereavement & Loss

Bereavement is the loss of someone who matters, from a parent or grandparent to a friend or pet. For children and young people, loss can also mean a divorce, moving house or the end of a friendship.

Teen girls participating confidently in sport, with a positive body image

Body image

Body image describes the way we think and feel about our bodies. For children and young people, negative thoughts about their body image can affect their confidence, self-esteem and overall wellbeing.

An image of school children walking up steps

Bullying

Bullying is when a child is repeatedly hurt, frightened or left out, in person or online. For a child or young person, it can quietly wear away at their confidence, mood and sense of safety.

A teenage girl sits outside in nature, looking reflective.

Depression

Depression is more than ordinary sadness. For children and young people, it's a low mood that lingers, often showing up as irritability, withdrawal or losing interest in the things they once enjoyed.

A dissociated teenager

Dissociation

Dissociation is a way the mind copes with overwhelming stress: feeling cut off from your thoughts, body or surroundings. In children and young people it can look like spacing out or feeling far away.

An empty chair at the dinner table

Eating issues

Eating issues can mean being very selective about food, anxious at mealtimes, or using food to cope with emotions. For children and young people, they often signal something deeper worth noticing.

A school girl walking down the street

EBSA (Emotionally-based school avoidance)

Emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA) is when a child finds it extremely hard to attend school because of emotional distress. It isn't truancy, but a sign they're struggling and need support.

A mother speaking to her teen daughter on a bed

Family issues

Family issues are the changes, conflict or stress that can unsettle home life, from arguments and separation to money worries. For a child or young person, they affect how safe and settled they feel.

Teenagers socialising and looking happy

Gender identity

Gender identity is a person's inner sense of their own gender. For children and young people questioning or exploring theirs, feeling understood and supported makes a real difference.

A teenage girl with headphones on

Low self-esteem

Worried your child is harsh on themselves? Understand low self-esteem in children and teens, what helps at home, and how kind, integrative therapy can rebuild their confidence.

A light switch on a wall where everything is the same colour

OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)

OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) traps a person in a cycle of distressing thoughts and rituals they feel they must do to ease them. For children and young people, it can take up hours of the day.

The words 'calm and panic' in blocks

Panic attacks

A panic attack is a sudden rush of intense fear with strong physical symptoms that, though frightening, always passes. For a child or young person, the fear of the next one can shrink their world.

a teenager in silhouette staring out of a window

Phobias

A phobia is an intense fear of a specific object, situation or feeling that goes far beyond ordinary worry. For children and young people, it can mean avoiding everyday things and affect daily life.

A teenage girl sits on a bus staring out of the window

Self-harm

Self-harm is usually a way of coping with overwhelming feelings, not a wish to die. For many children and young people, it's a sign of deep distress, and with the right support things can get better.

A teenager experiencing social anxiety

Social anxiety

Social anxiety is an intense fear of being judged, embarrassed or watched. For children and young people, everyday situations like speaking in class or seeing friends can start to feel overwhelming.

A teen walking in a field at dusk

Suicidal thoughts

Suicidal thoughts are a sign a child or young person is in deep emotional pain, not always that they want to die. Talking openly and getting the right help can keep them safe and bring relief.

A young person's hands clasped, being comforted by an adult

Trauma

Trauma is how the mind and body respond to something frightening or overwhelming. For children and young people, it can affect how safe they feel, how they sleep and how they manage emotions.