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What We Help With (Primary School)

In the section below, we have listed some common difficulties children experience and that we can provide support with through their parents or carers. If your child is struggling with difficulties in any of these areas and they attend one of our primary schools, then please speak to the Mental Health lead at your child’s school.

For primary age children, we work directly with parents and carers for 6-8 sessions to provide the intervention that supports with the presentations listed below. 

If your child is of secondary school age, please review the presentations that we can help with by following this link.

It is normal for children to experience some anxiety, worry and fears from time to time. If your child is struggling with persistent anxiety or worry and it is having a significant impact on their ability to engage with school or home life, we may be able to provide strategies and support to help. Children who are struggling with anxiety may experience physical symptoms including stomach aches, headaches, shakiness, racing heart. Childhood anxiety difficulties can include:  

  • General anxiety or worry - Children may experience excessive worries about a range of different events or activities, have difficulties controlling worries, concentration problems, sleep disturbance 

  • Social anxiety – Children with social anxiety experience an overwhelming fear of social situations – feeling overly worried before, during and after social situations. Social situations can include school-based activities (e.g. speaking to/in front of others). 

  • Specific phobias – Children may have an overwhelming and debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal which is preventing them from doing things they would like to do. 

  • Separation anxiety – Intense or prolonged difficulty with separating from family members, caregivers or other close people which is having an impact on school or day-to-day activities.  

  • Obsessive compulsive disorder – see below for more information  

We typically work with children aged 5-11 with these needs. 

Children might experience OCD or a compulsion to think or do certain things. This is characterised by repetitive, unwanted or intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and irrational, excessive urges to do certain actions (compulsions) in order to suppress these obsessions/unwanted thoughts.  

Some examples of common types of compulsive behaviour in people with OCD include: cleaning or handwashing, counting, tapping, saying specific words/phrases, checking, asking for reassurance. Compulsions are not always obvious to other people. 

Children with OCD may experience:  

  • Intense fear or distress 

  • Need for perfectionism  

  • Need for order 

  • Repetitive Actions 

  • Intrusive thoughts  

  • The urge to perform time-consuming or distressing compulsions  

We can provide support to families who are struggling with their child’s behaviour. This can include difficulties with: 

  • Bedtime  

  • Following instructions or family rules  

  • Emotion regulation  

  • Mealtimes  

  • Daily routine - getting ready in the morning, getting ready for bed, doing homework  

  • Getting on with siblings or sibling rivalry  

  • Meltdowns or tantrums including shouting, kicking, throwing things 

We typically work with children aged 4-8 with these needs. 

This may include supporting a child who is socially neglected, socially rejected or lonely and helping a child to make and/or maintain friendships.We typically work with children aged 5-11 with these needs. 

This may include helping a child to fall asleep and stay asleep, understanding and challenging night-time fears and worries, helping with bed-wetting and night terrors. We typically work with children aged 5-11 with these needs

For emotional regulations, we work directly with children aged 7-11 to provide workshops and group work within school that teaches them about their emotions and provides them with the tools they need to help regulate their feelings. 

Referrals

You might want to reach out to us now and see how we can help. You can click the link below if you want to explore how to make a referral for your child.  

Make a referral

Consent

When working with primary school aged children, parents and carers are always made aware of treatment since we work directly together to provide the help a child needs.  

For secondary school aged children, we work directly with the young person, however up until the age of 16 parents and carers must give consent to their child receiving help from our team.  

If your child is over 16, they can make their own choice about the treatment they receive and may not inform the school or their parents.  

Please do read through our site with your child so you both understand the help we can provide.