Play and Talk Therapy

06/08/2026

As I always like to say "Behaviour is communication"

Trauma-informed schools begin with a different question: not “What’s wrong with this child?” but “What might have happened?”

When a pupil is withdrawn, dysregulated or quick to anger, try to:

• pause before responding
• notice possible triggers
• use a calm, predictable approach
• offer simple choices and time to regulate
• stay curious about what the behaviour may be communicating

Play therapy can support this work by giving children a safe, structured way to express experiences they may not yet have words for.

For schools, trauma-informed practice is not about lowering expectations. It is about creating enough safety for children to engage, connect and learn.

24/07/2026

I felt like I wanted to share this today because I want parents to know just how much pressure can be lifted when we shift our focus from "How do I get my child to behave?" to "How can I connect with my child?"

If you can start by simply being present with your child, creating a safe space for them, and building a strong, connected relationship, you may begin to notice positive changes in the way they communicate, behave, or respond to you.

Our children are human beings too. ❤️ They are not little adults who already understand how the world works. They are still learning about emotions, relationships, boundaries, disappointment, big feelings, and all the many complexities of life.

Sometimes, what looks like "bad behaviour" could actually be a child who is struggling, communicating a need, or still learning.

So, let's try to be a little more patient with them but also with ourselves.

Connection before correction.




You don't have to be a perfect parent. Your child needs a parent who is willing to be present and willing to keep learning alongside them.

One of the biggest pressures many parents and carers face is the feeling that they are expected to “fix” a child’s behaviour.

It’s not always said directly, but it can often be felt in meetings, school conversations, reports, and the way progress is measured.

“How quickly are things improving?”“Are the behaviours reducing?”“What strategies are working?”

Sometimes it can feel as though healing should follow a clear timeline — that with the right support, the right parenting, or the right intervention, everything should begin to settle quickly and neatly. But children who have experienced trauma don’t heal in straight lines.

When you’re caring for a child who has lived through loss, fear, instability, or difficult early experiences, it’s easy to start feeling under pressure yourself. You can find yourself focusing so much on behaviours and outcomes that you lose sight of what the child may actually be communicating underneath it all.

Children who have experienced trauma do not need “fixing.”

They need to feel safe.They need consistency.They need connection.They need adults who can stay alongside them, even when progress feels slow, messy, or uncertain.

In my experience, the real shift often happens when we stop asking, “How do we stop this behaviour?” and start asking, “What might this child be needing from us right now?”

That isn’t always easy, especially when families feel watched, judged, or under pressure to show visible progress. But meaningful, lasting change rarely comes through pressure or quick fixes.

It grows through safety, trust, patience, and relationships built over time.

19/07/2026

19/07/2026

Clarity about my professional role

I believe it is important that parents and caregivers have a clear understanding of the services I provide and the scope within which I practise.

I am registered with the Association for Supportive Counsellors and Holistic Practitioners (ASCHP) as a Wellness Counsellor and am also a registered Therapeutic Play Practitioner with Play Therapy International (PTI). These registrations define the scope within which I practise and require me to adhere to professional, ethical, and legal standards.

My role is to support children and families through play-based therapeutic interventions, wellness counselling, psychoeducation, and parent guidance, all within my professional scope of practice. I do not diagnose mental health conditions or provide psychotherapy.

Within my scope of practice, I use therapeutic play to help children express themselves, explore and communicate their experiences, develop emotional awareness, strengthen emotional regulation, build resilience, and support healthy emotional development in a safe, developmentally appropriate, and child-centred manner.

Alongside my work with children, I provide parents and caregivers with psychoeducation, guidance, and practical strategies to help them better understand and respond to their child's emotional, behavioural, and developmental needs. My aim is to empower caregivers with the knowledge and skills to support their child's well-being in everyday life.

I am committed to practicing within my professional scope at all times. Where a child or family would benefit from assessment, diagnosis, psychotherapy, or other specialised services beyond my scope of practice, I refer to, or collaborate with, the appropriate registered professionals to help ensure they receive the care best suited to their needs.

I believe ethical practice is built on transparency, collaboration, and a clear understanding of professional boundaries. My commitment is to provide safe, ethical, evidence-informed, and child-centred support while always acting in the best interests of the children and families I serve.

17/07/2026

Alongside working with your child through therapeutic play, I provide parents with guidance, psychoeducation, and practical strategies to help you better understand and respond to your child's emotional needs.

06/07/2026

Why is it so difficult when your child cries?

I remember when my own child was younger. He cried often, but it wasn't a typical cry—it was more of a constant moan. I found it incredibly difficult to hear, and there were times when I wondered if I was failing as a parent.

Looking back, I realise that what I really needed wasn't to blame myself. I needed a better understanding of what my child was communicating and practical ways to respond that helped both of us.

Sometimes, when our children struggle, we can start questioning ourselves. We wonder if we're doing enough, or if we're somehow getting it wrong. While it's always important to reflect on our parenting, a child's distress is not automatically a sign that you've failed. Many factors can contribute to why children cry or become dysregulated.

If you're finding yourself in the middle of these challenging moments, you don't have to navigate them on your own.

As a Therapeutic Playskill Practitioner and Wellness Counsellor, I support parents in understanding their child's behaviour, strengthening connection, and building practical, responsive strategies that work for their unique family.

You don't have to have all the answers. Sometimes, having someone walk alongside you can make all the difference.

💛 If this resonates with you, I'd love to support you.

Call now to connect with business.

06/07/2026

Why is it so difficult when your child cries?

I remember when my own child was younger. He cried often, but it wasn't a typical cry—it was more of a constant moan. I found it incredibly difficult to hear, and there were times when I wondered if I was failing as a parent.

Looking back, I realise that what I really needed wasn't to blame myself. I needed a better understanding of what my child was communicating and practical ways to respond that helped both of us.

Sometimes, when our children struggle, we can start questioning ourselves. We wonder if we're doing enough, or if we're somehow getting it wrong. While it's always important to reflect on our parenting, a child's distress is not automatically a sign that you've failed. Many factors can contribute to why children cry or become dysregulated.

If you're finding yourself in the middle of these challenging moments, you don't have to navigate them on your own.

As a Therapeutic Playskill Practitioner and Wellness Counsellor, I support parents in understanding their child's behaviour, strengthening connection, and building practical, responsive strategies that work for their unique family.

You don't have to have all the answers. Sometimes, having someone walk alongside you can make all the difference.

💛 If this resonates with you, I'd love to support you.

For so long, the goal of parenting has been defined by how little a child cries. How quickly they calm down, how easily they move on, how well they hold it together in public. A child who doesn't cry much gets labeled as "easy”, while a child who cries often gets labeled as "sensitive" or "dramatic" or "too much."

But crying is not a behavior problem; it’s a biological release, a nervous system function, a form of communication that predates language itself. When we silence it, rush it, or shame it, we are not teaching emotional strength, we are teaching emotional suppression. And suppression has a cost that shows up later, in anxiety, in disconnection, in an adult who doesn't know how to process their own feelings because they were never allowed to practice.

What attachment research actually tells us is this... the children who grow into emotionally regulated, resilient adults are not the ones who cried the least; they are the ones who cried in the presence of someone who stayed. Someone who didn't flinch, didn't rush them, didn't make them feel like their feelings were an inconvenience.

A child who knows crying is safe around you learns that their emotions are survivable, that they will not be abandoned in their hardest moments and that the people who love them can handle all of them, not just the easy parts. ✨

That knowing becomes the foundation of their emotional health for the rest of their life. 🫶🏼

05/07/2026

With the emphasis on being respectful.

How do we teach the behaviour? By modeling it

It is incredibly easy to confuse a child’s difference of opinion with a direct assault on your authority. When a limit is set and your child pushes back, challenges a rule, or says they see things differently, an automatic adult instinct flares up.

We want to shut the conversation down instantly, raise our volume, and force immediate compliance simply to prove that we are the ones in charge. But demanding total submission isn't true leadership. It just teaches them to hide their true perspective.

When you refuse to allow any disagreement under your roof, you aren't raising a respectful child; you are raising a child who learns that keeping safe requires them to swallow their own voice. You are teaching them that love means complete capitulation to whoever holds the power in the room.

Home is meant to be the safe laboratory where they figure out how to navigate friction.

We want to show them that it is entirely possible to say, “I don’t agree with that rule,” or “I see it a different way,” without using sarcasm, slamming doors, or hurling insults. We have to show them that they can hold their ground while still treating the person across from them with calm decency.

If they can master the difficult skill of holding a boundary with you — the person they trust enough to bring their rawest, unpolished selves to — they can do it with anyone.

By letting them navigate this friction at home, you ensure they grow into adults who can stand their ground with a toxic boss, a peer group, or a future partner. They learn to face disagreement with unshakeable composure, completely capable of honoring their own voice without ever resorting to hostility or destructive behavior. ❤️

Image Quote Credit: ❣️