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Child and Young People Psychology Services

If you are worried about your child or young person, you are not alone. Many families come to us feeling unsure, concerned, or overwhelmed by changes in their child’s emotions, behaviour, or development. Our Clinical Child Psychologists are here to help you make sense of what may be going on and to support your child’s emotional wellbeing, at a pace that feels right for your family.

If you are unsure what to do next, we’re here to talk things through with you.

At a Glance — what we can offer you:

• Support for emotional, behavioural and developmental challenges
• Child-friendly assessments
• Tailored reports with clear recommendations
• Evidence-based treatments
• Practical support for parents and carers

What can we help with?

Our Child Psychologists work with a wide range of challenges that can affect children and young people at different stages of development.

Some children and young people may experience emotional challenges such as low mood, anxiety, or anger. Others may struggle with behaviour, relationships, concentration, or impulsivity. There may be developmental concerns, including learning differences or Autism Spectrum Conditions.

Some young people experience low self-esteem, worries about their body image, or difficulties following bereavement, trauma, abuse, or neglect.

These challenges can be distressing for both children and families, and may impact day-to-day life, learning, friendships, and family relationships.

How we Assess Children and Young People - What Might the First Session Feel Like?

Many parents worry that assessment will feel daunting, or that their child will be “tested”. We aim to make the process as relaxed, respectful, and child-friendly as possible. Our rooms offer activities that help younger children feel comfortable in new surroundings and give them something to look forward to for next time. Our focus is on getting to know your child as a whole person — their strengths as well as the areas they may be finding difficult.

When working with children and young people, our aim is to reduce psychological distress and promote emotional well-being. The first step is a psychological assessment, carried out in collaboration with the child and their family. This helps us understand the nature of the concerns and develop a thoughtful plan for support and the resolution of these challenges. This is the focus of the initial session with the child psychologist.

Although we can also work online, the initial session typically involves meeting face-to-face with the child and their parent(s) or carer(s) to talk things through. We may also use questionnaires and, where appropriate, specific assessment tools.

We also focus on your child’s strengths as well as their challenges, helping us build a fuller picture and create a more supportive plan together.

What an assessment looks like:

• A conversation with you and your child in a safe, relaxed setting.
• We listen to your concerns and get a sense of what’s going on.
• We may use questionnaires or gentle tasks that help us understand strengths and areas of challenge.
• We discuss our thoughts with you and explore the best next steps.

We commonly support children and young people with concerns such as:

• Low mood or tearfulness
• Anxiety (including generalised anxiety disorder, separation anxiety, phobias, panic, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD))
• Challenges with self-confidence or self-esteem
• Eating-related difficulties
• Behavioural challenges
• Attachment-related difficulties

We also work with children after loss, trauma, or other painful life experiences.

Sometimes Further Assessment is Helpful

For some children and young people, further assessment may be helpful. This is usually considered where there are concerns about learning, attention and concentration, memory, or academic progress. These assessments may include a cognitive assessment and other standardised measures, depending on the questions that need answering. They can help to build a clearer picture of a child’s cognitive strengths and areas of difficulty, and may include an assessment of intellectual ability. Such assessments can support the identification of learning disabilities, or giftedness, or assess academic skills such as reading, writing, and numeracy.

If you have any concerns about Autism, or related challenges, please see our specialist Autism Assessment Service page.

At this time, we are unable to provide diagnostic testing for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, we can specifically screen for ADHD within our Autism Assessment Service, help you explore what this means, and discuss next steps or how to access other services when appropriate.

Assessment Report

Following assessment, in most cases a full written report will be provided. This will include clear feedback and practical, achieveable recommendations to support your child at home and at school. The advice can often be shared with school or your GP. We often find that a report helps show both child and parent that they are fully heard and understood. Reading the report can often feel therapeutic in itself, and families often refer back to it long after our support has ended.

Parental Responsibility

We understand that referrals can be more complex when parents are no longer together. To support families in these situations, we have developed a document explaining parental responsibility and how our service works in these circumstances.

Treatment and Therapy

Following a thorough assessment, we will discuss with you whether therapy may be helpful for your child or young person. Any recommendations are made collaboratively, taking into account your child’s needs, your family circumstances, and your views.

Therapy may involve individual work with the child or young person, joint sessions with parents or carers, or in some cases work with parents or carers alone to support positive change.

Our Child Psychologists draw on a range of evidence-based therapeutic approaches, adapting these to suit each child or young person:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Trauma-focused CBT
• Eye Movement Densensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Parent-child interaction therapy
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Family interventions
• Mindfulness techniques
• Behaviour therapy

Our aim is not only to reduce distress, but to help children feel more confident, understood, and supported — and to help families feel more hopeful and empowered.

Support for parents and carers

Although, we are currently unable to specifically offer Family Therapy, we understand how much this can affect you, as parents, too — our team can often offer guidance and strategies for managing stress and family dynamics.

. If you are specifically looking for Family Therapy, we recommend contacting the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice.

Next Steps...

If you are unsure whether your child or young person needs support, or you would simply like to talk things through, please feel free to contact us. We are very happy to answer questions and help you think about the next steps.