Teens & SEN
I’m passionate about supporting both neurotypical and neurodiverse teenagers from 11-19 years feel emotionally and psychologically safe. Through practical strategies and tools, we work together to help them feel seen, heard, nurtured, and valued. I help teenagers understand some of the reasons why they feel the way they do through easy-to-understand neuroscience, and then support them through yoga, somatics, emphatic listening, reflection, therapeutic art, and sound. Together we find ways to positively explore and process emotions that are often difficult to express. Once learnt, these tools can be used on a daily basis to manage stress and anxiety, help support emotional resilience, and promote feelings of joy and connection with themselves and those around them.
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I work 1-to-1 in Oxford, Wokingham or online.
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How we work together
As a trauma-informed practitioner, I am able to:
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Relate to children in ways that alleviate their suffering, support their learning and make them feel cared for and appreciated
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Know how to respond to children who are in distress/ stress states in ways that help them to emotionally regulate, feel psychologically safe and develop the capacity to handle stress well over time
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Relate with children in ways that enhance their self-esteem, confidence and feelings of psychological safety
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Know how to listen and empathise when children want to talk about painful issues and help them reflect and resolve
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Develop an in-depth understanding of what it’s like for a child or teenager to live with a specific mental health issue, and feel comfortable in offering them accurate empathy, understanding and key psycho-education.
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Develop an in-depth understanding of the long-term impact of specific adverse childhood experiences and how to enable the child or teenager to work through feelings of anger and traumatic loss.
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Provide children who feel ‘mad’ or ‘bad’ with the relevant psychological and neuroscientific understandings to alleviate negative self-referencing and develop coherent narrative for what has happened to them
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Employ strategies for early intervention (early indicators of mental health difficulties), know limits of competence and refer on to other agencies, when these are available.
Teacher & School CPD
The average time a child has to wait to get help with a mental health issue is 3 years*. And so with children spending 195 days a year in school it makes sense that while these vitally important relationships are being formed with key staff, the school environment constantly improves in strengthening its knowledge base when it comes to mental health and their knowledge of mental wellbeing. I can help.
Together, we will work as a school to:
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empower teaching staff with practical strategies and tools to identify, manage and communicate children’s challenges;
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develop further self awareness so as to be able to reflect and respond to challenging situations rather than react;
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strengthen the school culture around the values of person centred care, empathetic listening and embodiment.
* Kahn, L. (2016). Missed Opportunities: A review of recent evidence into children and young people's mental health. The Centre for Mental Health (UK).
