Child Therapy NI

30/01/2026

I am 7...

If you’ve ever wished you could step inside your child’s emotional world for a moment… this series is for you.

Over the next two weeks, I’m sharing A Child’s Voice — a gentle, brain-based set of visuals that puts words to what children often can’t explain yet. It’s not about “perfect parenting”… it’s about understanding what regulation really looks like from the inside out, and why connection is the starting point.

We’ll be running the full series from 2 to 16, with daily posts you can come back to whenever things feel loud, messy, or overwhelming at home.

To SAVE, click on the image, tap the three dots, and choose Save. (Facebook Only)

Managing Big Feelings, a Toolkit for Parents & Educators.
Link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

30/01/2026

If you’ve ever been told to “send them to calm down” and it didn’t sit right with you — this is why.
Children don’t learn regulation through isolation. They learn it through connection. Through an adult who stays close, steady, and calm enough for them to borrow that calm until their own nervous system can catch up. This isn’t about spoiling or rescuing. It’s about building the brain skills that make self-regulation possible.

29/01/2026

One Word for 2026 so far?

28/01/2026

28/01/2026

School Avoidance

School avoidance contributes to an absenteeism crisis. Here's what an advocate wants schools to know.

28/01/2026

28/01/2026

28/01/2026

😀Another exciting business opening in Cookstown
Gameland @ Clubland
👍Opening early April
👍Facebook, Insta, TikTok & website details to follow.
For information, please feel free to email info@gamelandcookstown.co.uk

28/01/2026

I have been listening to coversations this week about the reasons that children in Ireland are not attending school. Often these discussions do not recognise that for so many of these children it is a case of Can't not Won't.

So many of our children and teens who have attendance issues are struggling with school anxiety and distress. Unfortunately due to our systems for recording this data, we have no idea of accurate numbers. But based on my conversations with parents, they are higher than we think.

Anna Maxwell Martin really understands this issue, as she has personal experience of it. I think for so many of us who feel passionate about school distress, we have seen first hand the devastating impact that this has had on our children, often leading to burnout. We need to stop focusing on parents as the problem, and start to look at the wider context, and consider how we can make school feel safer for these children.



[Photo Credit: Netmums]

28/01/2026

AT SCHOOL A ‘MASKER’ MAY…

The child who demonstrates after school restraint collapse may have many triggers during the school day.

If we can identify those triggers then we can put in strategies to either eliminate them or manage them.

When I am working in the school environment these children would access education around emotional regulation in the form of six sessions - meaning they will more readily discuss and share emotions and the dysregulation with school staff, learn a range of coping and calming strategies but also increase self-awareness around triggers as well as inform staff.

IN THE RESOURCE STORE - NEWLY EXTENDED

AFTER SCHOOL RESTRAINT COLLAPSE PACK

After our recent post on ‘masking’ I have extended this pack to include executive function and sensory processing checklists (can also inform an assessment process), a child explainer and activity - What is Tricky in School and a Masking explainer prompt.

Resource to support children and their families with after school restraint collapse. This pack includes explainers on An Introduction to Emotional Regulation, Co-Regulation, The Brain and Emotional Regulation, How Your Brain Keeps You Safe, Managing Meltdowns, The Survival Instinct, Creating a Calm Space, Reflection Upon an Incident, Using a Social Script and The Science of 3 Good Things. A 9 page social script can be personalised to the individual child and reinforces healthy habits after school to diffuse restraint collapse. Reflection tool to brainstorm events and adopt coping skills moving forward. Visual resources to capture emotions, stop and think as a prompt as well as calming skills visual prompt.
Useful tool for professionals working with parents also.

Electronic download available at https://thecontentedchild.co.uk/product/after-school-restraint-collapse-pack/

27/01/2026

You've got this.