GCP Strategies - behaviour support for children, schools and families

16/11/2022

I've been fishing for compliments!

It's important to receive feedback when you do a job like this. Looking after young people & complex issues is a great deal of responsibility. It's also a privilege

Thank you to all my incredible parents out there for your support in this process. For your time & commitment to your children

This world is full to the brim of really incredible humans 🤍

14/10/2022

The end of another busy week. I feel really empowered at the moment to 'get stuff done'

We've had a little time coasting & it's almost been needed but there's definitely been a shift & it's time for action

Thank you to all my families this week. For fact finding, for attending family support sessions, for sharing, for making those tough phone calls & sending those strong emails. You're all incredible & without your advocacy where would we be

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, I'll be working on getting your background bits together & looking forward to some necessary meetings & conversations next week

Thank you as always to my inspirational young people. You make this world a magnificent place 🤍

28/09/2022

Death by PowerPoint? Don't be daft, I'm far too much of a chatterbox.

Thoroughly enjoyed a hard working day in one of my Bradford schools.

Supporting EHCP applications, behaviour walks, parent meets & finishing the day with two rounds of training.

LOADS to do now compiling all the feedback & ideas in preparation for integrating whole school systems.

Onto evening sessions now & then some much needed grub!

25/08/2022

Hi!
Long time no posts...hope you're all well & happy.

I wanted to share this today as it's GCSE results day & I know that some believe the giraffes long neck symbolises the ability to see into the future.

I wish you all love & strength today. You've worked so incredibly hard & whatever you think your futures may look like now, I know for most of you, they will be even more wonderful.

Stretch your necks & aim high no matter what.

This piece is one of many from one of my incredible A level students. She shows strength & resilience every day, particularly at school. To struggle with the challenges that she does, to feel the way she feels about school & yet despite that, to produce work at this level. Wow.

A shining example of how our young people's journeys in education aren't always as wonderful as they could be, yet our young hearts & minds push through regardless.

Happy GCSE day 2022 🦒

20/07/2022

Diet. Technology. Exposure. Consistency.

I don't need to go on but I am going to share freely about taking responsibility.

This isn't an easy gig. Our parents parents lives looked so different from our children's lives. We have made boundless progress in our technological advances, our medicines, our resources, defence, education...

For some of us on planet A it should be a much safer place but it's not & many of our young people know it.

They get to talk about it now. They are exposed to elements even we as adults find challenging.

We can continue on our path, I've even caught myself saying 'well, this is their world now' ooh ek!

Or we can take a step back & reframe.

The less connected we become to our natural world the less connected we become to our selves.

The more disconnected our young people become the more depression, anxiety, self harm & su***de we see.

I know this is taboo but if we don't address it for fear of upsetting each other what will happen to our future generations?

Our kids need to rewild. They need to be out, they need to be bored, they need to wait for things, to climb a tree & fall. Our children need boundaries, they need safety, they need protection & most of all...

Our children need our love more than ever.

EVERY SINGLE ONE of my young people who grace my space bring me hope. They are often so sad & so hurt, they often feel misunderstood & lost. So I say to all the parents, carers, educators, therapists, medical staff...

Aren't they AMAZING???

When I see a young person overcome an eating disorder, self harm, severe anxiety, trauma or watch them glued to my whiteboard as I explain neurodiversity, I'm so encouraged.

Children can teach us so much about vulnerability & adaptation. They want to feel better, they want to feel good.

~ reframe & reconnect 😌

www.gcpstrategies.co.uk

16/06/2022

Labels are such a complex subject. To label your child for some seems unjust, for others essential. I know adults who chase a label because it would finally give them peace & understanding of their natural cognitive character. I know children who chase lables because they feel like they need a reason for their exclusion.

I use labels every day. A universal language for all involved but with labels come emotional triggers, attachments, prejudice, fear, financial implications, social acceptance, social rejection & the list goes on...

I struggle sometimes with the secondary challenges surrounding labels. I worry that there are those who would rather hear the term ADHD than Autism, because at least you can 'fix' & medicate. I worry that Autism still makes people recoil in terror. I worry that our education system insists on a diagnoses to 'prove' the parents requests. I worry that Doctors & Mental Health systems are overwhelmed with applications. I worry that we are losing the end of this thread.

There are so so many complex reasons for diagnosis & for offering up a label. Sometimes in session I say to my young people... call it spaghetti...it's still who you are & what you're experiencing. We're missing out on so many opportunities to explore our minds, why we have the processes we do. Why anxiety is essential. Why we think 'globally' 'locally'. This isn't just psychology, this is social, emotional, contextual stuff & our prejudice to certain names overshadows this.

Your way of processing, connecting, loving, enjoying, participating, feeling, belong to you. Your way is a combination of components specific to you & it has a deep history. How you achieve success in this life is your choice & to have that choice is an acknowledged of deep gratitude

Make friends with your brain. Make friends with your challenges. Make friends with your label. Make friends with your choice.

After all... 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet'!

13/06/2022

Which category do you fall into? Perhaps you're lucky enough to be in both. I know that in my house there are two distinct verbal communicators & two physical communicators. This can be a challenge.

Verbal communicators prefer to talk things through, discuss, exchange & address through speech & language.

Physical communicators prefer to use their bodies to communicate. Touch, sense & movement are all ways or sharing their intentions. They action their ideas.

Bringing these two elements together can be tricky. It may feel that important information isn't understood or that its hard to gain feedback from each other.

Children who seem to have little patience, who grab at toys, pull their parents arms, move around the house quickly may be more dominant communicators physically, throw them in with a young person who is trying to speak & desperately feeling like their sibling who is currently dancing their way through the kitchen may not be really listening & you could reach a point of conflict.

Pace. This is where realising your dominant communication style compared to that of your child, spouse, peer, boss, sibling or teacher may come in handy. Recognising ultimately that we are all still sharing our ideas, desires, intentions but that we are doing so in a different way. This can free us up from a great deal of conflict & self doubt.

Sometimes listening & sharing looks really different. We like when our style is mirrored, it's much easier to process but ultimately if a person who prefers words is speaking with a person who will move & fiddle, this doesn't mean it isn't a successful exchange, it simply means the information is being interpreted in a way most natural to the individual.

10/06/2022

https://www.gcpstrategies.co.uk/

10/06/2022

I cannot apologise enough to the two parents who's messages I have only just stumbled across.

Please contact me through the submission form on my website as you are guaranteed to come through direct email.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch even if time has passed and your situation has changed. I'm always open to helping in any way I can

GCP Strategies offer Educational, Mental Health, Social & Emotional Specialist for adults, children & Families

10/06/2022

It's really easy to offer compensatory actions when parenting. I see this habit form a lot. When a young person has conflicting messages from adults, whether that be parents, grandparents, carers or educators, we step in to fill the void, to pacify the problem. With empathy & compassion we begin to excuse behaviours or shape our interactions to produce the behavioural feedback we want to see.

Compensatory parenting comes from a good place, it really does. You identify where your child's hurts are & adapt accordingly.

However the challenge here is that you're not allowed to be authentic. It's like parenting through a screen or filter. You have to slightly bend & after time you've inadvertently created a dynamic with more challenges.

Parenting can be tough & we don't always agree, children who get one message from parent & one from teacher can be tough. Children are vulnerable & most young people want to please, to feel accepted by all. As adults we know this isn't always a reality but as a child it's a part of our social development.

It's essential we see the child as separate to us, to validate their processing & perspective. To check our values & social systems & accept they may not work for our kids or our pupils, offering them skills to interact in a way that works for them.

It's essential we recognise the larger scale of our modelling & interactions with our young people so that it doesn't domino onto the next interaction & the interactions thereafter.

It's also a hard task but a necessary one for us as parents to recognise when we are parenting from our collaborative selves compared to when we are parenting from our compensatory selves. Working with someone looks very different to cleaning up another's adults mess or giving attention for the things that have gone wrong.

A child who is conflicted will show reactive behaviours. Rather than micro managing these secondary challenges, bring the focus back to your family values, systems & gentle expectations.

Collaboration leads to better Self Regulation for all

02/03/2022

Please get in touch. Gabrielle@gcpstrategies.co.uk
www.gcpstrategies.co.uk

I have a few day time sessions available specifically for parents/carers

These sessions can be one off or they can be frequent, whichever works for you

It's important that you feel supported & listened to when you're helping your young ones

I have a lot of experience to draw from and a skill share can make the world of difference 🧘🏻


-harming

27/01/2022

Hey hey!

It's been a while & although I feel like I could still wish you a happy new year, it's almost the second month 🤷🏻‍♀️

I hope you're all healthy, referrals are coming in thick & fast so just a quick Thank You to everyone working with me and sharing the love. Keep them coming, I will do what I can!

I've been making some great connections in the last few months so hoping that some parenting/group workshop dates may play out this year. There will be more on this at a later date.

If you are interested in learning about anxiety/autism/sensory/mental health & wellbeing/strategies for yourself or your children, please ping me an email and I will add you to the mailing list

Gabrielle@gcpstrategies.co.uk

If you are looking for support or sessions please use the submission form via the website

www.gcpstrategies.co.uk

Speak soon 💡🤍