Petch Psychology

12/10/2025

I know as a parent how hard this balance can be !!

Sometimes, when a child is struggling, our instinct is to step in and fix things quickly — to make the discomfort disappear.
But when we rescue too often, we can unintentionally keep a young person stuck in a cycle where they rely on us instead of building their own problem-solving and coping skills.

Avoiding the rescue cycle isn’t about leaving a child to struggle — it’s about supporting without saving.
It’s holding space for frustration, gently guiding, and showing belief in their ability to find a way through.

Our new visual, “Avoiding Rescue Cycles", explores what this looks like in practice — and how small shifts can help children grow confidence, resilience, and self-trust.

What helps you hold back from jumping in when a child is struggling?

Tools for supporting manageable steps are in our toolkit for this series.

FOLLOW for more in our series When Worries Take Over until 12 October 2025.

IN THE RESOURCE STORE - instant electronic download with secure global checkout. Only £3.75, introductory price until 19 October 2025.
Toolkit to accompany our new series:
When Worries Take Over: Supporting Children With Everyday Worries
The Toolkit for Parents & Educators contains parent information sheets which capture the content of our posts over the series as well as tools, resources and activities to support them young person.

Electronic download available at link in comments or via our Linktree Shop in Bio.

08/10/2025

The DSM 5 is the framework most commonly used for diagnosing ADHD but there are lots of other features we frequently see that aren’t included in its list of symptoms. This article contains a few examples but there are lots more. What would you include ?

23/09/2025

I would say that the increase in diagnosis is also due to the demands and expectations of our modern day environment, and increasing awareness of more subtle symptomology and masking. However, there is no proven link to paracetamol (or drinking bleach to cure covid!)

Just quickly popping in to say that President Trump said today that taking paracetamol in pregnancy and vaccines cause autism.

This is misinformation. There are studies of millions of births which show that this is not the case.

Yes, there has a been a huge rise in autism diagnoses over the last 45 years. That's because the diagnostic criteria have radically changed. It used to be a rare diagnosis only given to children with severe learning disabilities, it's now quite a common diagnosis given to many people with and without learning disabilities. The people who are being diagnosed with autism today would, for the most part, not have met diagnostic criteria in the 1980s.

Autism is a umbrella term which includes a very wide range of people. Scientists agree that there will never be a single cause identified because autistic people are so different to each other.

It's fear-mongering to start blaming paracetamol and vaccines.

13/09/2025

24/08/2025

I know I often share resources from this site (I don’t get commission- promise !!) but they often post timely info around subjects that come up a lot in my therapeutic work with children. September heralds change all round - whether that be a new class or a new school 📚. Anxiety around change and transitions can often manifest in more ‘challenging’ angry type behaviour 😡 which can make it all the more tricky to focus on providing reassurance and modelling regulation 🧘‍♀️. Simple things like brain storming questions or uncertainties your child has can really help - sometimes the things that we, as adults, think are important aren’t actually the things our little ones are worried about! Naming and noticing worries as well as how they show up in our bodies can be helpful, as well as normalising these 🥰

20/08/2025

This upstairs downstairs brain analogy is something I use a lot in my therapy work (anyone who has been in my office will have seen the big drawing of the brain house on my office door 🧠 🏠 !)

01/08/2025

I will be closed for appointments until 26th August 😎. Please do still email me with enquiries in that time and apart from when I am physically away I will do my best to reply. Wishing you all a peaceful summer with plenty of time to recharge those batteries. Down time is just as important as doing time ☀️

23/07/2025

Factors to consider when choosing an ADHD assessment service ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

18/07/2025

📆📘🚸. The end of junior school can evoke many different feelings- for both children and parents ! Relief, excitement, pride, sadness and anxiety to name but a few. By this point in the year it can feel a little like limping over the proverbial finishing line after a term of SATS, sports days, leavers assemblies and school trips. Whilst some children will have enjoyed these endeavours, for a lot they will have added a whole new layer of challenge and worry. So try and take a bit of time out now to decompress and recharge those batteries. This doesn’t mean elaborate holidays but just time at home or in safe places to settle the nervous system and regroup before the new school year starts. I remember both of my children finishing Year 6 well and it definitely feels like the end of a chapter so allow yourself time and space to reflect on the journey so far 😎📚✏️📖📏

For all of those parents and carers who are experiencing this at the moment… happy last day of “little school” for you all. Onwards and upwards to the next chapter and the start of something new. You’ve all smashed it… 👌🙌👏

Enjoy the summer holidays and take a moment to reflect on how far you’ve already come…

04/07/2025

I see so many teenage girls who are academically able, well behaved and go completely under the radar at school yet underneath are paddling frantically and using every ounce of their energy to stay afloat. These girls are frequently displaying perfectionistic tendencies and are highly motivated to achieve good grades and please others. However, at some point their resources become outstripped by demands (whether these be academic, social or organisational) and they then present with burnout, anxiety or a sudden deterioration in grades ☹️🎭

28/06/2025

Some helpful thoughts about diagnosis from my colleagues in Chichester whom I join for ASC assessments 😊

27/06/2025