Petch Psychology

19/12/2025

🎄⭐️🥰 Well that’s me done for another year. Really am going to heed my own words and make some time to recharge those batteries! I just wanted to take this opportunity to firstly thank everyone who has chosen me for either their therapeutic needs or their ADHD assessments this year. I feel forever privileged to share in people’s lives and help in some way to shape their story. I hope the passion and commitment I feel come across to those I work with. I also want to thank you for supporting a small business. There is a lot of competition from big, online companies and I really do appreciate those who have gone for the more individualised approach and allowed my business to continue to thrive. Finally, I would like to wish you all a peaceful, stress free festive season. See you next year 🎄🥰⭐️

17/12/2025

🎄 We have spent a lot of time in sessions over the last couple of weeks thinking about how despite being exciting and fun, the end of term and the Xmas holidays can be pretty overstimulating and exhausting. Late nights, being out of routine, lots of people to contend with, excitement, disappointment and family dynamics to name but a few potential stressors !! This helpful post focuses particularly on the impact Xmas festivities can have on individuals with ASC /ADHD 🎄

I Have Autism. I Want You to Know This at Christmas.

Christmas can look joyful from the outside, but for many autistic children it can feel overwhelming, confusing, and exhausting.

I created this resource to help children and their families gently share what Christmas can be like for them — and what really helps. It’s designed to support understanding from relatives, friends, and the wider family, without a child having to explain themselves again and again. Other diagnoses to follow over the coming days.

This free download includes
– Colour versions (masculine and feminine)
– Printer-friendly versions
– A child-led version where they can draw themselves or add a photo

It’s about making space, reducing pressure, and helping every child feel safer, seen, and understood during the festive season.

Free download — follow instructions in the visual.

03/12/2025

ASC & screens…

When screens feel like the safest place
For many autistic young people, the digital world offers something the real world rarely does: predictability. Screens reduce the sensory and social demands that can overwhelm an already hardworking nervous system.

When the world is too loud, bright or fast
Real-life environments are full of unpredictable sounds, movements and social cues. Screens give autistic children control — over brightness, volume, pace and interactions — helping their sensory system settle rather than overload.

When communication becomes easier
Online spaces often feel more manageable because they remove the pressure to interpret facial expressions, tone or fast back-and-forth conversation. Screens offer clarity and time, reducing social anxiety and supporting genuine connection.

When 'special interests' come alive
Autistic passions are powerful regulators. Screens allow uninterrupted exploration of these interests, offering joy, comfort and identity-building in a world that often misunderstands them.

When understanding creates compassion
Seeing screen engagement through an autistic lens shifts us away from fear-based narratives.

When you want the full picture
If you missed our earlier ADHD & Screens visual, take a look — it explains the dopamine side of screen regulation and why ADHD transitions can be so intense. Together, these posts give a complete, brain-based understanding.

03/12/2025

Following on from the ADHD and screens post…

When screen battles feel never-ending
You’re not imagining it — transitions are harder for a child’s brain than we often realise. Especially for neurodivergent young people, coming away from a screen isn’t a behaviour choice. It’s a nervous system shift.

When the dopamine drop hits
Screens create focus, comfort and predictable reward — so stopping suddenly can feel like falling off a cliff. Understanding the brain chemistry behind the struggle helps us respond with support, not frustration.

When it’s not defiance at all
So many meltdowns are simply a child overwhelmed by the jump from one state to another. Their brain isn’t misbehaving — it’s protecting them from overload.

When we can make transitions kinder
A few small changes — connection first, visual cues, sensory bridges, predictable rituals — can transform the experience for everyone at home or in the classroom.

When calm replaces conflict
The goal isn’t to remove screens. It’s to remove the stress around the transition. When we honour the brain, the battles ease.

When you want deeper support
If screens, meltdowns or dysregulation are daily challenges, my behaviour and emotional regulation toolkits walk you through scripts, routines and practical brain-based strategies. Link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

03/12/2025

Ahhhh managing screen time. The bane of many parents life! For young people with ADHD and ASC screens can serve some very important functions and it can be helpful to understand these in order to manage their use. I am going to share a couple of posts about screen use today as it is such a source of conflict in many families 🖥️🕹️🎮

When screens seem to take over
For many young people with ADHD, screens aren’t just entertainment — they offer relief. The digital world provides predictability, structure and focus that their brain struggles to access in everyday environments.

When dopamine finally feels balanced
ADHD brains often start the day with lower baseline dopamine, which affects motivation, focus and emotional regulation. Screens provide rapid, consistent dopamine feedback — which is why the pull feels so strong and transitions can be so intense.

When it’s not “addiction”, it’s neurology
Hyperfocus, task-shifting difficulties and time-blindness mean stopping a preferred activity takes far more cognitive effort. What looks like ignoring or defiance is often a nervous system that simply can’t switch gears without support.

When understanding reduces conflict
Once we see the brain behind the behaviour, everything softens. We stop battling willpower and start supporting regulation — with predictable routines, sensory bridges and connection-first transitions.

SCREEN Information Sheet. Information for download in visual.

When you want more support
I’m sharing the Autism & Screens visual later today, with a full explanation of why the digital world feels safer and more manageable for autistic young people. Keep an eye out — you won’t want to miss it.

If you haven't already seen our post on The Screen - Dopamine Cycle, link is in comments.

22/11/2025

We spend so much of our time rushing from A to B, planning the next thing and failing to enjoy the here and now. Yesterday I took time to practice what I preach and really be in the moment. I practiced using my 5 senses and when I noticed my mind wandering elsewhere I gently brought it back to the present. As the chaos of the end of term approaches it is so important to grab those moments and savour them 🥰

16/11/2025

Free webinar for parents - Beneath the Behaviour

How to get your child to listen - without threats, bribes, or losing your cool! Discover the real reasons your child "doesn’t listen," and what to do instead.

16/11/2025

Helping parents stay regulated and recognise their own triggers is something that comes up a lot in my therapy sessions. Reducing the emotional climate in the household and modelling regulation really are key. It’s not always easy but parents I work with really do report that this approach helps reduce the frequency and intensity of their little one’s big emotions 💕

Supporting a child through a meltdown is not just about what we say or do.
It’s also about what is happening inside us.

Our nervous system responds to their overwhelm.
Their panic can trigger our panic.
Their intensity can activate our urgency.
Their distress can stir our own history of not feeling safe.

So before we can co-regulate a young person, we often need to regulate ourselves.
Not perfectly — just enough to stay steady.

This post shares supportive ways to stay regulated as the adult, so that we can be the grounding presence a child’s nervous system is reaching for in the storm.

Because when we are calm, predictable, and connected — the child feels safe enough to return to calm too.

If you’d like a deeper breakdown of every phase of the meltdown cycle — and how to respond at each stage without shame, fear, or urgency — you’ll find the full Timeline of a Meltdown resource via link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

Save this post to return to when you need it

13/11/2025

ADHD is so much more than bouncing off the walls or not being able to concentrate! This provides some good examples of how it might impact children in less obvious ways in the classroom 📚📝

This is a great resource for the classroom!

Image credit:

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.