Dr Danielle Drinkwater, Clinical Psychologist BSc, DClinPsy, HCPC

05/06/2025

Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme providing free activities during the longer school holidays for families in receipt of free school meals.

What is the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme? Funded by the Department for Education, HAF provides free activities during the longer school holidays. It is for those who are school aged in Reception to year 11 who receive benefits-related free school meals. There are no HAF programmes dur...

23/01/2025

Feeling really inspired following a talk I attended this evening, hosted by Smartphone Free Childhood 📞

There really is so much to cover in this conversation, from concerns around increasingly sedentary behaviour, screen addiction, the harmful effects of p**n exposure at younger ages, social media and body image, risks around online grooming, online bullying, peer pressure, and the impact of screens on social interaction and various aspects of development.

It was harrowing and hopeful- with talks from a range of speakers, including some amazing young people from Brighton and Hove, and some fascinating initiatives being rolled out in some of our local schools 🤩

Check out thier website site-https://smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk/ for information on what’s happening in your local area to tackle this

04/01/2025

I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions this year, but I have been thinking about where I want to focus my energy in the year ahead.

The systems of support around our children and young people are increasingly centred on diagnoses, particularly those that come under the umbrella of neurodiversity, and I’m sorry to say it’s clearly not working. A report by the Children’s Commissioner towards the end of last year estimated that if we are to continue with our current system, the government would need to provide an additional 400,000 appointments each year just to meet the demand for diagnosis alone (https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2024/10/CCo-report-on-ND-waiting-times_final.pdf). Let that sink in for a second.

I recognise that for a lot of people a diagnosis is life changing, but for too many it serves as a barrier to much needed support and adaptations. Support and adaptations that should be available to anyone who needs them.

There has to be another way. There is another way! In my search for an alternative, I have discovered that there is work taking place across the country developing needs-led, joined up systems of care, applying our ever expanding knowledge of things like neurodiversity across the areas of education, the NHS, and social care. See Rethinking child neurodiversity | BPS.

For me, as professional working in this area, I have realised that if I do not make myself part of the solution, then I am very much part of the problem. So this year, I am going to-
- Continue having the difficult conversations and bringing some critical thinking to the discussion around child mental health and neurodiversity
- Remain committed to finding new and better ways of supporting our children and young people, their families, and the professional systems around them
- Grow my professional network of like-minded peers

Let’s see what 2025 has in store!

09/12/2024

Chemical imbalance or human experience? What an inspirational recovery story this is ❤️

NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk for medical or mental health advice and seek professional help if you are struggling. This talk only represent...

25/10/2024

Anyone who knows me well (and allows me to bang on about my work) will know how passionate I am about challenging the diagnostic culture in ‘mental health’.

Simplistic messages of the dominant ‘medical model’ of mental health typically lend themselves much better to social media than the more nuanced conversations needed to reflect the diversity of human experience and the complexity of the discussions and debates around this topic.

A big turning point for me was attending the AD4E online conference last year, and discovering the growing community of people dedicated to changing the way that emotional distress is understood and responded to.

Whether you’re a curious professional, a budding activist, or someone who has used mental health services yourself, or indeed supported a family member struggling with thier emotional well-being, I would highly recommend this online event. It’s donation only and has a jam packed line up of incredible speakers.

AD4E festival 2024 - 11 hours of change-making talks, presentations, conversations, etc challenging the culture of diagnosis and disorder!

10/10/2024

On I wanted to share some reflections.

What do we mean by Mental Health?

No doubt we'll see and hear the term ‘Mental Health’ all around us today, but even as a Clinical Psychologist, I’m not entirely sure what it means.

When we think of mental health, it’s difficult not to also think of its counterpart mental illness, and associated concepts, such as diagnosis, disorder and treatment. This medicalised way of looking at human experience, known as ‘the medical model’, is at the centre of our mental health system. It provides a way of talking about things like distress and suffering, and in many ways enables access to support within our current systems of care. BUT just because it is well-established, this doesn’t mean that it is necessarily the most helpful or accurate way of understanding things.

Does it really matter?

I often hear “well this is the system we’ve got”, “it’s the only way for people to get support”, and “what’s the alternative?”. These are really important points and, honestly, there’s no quick or simple solution.

What I do know is that language matters. It impacts how we make sense of our experiences, our struggles and our strengths, and those of our children.

- If we only talk about distress and suffering in medical terms, as illnesses or disorders, can we truly acknowledge and celebrate the variety of human experiences and ways of being in the world?

-Does this perspective, which locates the issue in the individual, allow us to identify and address the various social factors that might be contributing to such distress and suffering, such as social inequality, bullying, or other traumatic life experiences?

- What happens to the people who don’t fit neatly into our predefined diagnostic categories?

- And how do we, as a society, rise to the challenge of meeting such diverse needs?

I would rather talk about promoting wellbeing and reducing distress. I would much rather think about what has happened to a person, how they have experienced the world and the people in it, and what they might need in order to thrive. I would far prefer to discuss how we support children in their social and emotional development, recognise and celebrate different ways of being, and strive for new ways to meet individual as well as collective needs, for example in our schools and workplaces.

What you can do

- Use the language that makes most sense to you (but know there are alternatives to the dominant medical model of mental health)

- Read around and take what’s helpful

- Follow this page for more non-medicalised information and resources

- Check out this list of books on a variety of topics from the Disorder 4 Everyone website

Books that we recommend the challenge the culture of diagnosis and disorder.

04/10/2024

I made up an extra sand tray with a spare storage box and some leftover sand from work.

It makes for a great indoor activity for the kids 😊

I love how it acts as a container for their imaginative play, whilst adding a sensory element to our morning’s activity.

23/09/2024

A friend of mine is involved in setting up this new group for Dad’s and their children age 0-11 in Brighton and Hove! Starting on October 5th. 🤩

16/09/2024

Inclusive activities in Brighton and Hove (inc lots of half terms dates)

The SEND Short Break and School Activities Programme provides activities during the school holidays (Easter, Summer and Half Term). Summer bookings will be open w/b 10th June 2024. The programme is for children and young people aged 4 years (Reception) to 25 years with SEND.

07/09/2024

Im off to a networking event! 🤩 Hoping to think with some likeminded professionals about creative new ways to support children and families, yet somehow also challenge the culture of diagnosis and ‘disorder’.

Got my podcasts and car snacks at the ready 🚗 🤓

05/09/2024

As I am starting to get this page out there, I figured I should provide some content. So here's my top 3 book recommendations for parents -

1. The whole Brain child by Dan Siegel-
A bit ‘neurosciency’ but don’t be scared off. The overarching message is quite a simple one and really helpful for understanding all children’s behaviour. There are also some great practical tips and ideas.

2. Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD- by Eli Lebowitz-
This is essentially a self-help guide for parents of children struggling with anxiety. Like the previous recommendation, the overarching message is a simple one, focussed on helping parents to provide supportive responses and achieve a balance between acceptance of their child’s difficulties but also confidence in their child’s ability to cope.
(NB What is considered ‘manageable’ will vary from child to child, across different contexts and over time; therefore, it is important to ensure you have a good understanding of your child’s needs and abilities before reading this book. For some families of children with particularly complex needs, the message in this book may be overly simplistic and seeking more individualised support and guidance would be recommended).

3. Why Can’t my Child Behave by Amber Elliot- This book is aimed at supporting adoptive and foster families, and there’s quite a lot of info in there about developmental trauma. However, I think it’s a handy walk through for anyone interested, from an attachment perspective, of some of the more challenging situations that parents might face, such as when children see the Red Mist, or managing High Energy, or Lying. Like no. 1, there are lots of creative and practical ideas in here as well as a bit of theory.

I can’t resist adding one more bonus recommendation-

4. Gilly the Giraffe- Self-Esteem and Activity Book by Karen Treisman- This is a really lovely book exploring difference and self-esteem, full of creative activities and beautiful illustrations, for parents to go through with their younger children.

P.S. No. 1 and 2. Are available on Audible if, like me, you prefer to do your reading ‘on the go’

Have you read any of these? I would be interested to hear your thoughts. And please feel free to share your own recommendations in the comments : )