Sarah Drake’s Therapeutic Play Therapy

08/10/2025

When a child’s emotions boil over, calm can feel a million miles away. But it is possible to help them find their way back — gently, and in the moment.

Here are five simple, sensory-based calming strategies that really work when big feelings take over.

Save this one for those tricky moments.

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

When a child shares a worry, it can be tempting to jump in and reassure or fix it right away — but the words we choose really matter.

What they need most is to feel heard, not dismissed.

Here are some simple swaps that turn “Don’t worry” into “I’m listening.”

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

08/10/2025

Ever found yourself lost for words when your child is spiralling with worry? These phrases can help you calm their storm — without saying, “Don’t worry.”

Which one do you already use most often?

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.

05/10/2025

What does it mean to say, “Healing developmental trauma does not make an autistic person more typical”?

If I do trauma therapy while living in an environment that is unsupportive of my autistic body’s needs, I may experience trauma. (This applies to any type of trauma therapy, including nonverbal treatments.)

It is important for us to reduce the symptoms of autistic trauma, but if we try to do that in a space where connection and acceptance is systematically denied from us, we will have an intensely painful experience of rejection.

Being denied connection because of our differences is a core trauma wound for most autistics. For many autistic people, our trauma blocks are protecting us from this pain we have experienced so many times before.

When we remove the protection of our trauma blocks, we must have appropriate support. Appropriate support for an autistic person requires an identity affirming approach as well as accommodations and support for disabilities.

If trauma interventions are offered to autistic people from within the medical/pathology/cure model, we are simply setting autistic people up for re-traumatization, fragmentation, and increased mental health problems.

Living on the right side of this list is not sustainable long-term for any autistic person. The symptoms of autistic trauma are a significant threat to autistic health and survival…. When autistic people seek help with trauma symptoms, it is important for care providers to know that healthy autistic people can have significant support needs. A reduction in trauma symptoms does not mean a person will become more independent.

This reality is scary for many of us because society measures our worth by our independence. Since that isn’t going to change tomorrow, we need refuge spaces where we can interact with other neurodivergent people and experience acceptance are essential for trauma recovery. We also need non-autistic people to help us advocate for better social supports and policies that meet us where we are.
Want more explanation of this image? Check out the longer blog post here: https://www.traumageek.com/blog/autistic-traits-and-trauma

05/10/2025

Knowing what to say in the heat of the moment can feel overwhelming for kids AND parents.

While problem-solving is not ideal in the heat of the moment, here are some phrases to help soothe nervous systems all around. 😠

05/10/2025

05/10/2025

This was complied by Elsa Torres. I have definitely found all these to be true of the neurodivergent children I work with. This might be a handy share with others to help them more fully understand the school experience and struggles.

05/10/2025

19/09/2025

How is school drop off going by now? Here are OT-recommended tips to help with separation anxiety with the 3-5 year old crowd: https://www.theottoolbox.com/tricks-to-help-with-separation-anxiety-preschool/

19/09/2025

We've curated this series of free webinars for parents, run by our team of parenting experts and professionals.

18/09/2025

When kids cry 😢 it tugs at our heartstrings, and we want to do everything we can to wipe away the pain.

Our children become overwhelmed with their emotions, and we respond with urgency and sometimes from a place of anxiety.

Crying occurs when anxiety is high, and it's a natural response to those challenging feelings.

It makes us human.

Our kids can sail through these emotions in a safe space without us trying to FIX them.

With words of compassion and support, we can give our children the opportunity to feel calm in what feels like chaos.

💪 Want more tools to build emotional intelligence, confidence, and communication skills? Get free videos, printables, and resources 👉🏻 link in bio!