EPT Clinic, Ireland

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EPT Clinic, Ireland

Clinical Director Lorraine Madden is a Chartered Educational Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland.

Best-practice neurodevelopmental assessments & documentation to explain your child's unique profile, along with a clear support plan PLUS access to multidisciplinary care to better equip your child to successfully navigate the world. She is also a published research author, lecturer in University College Dublin, and mother of two young children. Lorraine specialises in the areas of child development, paediatrics, infant mental health and early intervention. Lorraine and the clinic’s highly qualified team of healthcare professionals believe in helping all children reach their full potential in life. Lorraine begun her career working as a home tutor with children who presented with Autism. She then worked as a primary school teacher, before returning to university to complete her studies in Educational Psychology. As a psychologist, she initially worked with the HSE in both Early Intervention and School Aged Services. After some time working with the HSE, Lorraine set up her own clinical practice, The EPT Clinic in January 2019. The practice now comprises of over 12 team members, specialiseing in excellence in peadiatric healthcare. Infant Mental Health:
In recent years, Lorraine has developed a special interest in supporting families with young babies and toddlers. This began during her time working in Early Intervention Psychology Services in the HSE Cork. She underwent extensive training, including Masterclass in Infant Mental Health training, training with the The Squiggle Foundation and the NSPCC. She also engaged in CPD in developmental trauma and interpersonal, neurobiological approaches to development and resiliency.

10/01/2026

When a task, instruction, or expectation feels threatening to a child’s nervous system, even if it appears simple, their body moves into protection.

This can look like:

Silence.
Running away.
Freezing.
Opposition.
Sudden overwhelm.

Not because they are choosing avoidance, but because their system senses danger in losing autonomy or control.

This is Protective Developmental Anxiety.

It is instinctive.
It is rooted in survival.

And it tells us something vitally important:

The child does not need firmer demands.

They need safety.
They need agency.
They need co-regulation.

When we meet protective anxiety with understanding rather than escalation, the child’s system softens, and capacity slowly returns.

Your Child and Adolescent Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

P.S. Comment DM below for more information or support options.

09/01/2026

Most parents feel disappointed, hurt and annoyed when their children are rude to them.

It's okay! We parents are humans too.

Tip: Try and remain calm and curious about what is going on underneath the rude behaviour. We all use our behaviour to show how we feel inside... the key is to recognise the communication, then figure out what is causing it.

Or if you need support, message DM below and I will send you on information on our multidisciplinary neurodiversity and neurodevelopmental child and adolescent online service.

Your Child and Adolescent Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

08/01/2026

“Try harder.”
“Focus.”
“Stay calm.”
“Just push through.”

These are instructions for a nervous system that is regulated.

But neurodivergent children often experience sensory overload, executive functioning strain, or emotional flooding long before these instructions can even be processed.

When a child’s internal world is overwhelmed, trying harder isn’t possible.

Their system is already trying.

Their refusal is not a choice... it’s a limit. If they could, they would.

Limits are not failures.

Limits are information.

This is why a neurodiversity affirming lens changes everything:

Instead of asking, “Why won’t they do this?”

Try ask, “What is making this too hard right now?”

That shift opens the door to understanding, connection, and support, the very things that help a child come back into balance.

This is for teachers, SNAs, parents and professionals.

Your Child and Adolescent Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

P.S. Comment DM below and I will send you more information and support options.

07/01/2026

Lived experience research is showing us that masking is one of the most misunderstood experiences in neurodivergence.

A child can spend six hours in school appearing calm, social, focused… only to unravel the moment they get home.

A parent can smile through conversations at the school gate, holding back tears until the car door shuts.

A teacher can project confidence while silently drowning in sensory overload and emotional strain.

Masking is the art of self-protection.

Of blending in.

Of minimising difference to avoid misunderstanding, conflict, or shame.

It is sometimes necessary, BUT too much masking comes at a cost.

A deep, neurological cost.

Masking drains energy faster than anything else.

And prolonged masking leads directly to burnout.

If your child melts when they feel safe - it means you are their safe place.

If you unmask when no one is looking, it means your system finally feels permission to rest.

Masking is not a flaw.
It’s survival.
But no one was meant to survive forever.

So observe your child, how much masking are they doing??

What about you? Is your level too high? Exhausting you?

Your Child and Adolescent

Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

06/01/2026

Parents often ask me:

“How can the school say they’re doing brilliantly when we’re collapsing every afternoon at home?”

Here’s the truth:

Many neurodivergent children give everything they have to get through the school day.

The noise.
The unpredictability.
The transitions.
The social pressure.
The constant tiny adjustments to appear “okay.”

At school, they are surviving.

At home, they are releasing.

Home is the place where their nervous system finally stops bracing.

Where the mask falls.
Where the exhaustion spills out.

This is not manipulation or boldness, or disrespect.

This is safety seeking and a coping mechanism.

A child who unravels at home is not “fine at school.”

They are overextended.

And your home, your presence, may be the only place they feel safe enough to let the truth show.

Your Child and Adolescent Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

05/01/2026

Responding to meltdowns is one of the most common referrals we receive in EPT Clinic.

Meltdowns can be so stressful as a parent... (or as a professional)

It’s not that we lose control during our children's meltdowns, it’s that our body joins theirs. It's because we care, we love them.

Our nervous system is saying, “We’re not safe.”

That’s not failure, it’s connection.

And with awareness, it becomes co-regulation.

Save this for the days that feel hard.

Start with the breath.

Bring the adult's voice down.

Regulate yourself as the adult first, and your child will follow.

Your Child and Adolescent Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

PS. Share with a friend who needs to see this. Comment DM below and I will send you more information.

04/01/2026

Here's why teacher burnout is not talked about enough.

Especially for teachers supporting neurodivergent children with little training, minimal resources, and enormous emotional labour.

Every day, teachers are asked to:

Hold thirty nervous systems.

Create calm with limited space.

Understand neurodivergence without receiving specialist guidance.

Meet academic targets that don’t reflect children’s needs.
Absorb emotional energy that was never meant to be carried alone.

When a teacher reaches burnout, it’s not because they are incapable.

It’s because the system is unsustainable.

And yet... there are countless teachers who show up with empathy, flexibility, and creativity… even when they’re running on fumes.

This month, let’s hold them in mind, support them, respect them.

Let’s stop expecting them to “just cope.”

Let’s advocate for training, resources, and environments that allow teachers, and children, to thrive.

Because teacher wellbeing is child wellbeing.

Your Child and Adolescent Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

03/01/2026

Stop expecting to see obvious and dramatic signs of child burnout early on with your neurodivergent child.

When a neurodivergent child reaches burnout, it rarely looks dramatic at first.

It might look like:
Increased meltdowns.
Withdrawn silence.
School refusal.

Tears for “no reason.”

Explosions that come out of nowhere.

It could also look physical or like a health problem (it did for me as a child - constipation, IBS, not sleeping).

A child who once coped… is suddenly unable to.

This isn’t defiance.
It isn’t laziness.
It isn’t attention-seeking.
It’s exhaustion and overwhelm, deep within the nervous system.

A child who has been stretching beyond their capacity for far too long.

Masking.
Pushing.

Trying to meet expectations that don't matched their internal state.

Burnout is the point where your child's nervous system chooses protection over endurance.

They are not giving up.

Their body is stepping in.
Recovery is possible.

But only when the world slows down enough to hear what the child’s nervous system has been whispering for months:

“I’m overwhelmed. Please help me rest.”

Noticing early on... can make a REAL difference to your child. So watch out for the signs.

Your Child and Adolescent Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

02/01/2026

Here's why parents of neurodivergent children are some of the strongest, most emotionally generous people I know, yet many of us quietly reach breaking point long before anyone notices.

It's not because we’re doing anything “wrong.”
But because we’re holding everything:

The sensory meltdowns.
The school meetings.
The sleep struggles.
The advocacy.
The fear of being judged.

The constant emotional regulation, us as parents, and our children's.

The quiet grief no one warned us would come.

Parent burnout is not a reflection of our capacity.

It’s a reflection of the load.
A load that was never meant to be carried without support.

If this is you, you are not failing.
You are tired.

Your nervous system is tired.
Your heart is tired.

And none of that makes you less loving, less committed, or less extraordinary.

This January, let this be the month you stop blaming yourself for being depleted, and start acknowledging how much you’ve been holding.

Your Child and Adolescent Psychologist,

Lorraine Xx

31/12/2025

Address

Dublin Road
Kilkenny
R95YA07

Website

https://www.eptclinic.ie/emotional-regulation-programme

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