Juniper Tree Therapy

Juniper Tree Therapy Passionate Occupational Therapy service in Leeds working with children, young people & their family ✨

24/12/2025

Join Jenn for a Christmas Eve story 📖
Why not play this 3 minute story to your children tonight and give yourself the night off!

Happy Christmas Eve everybody!

23/12/2025

Sleep can be a challenge at the best of times. For children who have regulation difficulties, it can be even tougher.

💡If you'd like our handy guide to supporting sleep, please message us your email address and we'll send it across.

22/12/2025

We understand that self-care is just one more thing on your never ending to-do list. But you pour so much of yourself into parenting and when you take care of yourself, it makes you better equipped to handle stress and prevent burnout. It should be as essential as taking out the bins. Maybe you'll only manage 10 minutes to yourself to focus on breathing but if you can work it into your daily routine, you will see the benefits. Micro self-care breaks reset your nervous system and clear mental clutter.

⭐Set boundaries and simplify
⭐Schedule downtime - even if you sit for an extra 10 minutes in the car by yourself and focus on breathing or listen to music.
⭐Get outside - being out in the fresh air is good for the soul.
⭐Limit screens - we always talk about this for children but it is just as important for adults. Stop the doomscrolling!
⭐Embrace the chaos! Perfection is a myth, no matter what you see on social media!

❔What are your top self-care tips?

21/12/2025

We couldn't miss the opportunity to wish a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to OT Amelia!
It's been a huge year for you - excited to see what comes next!
Hope you've had the most amazing day - let's show Amelia some love 😘

20/12/2025

The 3-3-3 technique is a simple grounding technique to calm overwhelm by using our senses -

⭐Name 3 things you see, 3 things you can hear, and move 3 parts of your body⭐

It brings focus to the present and away from anxious thoughts. It's a quick, effective tool for kids/adults to self-regulate during stressful moments, helping them connect with reality and reduce internal tension.

19/12/2025

Creating a quiet, cosy, safe space for children to escape to if it all gets too much this season, gives them a space to regulate their emotions and take a break when needed.
It should be a designated place in the house that is always available to them.

⭐Pop up tents work really well as they can be zipped up and closed completely but if you don't have one of these, a small table with some blankets thrown over will also work. Make it nice and cosy with blankets and cushions.
⭐Indoor fairy lights are a nice touch for children who don't like the dark. You can buy them with a battery pack so they can hang anywhere.
⭐You might want to leave noise cancelling headphones/an eye mask/weighted blanket/vibrating pillow/music in the den.
⭐Bubble timers/fidget toys/cuddly toys could also be helpful.

💡Essentially, let your child decide what their calm down area should look like so they are more motivated to use it. Use a social story to help them learn that when they are tired or upset, going to their safe space might help.

18/12/2025

It's our Christmas night out tonight.
Looking forward to some good food and fun with the best people. Love our team!

17/12/2025

Make Christmas cookies with the kids this weekend and have lots of cookies ready to give your friends and family. They'll be having so much fun and won't even realise they're working!

💡The wins -

⭐Builds hand strength - essential for handwriting, holding utensils, buttoning
⭐Improves hand-eye coordination -essential for refined finger movements, improved accuracy, visual-motor integration
⭐Boosts bilateral coordination - essential for cutting, tying shoes, colouring
⭐Aids emotional regulation - improves focus, regulation, follow multi-step directions
⭐Strengthens visual-motor and pre-writing skills - decorating in different shapes likes circles, zigzags, curves mirror the very strokes children need for handwriting

So let your children's imagination run wild and enjoy eating the results! It's a win for everyone! 🍪😋

16/12/2025

As adults we often think and refer to food as "good," "bad," "yummy" or "yucky."
Unfortunately, little people will pick up on this and it doesn't help encourage them to try new foods. These words are subjective and don't give them any information about what the food is going to taste or feel like in their mouth.

Christmas is a time of big flavours. To help children better understand food and make it less scary, you could set up a Christmassy taste session for them. Get them to describe the sensory properties of the food in as much detail as they can manage - colour, texture, shape, temperature, taste (salty, sweet, fresh etc).

For example - the gingerbread man is brown like our dog, chewy, shaped like my Dad, warm because it's just come out of the oven and sweet and buttery.

The next thing to ask is how it makes them feel. Does it make them feel awake? (think orange) Is it comforting? (hot chocolate) Is it effortful to eat? (Turkey - maybe that's just my cooking!)

For example - chewing the crusty bread helps me feel calm.

You could try cranberry sauce, turkey strips, oranges/clementines, dried fruits, chestnuts, cinnamon buns, stollen, stuffing.......

Giving children useful information about food will help them learn how it might feel when they eat it so they can make up their own mind, instead of pushing our own moral labelling onto them.

14/12/2025

Sunday craft fun

Ok so we're not up to Blue Peter standards here but with a bit of forward thinking and preparation - you could be!

A Christmas sensory bag is easy and fun to make. If you make one like the first image of the video, the idea is to promote fine motor development by pushing the sequins round to decorate the tree.

We didn't have craft foam to hand and so our paper tree didn't survive the hair gel and squidging, but I tell you what - we got some incredibly calming tactile input going on! I can imagine this would be fantastic for using whilst sat at the table. You could even give one to a younger child in a high chair.

What you'll need -

a freezer bag (I only had a plastic wallet)
clear hair gel
green craft foam (do not use paper like me🤣)
sequins, glitter, pom poms, Styrofoam beads, water beads etc
clear tape

⭐Cut a tree shape out of the foam. Cut out a star too
⭐Add gel to the bag
⭐Add the sequins, poms poms, tree and star to the bag
⭐Seal the bag, pushing out the air as you do
⭐Tape the bag shut so curious kids can't open it

💡Alternatively, just add way too much of everything like me and enjoy squishing and scrunching the bag!

13/12/2025

JTT Christmas pets.

We love our animals at JTT. Animals offer everyone and especially our children numerous benefits - they boost emotional strength, empathy and self-esteem. They encourage responsibility, routine and compassion. They get you out on the darkest day and always put a smile on your face - we're sure our friends at Co-op Academy Brierley and will agree.

Share your Christmas pets with us!

Address

Leeds

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441133280208

Website

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Therapy, Training and Consultancy

Juniper Tree Therapy is a small team of Specialist Occupational Therapists based in Yorkshire. We support Children and Young People, along with their Families and Key Professionals. This might be at home, in schools, or in other settings.

Our team are MSc Occupational Therapists, registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) and Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT). We are Advanced Sensory Integration (PGDip) and Sensory Attachment Intervention Practitioners. This means that we are trained to understand the sensory systems, motor development, cognitive development, and the sequence that this occurs in. We understand the impact of factors such as neurodevelopmental disorders, motor disorders, developmental trauma, or other factors which may impact on a child’s development.

We want to promote the foundations for play, learning, curiosity, and confidence, to engage in the challenges and rewards of everyday life, at any age. To do this, we consider each individuals’ needs, and those of the Family Members and Professionals who are a part of their life. We support the process of co-regulation and self-regulation as the underpinning for our ability to adapt to different situations.

We provide assessment, intervention, training and consultancy to support co-regulation with Key Adults. We consider enriched environments to meet their specific sensory and emotional regulation, and we consider meaningful occupations to promote the well-being of the Child and their Key Adult.