ZB Therapy

30/01/2026

Schools can make a huge difference — but they can’t meet a dyslexic child’s needs on their own. Even with good support in place, children spend most of their emotional and learning time at home. When understanding, adjustments, and reassurance are consistent there too, progress becomes more likely and confidence is better protected.

Supporting a dyslexic child at home isn’t about becoming a teacher or doing more work. It’s about reducing pressure, explaining how their brain works, noticing strengths, and protecting emotional wellbeing. These small, steady supports shape how a child sees themselves long before exam results ever do.

Today’s other dyslexia-themed posts explore the signs of dyslexia, the child’s lived experience, and what truly helps. Scroll through today’s posts to build the full picture — they’re designed to work together.

28/01/2026

So much helpful info on The Contented Child, Child Wellbeing Consultancy

Would really recommend giving the page a follow 👍

'WHAT IS...?' SERIES

If your young person struggles with a fear of being sick, you’re not alone — it’s far more common than most people realise, and it can quietly shape everyday life. I’ve put together a free bite-size information sheet to help you understand what’s going on in the brain and what actually helps.

While rigorous longitudinal data is still emerging, the pandemic environment created multiple risk-factors for emetophobia in children and young people, making this an area of growing concern, certainly I am seeing far more referrals where parents report emetophobia.

To SAVE, click on the image, tap the three dots top right, and choose Save.

28/01/2026

What Is… Dysgraphia

If writing feels like a daily battle for your child, this post is for you.
Dysgraphia is a brain-based difference that makes handwriting and written expression genuinely hard — even when a child is bright, motivated, and trying their absolute best. This isn’t about laziness or lack of effort. It’s about how many skills the brain has to juggle at once just to get thoughts onto paper.

When we understand why writing feels so heavy, we can stop pushing harder — and start supporting smarter. Reducing pressure, offering alternatives, and protecting confidence can completely change a child’s relationship with learning.

Later today, I’ll be sharing A Child’s Voice — what writing feels like from the inside when you have dysgraphia. It’s one many parents and educators say stops them in their tracks.

Save this post if it resonates, and come back later for the voice behind the struggle.

27/01/2026

A Child’s Voice Series - I Have ARFID

ARFID isn’t “fussy eating”. It’s a real, brain-based struggle where food can feel genuinely unsafe — in ways adults often don’t see. For some children, the smell, texture, taste, or even the look of food can trigger panic, overwhelm, or shutdown. And the harder we push, the more their nervous system protects them.

This post is written in a child’s voice, to help adults understand what ARFID can feel like from the inside — and how we can respond with calm, safety, and support (not pressure or shame).

To SAVE, click on the image, tap the three dots, and choose Save. If you’d like the girl version, comment GIRL below. Facebook only.

27/01/2026

Children who have experienced trauma need extra care, empathy and support. Adults need to be curious and empathetic to what might be going on underneath the behaviour, thinking 'what happened to you', rather than 'what's wrong with you' can be a good place to start.

Repeated trauma, ongoing and early developmental trauma can have lasting, long term affects on all areas of a child's development. A school that might feel safe, welcoming and nurturing to the adults might feel like a very unsafe place to a traumatised child.

Trauma affects behaviour, it increases reactivity, fight and flight, decreases emotional safety and triggers survival mode. It affects learning, problem solving, logic and reasoning and relationship building. Focusing on maths and English might be impossible for these children, if their basic needs of safety are not being met.

There are so many children that are hurting inside. Children who don't have words for their feelings or understand how and why they behave like they do. When you've had to learn to keep yourself safe the world can feel like a very scary place. Behaviour might be the only defense you have to protect yourself.

This book explains brilliantly how trauma and attachments affect a child, and what we as adults can do to support the most vulnerable ones. Building trust and safety are key.

27/01/2026

A new book has joined my bookshelf!

Celebrating diversity and inclusion, this story explains the differences in families with the message that love is what makes a family ❤️

I'm sure this will resonate with many of the children I support.

26/01/2026

This Week's Webinars

Please note, we were a little premature in our announcement last week and are still moving over from Eventbrite to our website. This week's webinars are all bookable via Eventbrite.

Join us for a range of webinars this week including Eating Difficulties, Executive Functioning, AuDHD, ADHD in Women & Girls and Alexithymia! Head to our Eventbrite page to 'reserve your spot'!

26/01/2026

Today I attended some training by Dr Naomi Fisher aimed at parents of children who are not fine in school. It really resonated with me when I thought about the many families I've worked with and the young people who are really struggling to attend school for a variety of reasons.

One of the main points I took from today was that this period of time won't last forever. It won't always be this hard and there is hope. Children do grow up and even if school is hard right now, it doesn't define your child or who they will be in the future. School will one day be a very distant memory and is a very short period of time in their lives.

Keep listening to your child. If your child is telling you there's something about school that doesn't feel good, listen. Don't just assume it's anxiety or poor behaviour or they are being dramatic or seeking attention. Behaviour is a signal that something is wrong especially when children don't have the words to express how they feel.

Building trust and emotional safety are key. Don't be afraid to advocate for your child when they aren't able to, you know them better than anyone else. Sometimes there aren't straightforward answers and for some, school will not be the right place.

Just trust that you're doing what you can with what you have right now and your child's mental health and happiness comes first. There is help available if you or your child are struggling, you are not alone 🫂

22/01/2026

If your child isn't fine in school and you don't know where to turn, this webinar being run by Dr Naomi Fisher might be helpful. I've signed up too so I can try to understand how to support children and parents experiencing this struggle.

I was a school refuser.
Or school phobic,
Or ‘Just making a fuss’.
Or a social outcast.
Or weird.

I didn’t have EBSA (emotionally based school avoidance) because no one had invented that term yet. Not in 1980’s Bristol.

My school career was unusual. We moved a lot and I went to many different schools. But twice, I found school so alienating that I refused to go.

Twice. Once when I was five and I started school. I didn’t like it. I could read already, and I didn’t like sitting at a table and writing with Dominic who could also read whilst everyone else sat on the carpet and read Billy Blue Hat with Miss. Fanshawe.

I hated the concrete playground and the busy dining hall and the girl who pinched me when no one was looking. I cried in the mornings. My parents moved me.

Then when I was thirteen, we returned from living abroad and I went to a comprehensive school. Nine forms in the year group, and my form had been together since the start of primary school. They thought I was weird and they told me so. I didn’t know their language. I didn’t know who a ‘Sharon’ was, or what ‘scabby’ meant. I was permanently out of step; they noticed and they told me so. The lessons were boring and often (I felt) a waste of my time. School was a hostile environment.

I remember what it's like, and now I'm a clinical psychologist. I work with children like me and their parents. I know that forcing me into school wouldn't have helped, and so I help parents find other ways.

That's what I'm talking about in my webinar next week. My Child is Not Fine At School. Please share if you know parents who don't know where to turn.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/my-child-isnt-fine-at-school-tickets-1980544344449?aff=FB3

18/01/2026