Action4Families CIC

September bookings are now open for Action4Families CIC training workshops supporting professionals working with children and young people.

We are currently looking to partner with schools and community venues interested in hosting practical, relational and trauma-informed training sessions, with places also opened to staff from other schools and organisations. Host settings receive 4 free staff places as part of the partnership.

Current workshops include:
🟣 Introduction to Sand Tray Work
🟦 Therapeutic Use of Minecraft Magnetic Blocks

Designed for:
• Teaching Assistants
• Pastoral Staff
• Therapists
• Mentors
• Wellbeing Practitioners
• School Support Staff

These workshops are reflective, creative and practical, exploring emotional regulation, communication, relational safety and therapeutic approaches that can support children and young people, including neurodivergent pupils.

If your school, church or community organisation may be interested in hosting a September workshop, we would love to hear from you.

📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.action4families.com
📞 07552 941604

We are excited to begin exploring a new pilot project through Action4Families CIC aimed at supporting young people aged 16–24 who are currently NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

We are currently in conversations about partnering with a Derby secondary school to develop an early intervention, trauma-informed therapeutic support programme focused on helping young people reconnect with confidence, relationships, education, training and future opportunities.

Many young people who become NEET have experienced significant barriers including anxiety, trauma, emotional overwhelm, exclusion, neurodiversity-related challenges, adverse childhood experiences, family instability or unmet mental health needs. We believe that relational and therapeutic support can play a vital role in helping young people rebuild trust, resilience and hope.

The proposed pilot would combine:

1:1 therapeutic support

Small group work

Emotional regulation and confidence-building

Support towards education, training or employment pathways

A compassionate, relationship-based approach that works at the young person’s pace

We are now seeking conversations with potential corporate funders, community partners and socially minded organisations who may be interested in supporting this initiative and investing in the futures of vulnerable young people across Derby and Derbyshire.

If you would like to find out more or explore partnership opportunities, we would love to hear from you.

📧 [email protected]
📞 0755 294 1604
🌐 action4families.com

Why does my teenager react so strongly… or shut down completely?

Sometimes what we see on the outside—anger, withdrawal, mood swings, needing constant reassurance—isn’t “bad behaviour.”

It’s about how safe they feel in relationships.

This infographic breaks down the four main attachment patterns in teenagers and helps make sense of what’s really going on underneath:

Why some teens need lots of reassurance.

Why others push people away.

Why emotions can feel so big—or completely shut down.

And what actually helps.

💡 When we understand the need behind the behaviour, our response changes—and that’s where real connection begins.

You don’t have to get it perfect.

Consistency, calm, and staying present matter more than anything.

Take a look and see what resonates 👇

At Action4Families, our work with adults is strengthened by a deep understanding of children, attachment, trauma, and family systems.

Many adult struggles are not isolated to the present moment. Anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, parenting stress, emotional overwhelm, shame, anger, and patterns of disconnection often have roots in earlier life experiences and relational wounds.
Because our practice is built around children, young people, and families—not just individual adult counselling—we are able to work with adults through a wider and more clinically informed lens.

We understand how early attachment shapes adult relationships.

We recognise how childhood trauma can continue to influence confidence, trust, emotional regulation, parenting, and identity.

We see how unresolved experiences can repeat across generations.

This means our adult counselling is not simply symptom-focused.

It is relational, trauma-informed, and grounded in understanding how people develop across the lifespan.

We support adults not only as individuals, but as parents, partners, carers, and people shaped by family history.

This is what makes Action4Families different.

We are uniquely placed to help adults make sense of the past, strengthen the present, and create healthier futures for themselves and the people they love.

Because healing adults often means healing families.

At Action4Families, we are intentional about specialist practice.

Many services describe themselves as offering support for children, young people, and families, but often this simply means adult counsellors extending their practice into CYP work without substantial specialist training.

We believe children and young people deserve more than that.

There is a significant difference between an adult counsellor who has some experience with young people and a practitioner whose training, supervision, and clinical practice are specifically centred on children and adolescents.

That distinction matters.

Our model brings together: Specialist Child Counsellors and Play Therapists Practitioners trained specifically in therapeutic work with children and young people, with expertise in development, attachment, trauma, safeguarding, relational practice, and play-based therapeutic intervention.

Alongside: Adult Counsellors with Family and Parenting Expertise supporting parents, carers, couples, and adults whose own emotional wellbeing shapes family life and intergenerational patterns.

This creates genuinely joined-up care.
We do not see children in isolation from families, and we do not assume adult counselling skills automatically translate into specialist child therapy.

Our work is relational, trauma-informed, safeguarding-aware, and rooted in clinical integrity.

What makes Action4Families stand out is that we are not offering a general counselling service with children added on.

We are building specialist therapeutic support around the whole family system—ensuring the right practitioner meets the right need at the right time.

Because families deserve more than access.

They deserve expertise.

Looking for affordable therapeutic support in Derby or Derbyshire?

🌿 Parents need support too — and you don’t have to navigate your child’s anxiety on your own.

If your child is overwhelmed, anxious, shutting down, or struggling with big emotions, it can leave you feeling unsure, stretched thin, or stuck between caring and crisis mode.

That’s why I offer Parent Coaching — available individually or as a supportive group space. 💚

✨ Understand your child’s anxiety
Learn what anxiety-based behaviours really mean so you can respond with confidence, not guesswork.

✨ Practical tools that work at home
Co-regulation, routines, boundaries, communication strategies, sensory support — tailored to your child and family.

✨ Shift from overwhelm to clarity
You’ll learn how to nurture regulation, build safety, and support emotional resilience.

✨ Choose the support style that fits you best:

🟢 1:1 Parent Coaching
Personalised guidance, private space, tailored strategies, and deeper support.
Ideal if you want focused help for your unique situation.

🟢 Parent Coaching Groups
A small, supportive community of parents who truly “get it.”
Learn, share, feel understood, and gain connection while building skills.

🌱 You don’t need to do this alone.
You just need support that feels safe, practical, and grounded.

📞 Message or enquire today to join a parent group or book a private session.

More young people than ever are overwhelmed — facing constant pressure, uncertainty, and nervous-system overload.

Anxiety shows up as big emotions, perfectionism, anger, withdrawal, shutdown, school refusal, or unexplained physical symptoms.

These aren’t attitude problems.

They’re anxiety-based behaviours — a young person’s body saying it doesn’t feel safe.

That’s why relational play and creative therapy can be so transformative:

✨ A regulated relationship
A calm, attuned therapist helps their nervous system settle so they feel safe, seen, and supported.

✨ Expression without pressure
Play, art, movement, sand tray, stories, music and creative approaches help children and teens express what feels too overwhelming or confusing to put into words.

✨ Real coping skills through co-regulation
Young people learn to shift out of fight/flight or shutdown — not by being told to calm down, but by experiencing calm, steady connection.

✨ Rewiring fear into confidence
With consistent relational safety, anxiety softens and emotional resilience grows.

✨ Support for parents
Caregivers learn what anxiety-based behaviours really mean and how to support regulation at home.

🌿 Children and teens don’t need to be tougher.
They need safe, creative, relational spaces where anxiety can ease and they can breathe again.

🟢 Private sessions available.
🟢 School-based and therapy-room sessions offered.

📞 Enquire today to arrange a supportive, confidential session for your child or teen.

🌟 Relational Play & Creative Therapies for 5–18 Year Olds – Now Near You! 🌟

From January, I’m excited to be offering private therapy sessions from my warm, welcoming therapy room — and to celebrate the launch, I’m offering a special promotional discount for new bookings!

I support children and young people aged 5–18 with a wide range of emotional and relational challenges, including:

✨ Anxiety
✨ Relationship and friendship difficulties
✨ Low confidence or self-esteem
✨ Emotional regulation struggles
✨ Behavioural worries
✨ Life changes, transitions, or family stress
✨ And more…

Using relational play, creative therapeutic approaches, and a trauma-informed, nurturing style, I provide a safe space where young people can explore their feelings, build resilience, and reconnect with their strengths.

🏫School-Based Sessions
Private sessions can also be offered during school time, by arrangement with the school, providing convenient and consistent support within the school day.

🔒 Professional Standards You Can Trust:
✔️ Full adult and child DBS
✔️ Registered with PTUK and BACP
✔️ Fully insured
✔️ Dedicated private therapy space

If you’re looking for supportive, creative therapy for your young person — in-school or in my private setting — I’d love to help.

💬 Message me, using [email protected], for availability, pricing, or a free initial chat.

🌈 Helping children feel seen, understood, and empowered.

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Over the Spring, I will be piloting a coaching programme for parents called, 'Nurturing Connection'. It is aimed at the parents of primary-aged children.

It is a group coaching programme focused on supporting parents in helping their child to develop age-appropriate emotional self-regulation skills.

I will be providing the material around which I'll be facilitating a coaching conversation, so not providing answers - helping participants support each other in finding answers.

I'm offering up to 8 completely free places on a first come, first served basis. I just need you to be committed to a six session process (meeting online every 2-3 weeks for 90 mins).

You will in turn be helping me fine tune what I hope will be a programme that helps many families.

Please feel free to share the offer!

The practice of mindfulness is hugely beneficial for Mums of all ages & stages!

Mindfulness is a mental state and practice that involves paying purposeful, non-judgmental attention to the present moment.

It involves being fully engaged with your thoughts, emotions, sensations, and surroundings without becoming overly reactive or overwhelmed by them.

Mindfulness encourages you to observe your experiences with an open and accepting attitude, fostering self-awareness and promoting a sense of calm and clarity.

For mothers, the practice of mindfulness can have several significant benefits. Follow us to receive our mindfulness tips on a daily basis.

It's never too soon or too late to start!