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Emotional
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Therapy & support
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Therapy & support
What should I do if my child hits other people?
If your child hits others, stay calm, keep everyone safe, name the feeling and set a clear limit, and teach a better way to handle frustration — hitting is usually communication, not naughtiness. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child hurts themselves on purpose?
If your child hurts themselves on purpose, stay calm, keep them safe, and treat it as communication of an unmet need rather than naughtiness. Respond gently, reduce triggers, and arrange a developmental and emotional check to understand the cause. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. under qualified clinician care; seek urgent medical help if injuries are severe.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child is very aggressive?
Aggression in children is usually communication, not character — a sign that a feeling or need is overflowing without the words or self-regulation skills to handle it. Stay calm, keep everyone safe, look for the triggers behind the behaviour, and seek a developmental check if it is frequent, intense or affecting daily life. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child runs off in public?
If your child runs off in public, prioritise safety in the moment — stay calm, secure the environment, and use rehearsed cues like "stop", hand-holding and ID tags. Most young children outgrow impulsive bolting, but frequent or dangerous running off warrants a developmental check. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child throws big tantrums?
Big tantrums are a normal part of early childhood because a young child's feelings outsize their ability to manage them. Stay calm, keep your child safe, name the feeling and reconnect afterwards rather than punishing. Consider a developmental check if tantrums are very frequent, very intense, involve hurting or continue well beyond the early years. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with attachment difficulties have?
Children with attachment difficulties often have genuine strengths — emotional attunement, resilience, independence, loyalty, creativity and sharp observation. With warm, consistent, predictable support these abilities become the foundation for secure connection and confidence.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Childhood Anxiety have?
Children with anxiety often carry real strengths — keen observation, deep empathy, carefulness, vivid imagination, strong memory and loyalty. Anxiety is not the whole child. With support that manages the worry, these gifts shine. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. under qualified clinician care.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with developmental trauma have?
A child with developmental trauma often carries real strengths — deep empathy, loyalty, creativity, resourcefulness, courage and a capacity for joy. These survival skills become genuine gifts when met with safety and support. Healing always begins by naming what a child can do.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with emotional & behavioural difficulties have?
Children with emotional and behavioural difficulties often have real strengths — deep empathy, honesty, a strong sense of fairness, creativity, passion, persistence and fierce loyalty. The same intensity behind big feelings powers these gifts. Building regulation skills around these strengths is one of the most effective routes to settling the difficulties; a clinical AbilityScore® and diagnosis are formed only at a Pinnacle centre.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Selective Mutism have?
Children with Selective Mutism are often highly observant, empathic, creative and intelligent, with rich language that flows freely where they feel safe. Selective Mutism is an anxiety-based difficulty speaking in certain settings — not a limit on ability. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with self-regulation difficulties have?
Children with self-regulation difficulties often have real strengths — deep empathy, vivid creativity, intense passion, honesty and high energy. Support aims to give them calming tools so these gifts can shine, never to dampen them. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Separation Anxiety Disorder have?
Children with Separation Anxiety Disorder often have real strengths — deep loving attachment, high empathy, strong observation and memory, rich imagination and conscientiousness. With support, these become lifelong gifts. A clinical AbilityScore® and diagnosis are formed only at a Pinnacle centre.
Read the answer AnswerWhat techniques are used in art therapy?
Art therapy uses creative techniques — free drawing and painting, clay and modelling, collage and mixed media, scribble and projective methods, sensory art and group projects — chosen by a trained therapist to help a child express feelings, build confidence and develop skills, focusing on the process rather than the product. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat techniques are used in music therapy?
Music therapy uses structured techniques — singing and vocal play, instrument play, rhythmic cueing, receptive listening, improvisation and songwriting — each matched by a trained therapist to a child's goals for communication, movement, attention, emotional regulation and social connection. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapeutic strategies that strengthen emotional development
A child's emotional development (ICF b152) is strengthened through co-regulation before self-regulation, explicit emotion-labelling, graded distress tolerance and attuned caregiver responsiveness, with CBT-informed and play-based methods for older children. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with attachment difficulties?
The most effective therapies for attachment difficulties are relationship-focused and parent-led — coaching caregivers to read and respond warmly to a child's cues, supported by play-based therapy and co-regulation. The goal is a felt sense of safety. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with Childhood Anxiety?
Young children with anxiety respond best to play-based CBT, parent coaching, graded "brave steps" exposure and simple relaxation skills, with the parent as the central part of therapy. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. under qualified clinician care.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with developmental trauma?
Young children with developmental trauma are helped most by relationship-based, play-based and body-regulation therapies that rebuild safety through the caregiver bond. Parent coaching, predictable routines, sensory/occupational support and speech therapy all play a part. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties?
Young children with emotional and behavioural difficulties respond best to early, play-based support: parent-led behaviour programmes, play and emotional-regulation therapy, and help for any speech or sensory needs underneath the behaviour. A clinical AbilityScore and plan are formed only at a Pinnacle centre under clinician care.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with Selective Mutism?
Selective Mutism is anxiety-based, not defiance. The most effective help is gentle behavioural therapy — graded exposure, stimulus fading and positive reinforcement — alongside speech and language therapy and close family–school teamwork. Early, low-pressure support works best; medication is rarely needed in young children.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with self-regulation difficulties?
Young children with self-regulation difficulties are helped most by occupational therapy (sensory and co-regulation work), play-based relationship therapy, parent coaching and communication support — woven into one plan. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with Separation Anxiety Disorder?
Young children with Separation Anxiety Disorder respond best to parent-involved Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with graded separation practice, parent coaching on calm goodbyes, and play-based emotional-regulation work. Medication is rarely first-line at this age. A clinical assessment and any diagnosis are formed only at a Pinnacle Blooms Network centre under qualified clinician care.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapy goals matter most for a child with Attachment Difficulties?
For attachment difficulties, the priority goals are felt safety, caregiver co-regulation and an attuned, predictable relationship — before any skill target. The dyad is the unit of intervention; communication, play and self-care follow once the child feels secure. A clinical AbilityScore and diagnosis are formed only at a Pinnacle centre.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapy goals matter most for a child with Childhood Anxiety?
The therapy goals that matter most in childhood anxiety are functional: reducing avoidance through graded exposure, building emotion-regulation skills, restoring school and social participation, raising tolerance of uncertainty, and reducing family accommodation. Symptom relief follows function. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
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