I’ve known Claire for a little while now and towards the end of last year, I started experiencing some behaviour with my little one, which I wasn’t ready or equipped for. He was returning from seeing his other parent dysregulated and upset, due to their behaviour and things that were being said. The obvious thing is to talk to the other parent but they never understood or took time to understand. So I needed another way. My little one was coming home, upset, angry, or very quiet and withdrawn. It would take a few days for him to come back round to his normal self. We needed to find a way to express our emotions and feelings. Claire gave us some incredible but simple tools to use, using animals and a number scale to express our feelings, both of us drew a ‘happy board’. What was great was seeing how my little one picked this up and started to recognise the emotions immediately. Whilst it doesn’t always stop the outbursts we are now able to talk about how we are feeling. That you don’t always need to be a 10, that it’s ok to feel sad and how to move that dial to feel a little happier and content. Claire used fun activities to engage him and calm, meaningful time with me afterwards to explain the techniques and ensure I could continue the activities. These activities are now part of our daily routine. Thank you, Claire.
Emma - son aged 5
Claire came to work with our son as he had low self-esteem and confidence after moving schools and also after years of struggling with dyslexia at his previous primary school, who hadn’t give him much support. He started seeing Claire at the beginning of Year 6 and was also worried about the move to secondary school and an upcoming residential trip, so he had a lot on his plate. Unfortunately, just after she started working with him we also lost my Dad, and my son was very close to him. But thankfully, Claire was there to help him through that loss as well as helping him find ways to be more confident in himself and manage his emotions. His new school and friends were very supportive and year 6 ended up being his best school year ever. He had the time of his life on the residential trip too! After his confidence improved, the move to secondary school couldn’t really have gone much better. He’s in Year 9 now and is so much more confident and resilient, he even went abroad with school last month with a smile on his face, barely looking back. We are so proud of him. We still use some of the tools Claire taught us, and he still instigates using them with us too. I feel the work Claire did with him in Year 6 really helped him turn a corner and gave him some tools that he can carry with him as he continues to grow and develop.
Gemma - son aged 9
Claire helped our daughter overcome her fear of eating and rebuild her confidence. She’s now eating well, thriving, and ready to face new challenges
Claire has been working with our 11 year old daughter for a few months now after she had a choking incident and developed a fear of eating. We had been referred to CAHMS by the GP but with such a long waiting list, we had no idea how soon she could be seen and with the rapid weight loss and panic attacks she was experiencing, we needed to find help fast. Claire had helped our son on a previous occasion, so we got in touch with her again. Fortunately, we’d already booked a few sessions with Claire as we had noticed some low-level anxiety with our daughter and had wanted to try and get her help before it developed. She was able to bring the sessions forward and get started straight away. After just one session, we went to the supermarket and my daughter bought lots of new food to try! She didn’t manage to eat many of them at first but this interest and enthusiasm was a key part of helping her move forward. Little by little, she managed to try new foods and feel more comfortable eating them. After 2-3 months, with help from Claire, some adjustments at school and support from her family and friends, she is now eating much better, has gained some weight, her panic attacks are almost gone and her anxiety is much better now too. Claire is now working with her on her general confidence and we hope our daughter will soon come out the other side of this difficult time, ready and raring to go to secondary school next year and ready to accept new challenges
Gemma - daughter aged 11
We can only say great things about Claire when she worked with our daughter, who is a highly sensitive child. Being a highly sensitive child means that the range of emotions are heightened and Claire took the time to understand the circumstances and scenarios where those emotions are heightened, which can lead to a long ‘meltdown’. We loved Claire’s approach with our daughter. Her sessions are led by activities, with the objective to share coping mechanisms that can be used in times of emotion stress. The fun way in which the sessions are designed means that our daughter was always engaged and looking forward to the next session, particularly as our daughter loves crafts! Claire also took time with us at the end of the sessions to give us advice as to how to use the items she had been talking to our daughter about whilst having fun. This has been brilliant as we now remind our daughter to use these when she is in emotional stress. We highly recommend positive pants!
Wayne - daughter aged 7
We really enjoyed the online session! My daughter is 10 & I am always looking for creative things we can do together. My daughter didn’t want to join in the session at first but something changed her mind so that’s a credit to you. I think she got a lot out of the session, which was uplifting, fun & creative. My daughter is quiet so doesn’t necessarily get a lot of attention at school, so doing things in small groups helps her open up.
Akiko - daughter aged 10
I just wanted to say a huge THANKYOU for today.. Both your sessions were fantastic and perfect. You could see the children, and teachers, really loved them – they were all still full of enthusiasm when we finished the day!
Thank you for making the conversation around mental health that little bit easier and for helping the day to be a huge success.
Nottingham City Library
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