Child emotions
When your child is melting down, shutting down, or refusing school.
When your child melts down, shuts down, clings, argues, or avoids school, it can be hard to know what they need or how to respond. These behaviours may be their way of showing fear, grief, stress, overwhelm, or confusion before they have words for it.
Your child's behaviour can offer clues about what they need.
Meltdowns, shutdowns, clinginess, anger, avoidance, perfectionism, sleep changes, school refusal, and sibling conflict can all point to needs or skills that are still developing.
In caregiver support, we can slow the cycle, look at what may be underneath the behaviour, and find clear, consistent responses that feel possible at home.
- Describe what you are seeing with care and curiosity about what may be driving it.
- Look for patterns around transitions, hunger, sleep, school, separation, or sensory overload.
- Return to the moment after everyone is calmer and repair the connection.
- Ask for support when patterns are affecting school, home, sleep, safety, or connection.
Caregivers are part of understanding what helps at home.
For school-age children, we often include caregivers so we can understand patterns, practise new responses, and support changes between sessions.
Notice what happens before, during, and after a difficult moment.
Track a few difficult moments so you can see the pattern over time. Note what tends to happen before the behaviour, what your child may be communicating through words or actions, what helps them settle, and whether sleep, school, sensory demands, grief, or family changes may be adding pressure.
In a consultation, we can review what has been happening and decide together whether online child therapy, play-informed support, parent consultation, or another service is the most appropriate place to begin.
Further reading
Tell us what you have been seeing at home or school.
We can talk through whether child therapy, play-informed support, or parent support may fit your child's needs.