Therapy and Therapeutic Support
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." — Maya Angelou
Our Approach
At Summit Psychology Services Ltd., we believe in a holistic and integrative approach to therapy, considering the environments and systems surrounding the child or young person. We therefore work collaboratively with parents, carers, schools, and professionals who support children and young people to foster change, adversarial recovery, healing, and growth. We are not a diagnostic service and do not label distress but instead work with individuals to understand their experiences and support their journey towards well-being.
We also know that attending therapy can feel daunting and work with sensitivity to provide a nurturing and soothing environment where everyone feels comfortable. Our therapists are highly skilled at helping children, young people, families, and carers feel at ease, and all therapeutic relationships are built on care, choice, respect, and trust.
The Therapies We Offer
At Summit Psychology Services we offer a range of therapeutic approaches, and trauma specific therapies for children and young people aged 5 – 25 years old. We support children and young people who may have experienced adversity, who may still be experiencing adverse events, have experienced loss, who may have complex histories, be experiencing emotional, social, and psychological stress and distress, and who may be care experienced. For families, foster carers, and adoptive parents we work to strengthen the bonds in your relationships and support you to overcome tensions that may be impacting on your relationships.
Play Therapy
For children—and many adults—using words to express themselves can be a challenge. Play therapy uses the child’s natural primary form of communication—play—to explore their inner world, thoughts, feelings, experiences, and trauma. It provides them with the opportunity to process and master painful or fearful experiences through the safety and psychological distance that play offers.
“Play Therapy is the dynamic process between child and Play Therapist in which the child explores at his or her own pace and with his or her own agenda those issues, past and current, conscious and unconscious, that are affecting the child’s life in the present. The child’s inner resources are enabled by the therapeutic alliance to bring about growth and change. Play Therapy is child-centred, in which play is the primary medium and speech is the secondary medium.” — The British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT)
Marnie Butters is our BAPT-registered Play Therapist, who uses a psychodynamic approach to play therapy.
How Play Therapy Can Help
Play Therapy is a form of counselling for children that builds on their developmentally appropriate form of communication—play. It allows children to explore difficult experiences in a safe environment. Through play, children can experiment with, process, and master different skills and experiences. They develop a sense of who they are while learning to understand that others may be different from them. Relationship skills such as trust, respect, empathy, sharing, and cooperation can all be nurtured through play.
The trust, acceptance, boundaries, modelling, and reflectiveness of a BAPT Registered Play Therapist® working alongside a child during play can enable them to:
- Feel more confident in expressing their thoughts and feelings
- Develop their emotional vocabulary by accessing the language the Play Therapist relates to their experiences
- Develop more socially appropriate behaviour
- Improve their self-image and self-esteem
- Improve concentration and organisation
- Become more confident and creative in their play
What To Expect
Play Therapy at Summit takes place in our fully equipped play therapy room in Newcastle-under-Lyme. We also have a waiting area where it is helpful for the parent or carer to remain for the duration of the session.
We begin by meeting with parents or carers to understand the focus of the work and plan the intervention. Following this, we meet with the adult and child to introduce them to the therapist and the playroom, explaining the process to the child.
Play therapy appointments are typically held weekly, lasting up to 45 minutes, and are arranged on a consistent day and time to provide the child with a predictable experience.
The sessions are child-led but within boundaries, ensuring a safe and contained environment where the child takes the lead in choosing activities. The playroom contains toys, games, books, puppets, a role play area, paint and craft materials, musical instruments, and a sand tray, all accessible to the child.
The conclusion of therapy is as important as the initial planning and will be agreed upon with the child and adult when we feel the work is nearly complete, ensuring that the ending is predictable and expected by the child.
The content of the sessions is considered private between the therapist and the child, unless safeguarding concerns arise. However, we work closely with the parent or carer to keep them informed of the child’s progress and the general themes of the play. The child is free to speak about the sessions outside of the appointments if they wish.
EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a powerful psychotherapy recognised by the World Health Organisation and recommended by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) and National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) as a highly effective trauma-specific treatment for children and adolescents. It is particularly beneficial for those who have experienced traumatic events and is proven to help those with PTSD.
EMDR is also effective for addressing a wide range of mental health and well-being needs beyond trauma, providing relief from anxiety, emotional distress, and negative thought patterns. Through EMDR, children and young people can process difficult memories and emotions, helping them move towards healing and growth.
At Summit Psychology Services, EMDR therapy is provided by Dr. Dawn Bradley, who has undergone advanced, specialist training in working with children and adolescents to ensure the therapy is tailored to their unique needs.
How EMDR Therapy Can Help
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a powerful therapeutic approach that helps children and young people heal from trauma, anxiety, and other mental health needs. The word “trauma” comes from the Greek word for “wound,” and just as physical wounds need care, emotional wounds require thoughtful, compassionate treatment. EMDR is particularly effective for processing distressing memories related to anxiety, sleep disturbances (such as nightmares), loss, phobias, and exposure to harmful or frightening events. By helping to reprocess these memories, EMDR reduces their emotional impact, enabling children and young people to feel calmer and to healthily integrate past experiences.
At Summit Psychology Services, we recognise that healing doesn’t always immediately lead to resilience, but it creates the space for recovery and growth. EMDR therapy can not only alleviate immediate distress but also supports long-term emotional well-being. In addition to trauma, EMDR can assist with building self-esteem, improving emotional regulation, and enhancing daily functioning. By integrating EMDR into a comprehensive therapeutic plan, we address both the root causes of distress and the symptoms, providing holistic care for each individual.
What To Expect
Before beginning EMDR therapy, it’s essential to understand that the process involves gradually working through traumatic memories. Much like a wound that needs care before it can heal, emotional wounds require time and support. The therapy connects memory networks in the brain, allowing the reprocessing of distressing experiences. Trauma can overload the brain’s natural coping mechanisms, but EMDR helps integrate these memories, reducing their emotional charge and freeing the child or young person to live more fully in the present.
Safety and stabilisation are critical components of EMDR therapy. In the early stages, the focus is on creating a safe and secure therapeutic environment and trusting relationship where the child feels supported. Stabilisation allows the child to develop coping strategies, which are crucial before addressing traumatic memories directly.
During EMDR sessions, eye movements similar to those seen during REM sleep are recreated by asking the child or young person to follow the therapist’s fingers as they move side to side, or by using light bars, gentle taps, or soft hand buzzers. Depending on their age and developmental stage, the therapy can also involve a number of creative approaches to help the individual express their emotions and process distressing memories. This flexibility ensures that the therapy is appropriately adapted to individual strengths and needs.
Typically, EMDR sessions are held weekly and last about an hour. We prefer to keep to the same day and time so that there is consistency for the child or young person. Therapy is provided in our equipped EMDR therapy room in Newcastle-Under-Lyme and there is a waiting area for adults. Unless there are safeguarding concerns, the sessions are private, however the child or young person is very welcome to talk about the session if they wish.
For more information, you can explore these helpful videos:
Therapeutic Life Story Work
For children who have experienced trauma, been removed from their family’s care, and often faced multiple placement breakdowns, their life history can become fragmented. This fragmentation can affect the child’s sense of self, their ability to form trusting relationships, and leave them without a sense of belonging.
Therapeutic Life Story Work is a structured approach developed by Richard Rose (2012) that, unlike traditional Life Story Work or Life History Work, actively involves the child’s primary carer throughout the entire process. This engagement helps build a secure foundation of support for the child as they navigate their story.
Therapeutic Life Story Work provides children and young people with the opportunity to explore, question, and understand the events of their lives. It offers them a safe space to express their emotions, make sense of their past experiences, and understand how these experiences impact their current thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Rather than focusing on what is “wrong” with them, this approach encourages children to think about what has happened to them, promoting healing and understanding.
Therapeutic Life Story Work is delivered by Marnie Butters, a certified TLSWi practitioner.
How Therapeutic Life Story Work Can Help
Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW) is an intervention designed to strengthen the relationship between the child and their parent/carer by exploring the child’s history together. Working alongside a certified TLSW practitioner, the process is evidence-based and has been shown to help with the following:
- Understanding the child’s past experiences and helping them develop a coherent narrative about their life.
- Recognising and expressing emotions.
- Building a stronger sense of self, identity, and belonging.
By helping the child reflect on and make sense of their past, TLSW can foster healing, promote self-compassion, and support the child in moving forward from their trauma. This often has a positive impact on their current and future behaviours. Additionally, the process strengthens the relationship between the child and their caregiver, reducing the likelihood of placement breakdowns. Caregivers sit alongside the child on this journey, gaining a deeper understanding of the child’s past and its potential impact on their behaviours.
What To Expect
A TLSW intervention involves three stages:
- Information Gathering
The practitioner will gather extensive information, including reading case files and conducting interviews with professionals and family members, where appropriate. - Sessions with the Child and Parent/Carer
There will typically be around 18 sessions with the child and carer, held fortnightly for an hour, ideally on a consistent day and time. These sessions can take place either in the family home or in a therapy room at Summit, depending on what is agreed upon by the child and parent/carer.
The sessions begin with play, boundary-setting, and emotional regulation practice before moving on to supporting the child in telling their story. The final phase of the sessions involves sharing the information gathered by the practitioner with the child and parent/carer and helping the child process it alongside their caregiver.
Rolls of wallpaper are used during the sessions to record what is said and shared. The child and parent/carer keep these between sessions, allowing them to continue discussing and processing the work throughout the intervention. - Creating a Life Story Book
After the sessions are complete, the practitioner will co-create a Life Story Book for the child. This book, using the information from the sessions and the wallpaper, will serve as a keepsake for the child to reflect on their journey.
Systemic Family Therapy
Family and systemic psychotherapy, also known as family therapy, can help those in close relationships better understand and support each other. Offered by Tracie Ward, this therapy provides a safe space for family members to express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions, understand each other’s experiences and views, appreciate one another’s needs, build on family strengths, and work together to create positive changes in their relationships and lives. Systemic Family Therapy focuses on the interactions and relationships between people when addressing difficulties, rather than seeing the problem as being within an individual. It is a collaborative approach that values the family’s expertise and seeks to develop their confidence and resources to more effectively manage the challenges they face.
How Systemic Family Therapy Can Help
Systemic Family Therapy, also known as family therapy, is a collaborative approach that helps those in close relationships, including fostering and adoptive families, better understand and support each other. It enables family members to safely express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions, understand each other’s experiences and perspectives, appreciate each other’s needs, build on family strengths, and work together to make positive changes in their relationships and lives. This approach focuses on the space between people when addressing difficulties, rather than viewing the problem as residing within an individual.
Family therapy is effective for addressing a range of issues, including sleep and feeding problems in babies, attachment issues, child maltreatment, unhealthy relationships with food, school-related difficulties, relationship distress, and substance misuse. It can also help with a variety of interpersonal issues such as couple relationship difficulties, child and adolescent mental health issues, behaviour challenges, parenting concerns, illness and disability in the family, separation and divorce, step-family life, fostering and adoption, domestic violence and abuse, self-harm, the effects of trauma, and bereavement.
Research shows that Family Therapy is beneficial across the entire family life cycle, enhancing individuals’ and families’ ability to manage difficulties more effectively and build healthier relationships.
What To Expect
Systemic Family Therapy involves the therapist working with any number of family members or those in the wider relational network (e.g., friends, partners, support workers). Sessions may include the use of systemic questions and a range of other techniques, which may involve movement, drawing, writing, or the use of equipment to explore ideas. Family therapy sessions can also incorporate the use of a reflecting team. With your agreement, this involves another therapist taking a listening role during the session and then sharing their reflections on the processes described by the family.
This approach can also be applied to working with an individual within a family system if that is more feasible or preferred. Sessions can be delivered online or in person and typically last 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Your family therapy work will begin with an initial consultation to discuss your needs and agree on the type of work that will best suit your family. A plan with goal-based objectives will be created and regularly reviewed. Families retain choice and control over their sessions, ensuring that the process is collaborative and tailored to your specific needs.
For more information, please visit:
Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (AFT)
Integrative Therapy
Integrative Therapy combines techniques from different therapeutic fields to meet the unique needs of children and young people. We believe that you are the expert in your own life and that your experiences are unique—there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Integrative approaches allow us to support you in a highly person-centred way. We recognise that adversity, loss, and trauma can affect multiple aspects of a child or young person’s life, including their emotional, psychological, and social well-being. For this reason, we embrace integrative and holistic approaches that are tailored to you. Integrative approaches are offered by Dr Dawn Bradley and Dr Alice Carvalho.
How Integrative Approaches Can Help
Integrative therapy supports children and young people dealing with a range of mental health and well-being issues, such as anxiety, low mood, damaged self-esteem, loss, stress, and trauma. Our approach focuses on emotional regulation, reducing anxiety, developing more helpful ways of thinking, nurturing a positive self-view, and teaching coping strategies. Ultimately, we aim to promote growth and healing.
What To Expect
In integrative therapy, you can expect a personalised and compassionate approach tailored to your child’s or young person’s unique needs. Sessions are usually held once a week for an hour and incorporate a blend of therapeutic techniques. The goal is to create a safe and supportive environment where your child or young person feels comfortable expressing their feelings and experiences. We work closely with both the child or young person and their caregivers to build trust, which is the foundation of a strong therapeutic relationship. We listen carefully and ensure that children and young people feel understood and supported throughout their therapeutic journey.