The Parent Book
Topic · Transitions in childhood and adolescence
Some transitions are scheduled by the school year. Others arrive without warning. A reception start, the move into Year 7, sixth form, university. Or a parent's diagnosis, a family separation, a bereavement, a sibling birth. Children carry transitions in their bodies before they find the words. This page is a short overview of how Kensington Square Therapy works with transitions, and what is in The Parent Book for parents reading alongside.
Children rarely use the language of grief or anxiety for a transition. They use the language of stomach-aches, friendship trouble, suddenly hating something they used to love. The patterns below are the ones we see most often.
The Year 5 child whose drop-offs have suddenly become difficult again. Usually a sign that something else is happening underneath, not a regression in itself.
Bedtime becomes the place where the worry about the change arrives. Often the only quiet moment in a child's day, and so the place the thoughts can finally land.
The bright child who has stopped wanting to go in. The body has spotted the change before the mind has named what is hard about it.
The child who has become snappy with siblings, the teenager who is suddenly furious about small things. Sometimes the only safe outlet for the harder feeling underneath.
Not every child shows transition difficulty loudly. Some children manage by going inward. Worth watching for the child who has stopped asking for anything.
Transitions sometimes need a clinical conversation; other times they need a calm parent with the right reading and a hand to hold their own anxiety. Both are available.
One-to-one therapy with a child or adolescent specialist. Parent consultations alongside, particularly where the transition is also affecting the adults in the family. Where appropriate, work with the school's pastoral team as well.
How we work →Five chapters in The Parent Book on transitions, alongside the bereavement, separation-and-divorce, and starting-school chapters. Through your school as a partner, or by individual subscription at £99 a year.
Open the library on The Parent Book →Most transitions are weathered by most children with adequate parental holding. There are a few signals that suggest a short clinical conversation is worth having.
If you are not sure whether the pattern warrants therapy, the simplest thing is to write a short email. Every enquiry is read by Sam personally, and we respond within one working day.
If you or your child are in immediate danger, please call 999 or take them to your nearest A&E. If you need to talk to someone right now: Samaritans 116 123 (24/7), NHS 111, or Shout (text SHOUT to 85258). For under-25s in distress, Papyrus HOPELINE247 on 0800 068 4141.
If you are weighing therapy and not sure where to start, a short call costs nothing. If you would rather begin with reading, a subscription to The Parent Book is £99 a year and you can cancel anytime.
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