What this can look like
Your child may:
live with pain, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, weakness, headaches or gastrointestinal symptoms;
experience fainting, blackouts, non-epileptic seizures, changes in movement, sensation or speech;
have a diagnosed chronic condition, functional neurological disorder, persistent physical symptoms, ME/CFS, Long Covid, PoTS, EDS or a still-evolving medical picture;
move between periods of greater capacity and sudden flare-ups that are difficult to predict;
miss school, attend part-time or expend all available energy on getting through the school day;
fear that activity will worsen symptoms, while also grieving what inactivity has taken away;
become frightened of bodily sensations or lose trust in what their body will do next;
feel disbelieved, over-observed or reduced to a set of symptoms;
become dependent on parents in ways that feel necessary and painful at the same time;
withdraw from friends because plans are difficult to keep or explanations have become exhausting;
feel angry, ashamed, left behind or uncertain who they are outside illness;
encounter tension between medical advice, school expectations, family hopes and their own felt limits.
The same diagnosis can be lived very differently by two young people. Assessment therefore attends to the particular child, the medical context and the life that has been interrupted—not simply the symptom label.
Physical and emotional experience are not competing explanations
Symptoms can be medically explained, functional, mixed or still uncertain
A child may have a recognised physical condition, a functional disorder, symptoms that fluctuate with stress, or investigations that have not produced one complete explanation. Psychological care should not depend on pretending that this uncertainty has been resolved.
The medical journey can itself be emotionally demanding
Repeated examinations, invasive procedures, emergency visits, contradictory opinions and the need to retell the history can affect trust and safety. A young person may become vigilant to every bodily change or fearful that adults will either miss something serious or dismiss them.
Ordinary development may be interrupted
Illness can alter the expected movement towards privacy, independence, friendships, school participation and confidence in the body. Needing help may bring gratitude, anger, guilt and humiliation together. Parents may be required to provide intensive care while also trying not to let illness become the child’s whole identity.
Uncertainty can organise family life
Every plan may contain a calculation: Will there be enough energy? Is this symptom dangerous? Should we encourage or protect? Is rest restorative or making life smaller? Families can become trapped between overexertion and over-restriction without anyone being at fault.
Emotional distress may intensify symptoms without creating them
Fear, shame, conflict, sensory overload and exhaustion can alter how symptoms are experienced and managed. That interaction does not mean the symptoms are invented. Bodies and minds are not separate systems, and neither psychological nor medical care should claim the whole explanation automatically.
How illness can narrow a young person’s world
Symptoms may reduce attendance, movement, social contact and confidence. Reduced participation can then make returning feel harder, change friendships and increase attention to the body. Parents may become the child’s principal companions, advocates and interpreters, while siblings adapt around appointments and unpredictable capacity. The young person can feel both protected by these arrangements and trapped within them.
Psychotherapy may help create room for grief, fear, anger, dependence, identity and hope without making symptom recovery the price of being understood. Practical changes around school, healthcare and family life may be as important as what happens in the consulting room.
How I work with functional symptoms and chronic illness
I work at a low-demand pace and adapt the setting to energy, pain, concentration, communication and readiness. A child is not asked to persuade me that they are ill, select either a physical or emotional explanation, or perform optimism about recovery.
Depending on age and capacity, sessions may involve conversation, drawing, play, sensory materials, an absorbing activity, lying on the couch, working side by side or periods of silence. We can think about:
fear of symptoms, investigations or future deterioration;
the emotional impact of pain, fatigue and reduced capacity;
identity when illness has displaced school, friendships or independence;
anger at the body, professionals, parents or healthy peers;
dependence and the wish for autonomy;
medical trauma, uncertainty and experiences of not being believed;
the relationship between activity, rest, demand, avoidance and recovery;
communication of needs without requiring the child to prove distress repeatedly;
what remains possible and valuable even when symptoms persist;
how parents, school and clinicians can hold a more coherent picture around the child.
Where clinically useful and agreed, focused liaison can connect the psychological formulation with school, GPs, paediatricians or other professionals. This remains psychological liaison: I do not interpret investigations, direct medical treatment, provide rehabilitation or take over clinical responsibility from healthcare teams.
Support during a hospital stay
Hospital stays can interrupt friendships, education and the everyday routines that help a young person feel like themselves. I can visit children and young people in hospital by arrangement, offering space to think and talk about what they are going through alongside their medical care.
We agree the practical arrangements with the family and hospital team, taking account of treatment, energy levels and privacy.
Psychotherapy does not require a choice between physical and emotional reality. Pain, fatigue, dizziness, weakness, seizures, blackouts and other symptoms are real experiences. My role is not to reinterpret them as imaginary or advise on medical diagnosis. It is to work alongside appropriate healthcare and understand what illness, symptoms, uncertainty and interrupted development are doing to the young person and the relationships around them.
A Parent Consultation can clarify the decision you are facing now: whether psychological support may add something, which medical or educational questions still need attention, and whether my service is the right setting.
Relevant clinical experience
Support that can sit alongside medical care
The pathway is organised around current need and choice. Parent guidance may be enough for now. Assessment may show that medical, rehabilitation, educational or another psychological service should lead. Ongoing psychotherapy is considered only where it can provide a useful and sustainable contribution alongside the child’s wider care.
A deliberately small caseload allows thoughtful parent work and, where clinically useful and agreed, communication with schools or medical professionals. Home or hospital visits may be arranged where travelling to the consulting room is not manageable.
40 minutes · Online · Parents only
Parents often arrive after months of appointments, carrying uncertainty about what has been found, what remains unexplained and whether psychological support will be interpreted as disbelief. We begin from the reality of your child’s symptoms and consider the medical journey, school, relationships, family pressures and the decision you need to make now. The consultation can stand alone or clarify whether Psychotherapy Assessment, coordinated input, parent-led changes or another service fits alongside existing care.
Three 50-minute appointments; parent(s) join the first
Three appointments let your child experience a pace shaped around energy, pain, concentration and communication. We hold medical care, physical symptoms, development, relationships, education, neurodivergence and current functioning together without asking them to choose between bodily and emotional explanations. Parent feedback includes an initial psychotherapeutic formulation and recommendations. The assessment is not medical or diagnostic and may conclude that another service should take the lead.
Weekly psychotherapy
during term time Your child has a weekly 50-minute appointment during term time. We agree together the scope of parent work, reviews and liaison with other professionals before treatment begins. Sessions are paced around energy, pain and concentration, making room for medical experiences, uncertainty, identity, dependence and the life illness has interrupted. Progress is not judged solely by symptom reduction, medical recovery or full-time attendance. See Fees for session prices, separately agreed work and practical arrangements.
When another concern should lead
What progress may look like
Progress may include:
feeling believed without needing every session to prove the reality of symptoms;
a more coherent account of what has happened medically and emotionally;
less fear, shame or isolation around bodily experiences;
communicating limits and needs more clearly;
distinguishing protection from restrictions that have become unnecessary;
greater confidence in making plans with uncertainty rather than waiting for perfect health;
preserving friendships, interests, education or independence in adapted forms;
more workable conversations between parents, school and healthcare professionals;
parents feeling less alone in decisions about encouragement, rest and demand;
a sense of identity that includes illness without being entirely defined by it.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. I begin from the reality of the child’s bodily experience. I do not require symptoms to be medically unexplained before taking them seriously, and I do not use psychological understanding to dismiss physical illness. My task is to consider how symptoms, healthcare, emotions, relationships and daily life are interacting while medical responsibility remains with the appropriate clinicians. This page cannot decide whether the term “functional” applies to an individual child.
No. Psychological support may be useful during diagnosed physical illness, functional symptoms, medical uncertainty or recovery. Bodies and minds affect one another, but that does not turn a real symptom into an imaginary one. I would want to understand exactly how psychotherapy has been presented to your child so that it is not experienced as disbelief or abandonment by medical services.
Yes, within what can be provided safely and consistently. The pace, position in the room, use of materials, amount of speech and demands on concentration can be adapted. Online appointments, home visits or hospital visits can be considered by arrangement. The regularity of treatment still matters, so we review whether the chosen format remains usable rather than expecting a young person to endure appointments that repeatedly exceed their capacity.
Fluctuation is part of the clinical picture, not evidence that the young person is uncommitted. We consider whether in-person, online or another agreed arrangement offers a sustainable frame. Repeated gaps can make psychotherapy difficult to use and may require a review. Attendance and billing arrangements are explained in Practice Policies.
Illness affects decisions, relationships and routines around the whole family. Parent appointments can help adults think about protection, encouragement, uncertainty, sibling impact, communication with school and the emotional burden of advocacy. This does not imply that parents caused the symptoms. It recognises that they are carrying much of the care and need a thoughtful space within treatment.
Yes. A Parent Consultation can take place alongside appropriate investigation and medical care. It cannot determine whether tests are complete, interpret results or advise against further medical review. It can help you think about uncertainty, the effect on family and school life, and whether psychotherapy or another form of psychological support may be useful while healthcare continues. New, severe or changing symptoms should be taken back to the relevant medical professional rather than held for a psychotherapy appointment.
Yes. The directly bookable appointment is a Parent Consultation, so parents or carers can begin without committing the child to therapy. The consultation can consider whether any later child involvement is suitable, whether parent work is more useful, or whether a different route is needed. If your child cannot yet speak with a therapist, that does not predetermine the recommendation; we can consider reasonable adjustments, such as a parent attending while the young person becomes comfortable. Parent counselling may help you support your child, or a different route may fit better altogether.
A Parent Consultation can help you consider what psychological support might add alongside your child’s healthcare. We can think about the symptoms, medical journey, interrupted routines and the decision you face now. The next step may be parent guidance, Psychotherapy Assessment, communication with existing professionals or another service. The consultation does not replace medical assessment or commit your child to therapy.
Therapy does not replace medical care or claim to cure these conditions. It can support young people and families with the emotional, relational and school impact of symptoms.
The work is not to persuade a child out of symptoms or make recovery the condition for progress. Psychotherapy can offer a steady place to think about fear, grief, anger, dependence, identity, relationships and a life changed by illness. Progress may include feeling less isolated, communicating needs more clearly, making choices and retaining valued parts of life even when symptoms fluctuate or persist. Whether this is useful for your child is considered individually; symptom reduction or recovery cannot be promised.
Where liaison is clinically useful and agreed, I can liaise with doctors or your child’s school. Contact may support joined-up care by sharing a psychotherapeutic formulation or thinking about the child’s needs across settings. I do not provide medical advice, case management or educational advocacy, and liaison does not replace the responsibilities of GPs, paediatricians, schools or statutory services. Liaison is not included automatically in the Parent Consultation. Its purpose and scope are agreed, and no particular response or agreement from another service is guaranteed.
The directly bookable Parent Consultation is online and costs £200 for 40 minutes. It does not reserve a weekly place. The setting for assessment and ongoing psychotherapy is agreed before booking the assessment, and an ongoing weekly place is available at that stage. Psychotherapy works alongside appropriate medical care.
Psychotherapy does not replace medical care
When urgent or risk-led help is needed
This is a planned outpatient psychotherapy practice, not an emergency, crisis or risk-management service. Call 999 or go to A&E when someone’s life is at risk, there has been a serious injury or overdose, or you do not feel able to keep someone safe. For urgent mental-health help without immediate danger, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option, or ask for an urgent GP appointment. Concerns that a child may be at risk of abuse or serious harm should also be reported through the relevant safeguarding route.
Related difficulties
School attendance difficulties and EBSA — when pain, fatigue or medical uncertainty are making education difficult to sustain.
Autism, ADHD, masking and burnout — when sensory load, interoception, executive strain or exhaustion complicate the health picture.
Anxiety, worries and phobias — when fear of symptoms, treatment or leaving safety has become increasingly restrictive.
Professional liaison — when communication with GPs, paediatric teams or school has a clear clinical purpose.
Clinical approach and evidence — how psychodynamic, low-demand and needs-led principles shape the work alongside medical care.
Evidence and guidance for this page
Written and clinically reviewed by Sagal Hassan, ACP-registered Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist. Last reviewed 31 August 2026.
Parent Consultation
A 40-minute online appointment for parents, offering specialist guidance without an obligation to continue.