Specialist support for children and young people with complex needs
Clinically governed support for children and adolescents who experience difficulties with emotional regulation, communication, relationships, or engagement within education, care, or specialist settings.
Children and young people with complex needs may struggle to feel safe, regulated, or understood within everyday environments. These difficulties are often shaped by autism, learning disability, developmental trauma, attachment-related needs, or emotional and behavioural distress, and can significantly affect learning, relationships, and participation in school or care settings.
I provide specialist, clinically governed support for children and young people whose needs are not easily met through standard educational, behavioural, or verbal approaches, and who require a contained, relational intervention that can sit safely within educational and specialist systems.
Support is commissioned by schools, local authorities, and families with appropriate funding, and is shaped around the child’s needs, the demands of the setting, and the wider network of professionals involved.
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This support is delivered through clinical music therapy, a regulated psychological therapy provided by an HCPC-registered practitioner. Music is used as the primary medium to support expression, regulation, and relational engagement where speech may be limited, unreliable, or unavailable.
Who this service is for
This service is for children and young people whose needs make it difficult for them to feel safe, regulated, or engaged within everyday environments. Difficulties may be expressed through behaviour, withdrawal, emotional distress, or challenges with communication and relationships, particularly within educational or care settings.
Support is appropriate for children and young people including those:
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with autism spectrum conditions
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with learning disabilities
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who are non-verbal or minimally verbal
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experiencing developmental trauma or attachment-related difficulties
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presenting with emotional, behavioural, or relational distress
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who struggle to engage with learning or group settings despite existing support
The work is particularly relevant where verbal, behavioural, or curriculum-based approaches are limited or insufficient, and where a relational, developmentally informed intervention is required.
Educational and care contexts
Support is delivered within the environments where children and young people spend their time and where difficulties are most visible. Provision is shaped by the realities of each setting and designed to integrate alongside existing educational, pastoral, and care structures.
Work may take place within:​
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Mainstream schools, where children struggle to engage despite graduated support
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Specialist and SEN provisions, including units and alternative settings
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Early years or primary contexts, where regulation and attachment needs are emerging
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Care or specialist services, where vulnerability, instability, or complexity is present
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The format, frequency, and focus of support are considered in relation to the setting, safeguarding responsibilities, and the child’s wider network of support.
Clinical approach
The work is informed by psychodynamic, developmental, and trauma-aware thinking, with careful attention to emotional regulation, attachment, and the child’s capacity to feel safe within relationships and environments. Difficulties are understood in the context of the child’s development, experiences, and the demands placed upon them, rather than viewed in isolation.
Support focuses on helping children and young people express and regulate emotional states, develop a greater sense of relational safety, and engage more meaningfully with their surroundings. Where speech is limited, unreliable, or developmentally unavailable, non-verbal forms of communication become central to the work.
Clinical music therapy is used as the therapeutic method within this approach, offering a structured and contained medium through which children can explore expression, regulation, and relationship at their own pace, within a clearly held therapeutic frame.
Online provision (where clinically appropriate)
In some circumstances, support for children and young people may be offered online, following careful consideration of suitability, risk, and safeguarding. This is most relevant for older children or adolescents where remote work is clinically indicated and where appropriate support structures are in place.
Online provision is not assumed to be appropriate for all children. Decisions are informed by developmental stage, emotional vulnerability, communication needs, and the capacity of the setting or family to support safe engagement.
Where offered, online work is delivered through clinical music therapy and held within a clear therapeutic frame, subject to the same professional standards, boundaries, and governance as in-person support.
Working with schools, families, and multidisciplinary teams
Support for children and young people with complex needs must operate safely within educational, care, and safeguarding systems. Effective provision depends on clear communication, professional boundaries, and shared understanding across the network of adults supporting the child.
Work is shaped in collaboration with schools, families, and relevant professionals, contributing to reflective thinking around emotional, relational, and behavioural needs where this is helpful. This may support consistency of approach, containment of risk, and alignment with existing support plans.
Clinical music therapy is used as the therapeutic method within this work, delivered in a way that complements — rather than replaces or duplicates — educational, pastoral, or therapeutic input already in place.
Professional standards and safeguarding
Support for children and young people with complex needs requires clear professional accountability, robust safeguarding practice, and careful management of risk, confidentiality, and boundaries.
All work is delivered by an HCPC-registered Music Therapist and is held within recognised ethical and professional frameworks. Practice is fully insured for clinical work and compliant with data protection requirements.
Clinical provision is supported by regular professional supervision and ongoing continuing professional development, ensuring that work with children and young people remains reflective, contained, and appropriate to their vulnerability, developmental stage, and safeguarding context.
Professional enquires
If you are a school, local authority, or professional supporting a child or young person with complex needs, you are welcome to get in touch to discuss your setting and the needs you are seeking support with.
Enquiries are approached thoughtfully and with attention to suitability, safeguarding, and clinical fit. Initial conversations are exploratory and focused on understanding context, rather than on committing to provision.