Training & Consultation
Schools & Education Settings
Evolving Families offers psychological consultation, training and reflective practice for schools, colleges and education settings.
Schools play a central role in children and young people’s emotional development, learning, relationships and sense of belonging. When a child is struggling, the impact can often be seen in the classroom, playground, peer relationships, attendance, behaviour, emotional regulation or engagement with learning.
Our work helps education staff move beyond simply managing behaviour and towards a clearer understanding of what a child or young person may be communicating through their presentation.
We support schools to think psychologically about children’s needs, strengthen confidence across staff teams, and develop practical approaches that can be used in everyday school life.
What we offer
Our support for schools and education settings may include:
- Psychological consultation around individual pupils
- Group consultation for staff teams
- Reflective practice for teachers, pastoral teams or support staff
- Support around emotional wellbeing and behaviour
- Consultation around risk, self-harm or emotional distress
- Trauma and attachment-informed formulation
- Neurodevelopmental consultation, including autism and ADHD
- Advice around emotional regulation and co-regulation
- Support with transitions, school avoidance or attendance concerns
- Consultation around children in care, adopted children or children with complex relational histories
- Training for school staff
- Bespoke workshops tailored to the needs of the setting
- Liaison with parents, carers or wider professionals where agreed
- Psychological assessment or therapy where commissioned separately
The exact support offered will depend on the needs of the child, staff team, school context and referral question.
Our approach
Our approach is practical, collaborative and formulation-led.
We do not see behaviour in isolation. A child’s presentation may be shaped by anxiety, trauma, attachment experiences, neurodevelopmental differences, sensory needs, learning profile, family context, peer relationships, identity, school demands or wider environmental factors.
We aim to help schools understand:
- What may be contributing to the child or young person’s difficulties
- What behaviour may be communicating
- What helps the child feel safe, regulated and able to learn
- What may be maintaining distress or patterns of behaviour
- What support staff may need in order to respond consistently
- How strategies can be realistic within the school environment
- Whether additional assessment, therapy or external support may be helpful
The aim is to translate psychological understanding into practical recommendations that can support the child, the staff team and the wider school system.
Consultation for individual pupils
Consultation can be helpful when school staff are concerned about a specific child or young person and want space to think through what may be happening.
This may include concerns around:
- Anxiety, low mood or emotional distress
- Behaviour that feels difficult to understand
- Anger, shutdown or emotional overwhelm
- School avoidance or reduced attendance
- Self-harm or risk-related concerns
- Peer relationship difficulties
- Trauma or attachment-related needs
- Autism, ADHD or neurodevelopmental differences
- Sensory needs or emotional regulation
- Children in care, adopted children or children with complex family circumstances
- Transitions between classes, schools or settings
Consultation may be offered as a one-off discussion or as part of ongoing support. It can help staff develop a shared understanding of the child’s needs and identify strategies that are realistic within the school day.
Consultation for groups or staff teams
Some schools may want consultation around a group of pupils, a year group, a class, or a recurring pattern of need within the setting.
This can be helpful where staff are noticing common themes, such as emotional dysregulation, peer conflict, anxiety, school avoidance, behaviour incidents, trauma-related needs or difficulties supporting neurodivergent pupils.
Group consultation can support staff to reflect together, develop a shared language, and agree consistent approaches across the team.
Training and staff development
Training can be delivered as a standalone session or alongside consultation and wider support.
Training topics may include:
- Understanding anxiety and low mood in children and young people
- Self-harm and risk
- Trauma and attachment in school
- Emotional regulation and co-regulation
- Autism and ADHD in the classroom
- Supporting neurodivergent pupils
- Behaviour as communication
- Resilience and emotional wellbeing
- Children in care, fostering and adoption
- Therapeutic parenting principles for education settings
- PACE-informed approaches in school
- Bespoke training tailored to the needs of the setting
Our training is designed to connect psychological theory with everyday school practice. The focus is on helping staff understand children’s needs and feel more confident responding in ways that are consistent, compassionate and practical.
Neurodevelopment, learning and inclusion
Schools often play an important role in identifying and supporting children with neurodevelopmental differences.
We can support education settings to think about autism, ADHD, executive functioning, sensory needs, communication, learning profile and emotional wellbeing. This may include consultation, staff training, assessment, recommendations or liaison around support planning.
Where appropriate, we can also offer autism, ADHD, cognitive, Occupational Therapy or Speech and Language Therapy input through the wider Evolving Families team.
Working with Evolving Families
We usually begin with a conversation to understand:
- The child or young person’s needs
- The school’s current concerns
- What support is already in place
- The strengths and pressures within the setting
- Whether the request is for an individual pupil, group, staff team or whole-school need
- Whether consultation, training, assessment, therapy or another pathway would be most helpful
Following this, we can recommend a suitable format for support and agree the next steps.
Start with a conversation
If your school or education setting would like psychological consultation, training or reflective support, Evolving Families can help you think through the most appropriate next step.
