Free to anyone · 38 subjects
What helps, and where else to go.
Every subject the library covers has a free page on what to do first, what helps and a few things to try this week, and a second page on the organisations beyond this library, what each one does and how to reach it. Both are written to be read on a phone or printed and kept.
Worry, mood and big feelings
Anxiety, low mood, anger and the moments a child can’t calm down.
- AnxietyAnxiety is one of the most common things parents bring to us in therapy, and it looks different at each age: the toddler who won’t be put down, the seven-year-old who can’t sleep, the teenager who has stopped going to school. What helpsWho else can help
- Low moodLow mood is a flatness that isn’t quite depression and isn’t nothing either: a child who talks less than she did, a teenager who has stopped wanting things, a friendship group that has thinned, a bed that’s harder to get out of. What helpsWho else can help
- Emotional regulationManaging a strong feeling without being swept away by it is something children learn gradually as they grow. What helpsWho else can help
- Co-regulationCo-regulation is the basic mechanism behind most of the advice in this library: a child’s nervous system takes its lead from yours. What helpsWho else can help
- General mental healthThis is about how your child is doing in general, without pinning it to one diagnosis or one moment. What helpsWho else can help
- TraumaThese pages are for parents whose child has been through something difficult. What helpsWho else can help
Friendships and bullying
Falling out, being left out, and what to do when it’s more than that.
School and pressure
Homework, exams, perfectionism, confidence and the move to a new school.
- School stressThis covers homework, exams and the teacher who doesn’t seem to notice her. What helpsWho else can help
- PerfectionismThese pages are about the child who has come to feel her worth depends on getting things right. What helpsWho else can help
- Self-esteemThese pages are about whether your child likes herself, and they’re for the parent watching for signs that she doesn’t. What helpsWho else can help
- TransitionsThis covers the moves a child makes through childhood: from nursery to reception, from primary to secondary, and from sixth form to whatever comes next. What helpsWho else can help
ADHD, autism and learning differently
Assessment, diagnosis, and getting school on side.
- NeurodiversityThis covers children whose brains work differently: autism, ADHD, dyslexia, diagnoses that came early and ones still being sought, and the child whose difference hasn’t been named yet. What helpsWho else can help
- ADHDSome children are diagnosed early and others much later, and the child diagnosed late is often a girl who was missed for years. What helpsWho else can help
- AutismAn autism diagnosis may come in the early years or in the middle of secondary school, for a son or a daughter, and some children are recognised quickly while others are missed for years. What helpsWho else can help
Screens and online life
Phones, gaming, social media and what they come across online.
- Screen timeScreen time is today’s most asked-about parenting question, and the least usefully framed. What helpsWho else can help
- Social mediaMost friendships now happen on social media as well as in the playground. What helpsWho else can help
- GamingGaming is the world most parents recognise but feel least competent in. What helpsWho else can help
- Online safetyThese pages cover what a child can come across online when nobody is watching, and what to do when something gets through that shouldn’t have. What helpsWho else can help
Sleep, food and bodies
Bedtime, eating, and how a child feels about her body.
- SleepSo much of a family’s day is decided in the hour around bedtime. What helpsWho else can help
- Eating disordersFew parents come to this easily: the eight-year-old eating less and less, the twelve-year-old counting things, the older teenager whose body is changing too fast. What helpsWho else can help
- Body imageThese pages are about how a child sees herself in the mirror and where that view came from, including the conversations parents don’t realise they’re having, magazines and social media feeds, changing rooms and PE kits. What helpsWho else can help
Growing up and identity
Each stage of childhood, and who your child is becoming.
- Child developmentChildren grow into people slowly, and these pages cover each stage: attachment in the early years, the magical thinking of the preschool child, learning to get on with others in middle childhood, and the long process of becoming a separate person in adolescence. What helpsWho else can help
- AttachmentAttachment is the bond that forms between a baby and the adults around her in the first years and goes on developing, in subtler ways, through childhood. What helpsWho else can help
- IdentityThese pages are about who your child is becoming, and who she’s being asked to be: race, faith, sexuality, gender, growing up as a third-culture kid, an adopted child’s questions about her birth family, and the young teenager redrawing her sense of herself. What helpsWho else can help
- Gender identityThese pages are about how a child experiences their own gender, written with deliberate clinical care. What helpsWho else can help
- SexualitySexuality is part of who a child is, and who she is becoming, in relation to other people. What helpsWho else can help
Family life and behaviour
Behaviour, siblings, the conversations you’ve been putting off, and a household under strain.
- BehaviourBehaviour is the visible part of what’s going on inside a child: the hitting, the tantrums, the slammed doors, the child who has stopped doing what she’s asked. What helpsWho else can help
- Parenting strategyThis section is for any parent thinking about how the family is run: boundaries, routines, how you talk to each other at home, and the decisions you make about phones, friends, money and faith. What helpsWho else can help
- Sibling conflictFor most children, a brother or sister is the longest relationship they’ll ever have. What helpsWho else can help
- Difficult conversationsParents put some conversations off, often for years, because the right moment never quite arrives: death, sex, divorce, their own diagnosis, or a family secret their child is starting to sense. What helpsWho else can help
- Family stressThis is about what happens to a household under pressure: the morning that has gone wrong before breakfast, the week when everyone is short with everyone, the long Sunday when nothing works. What helpsWho else can help
When a family changes
Separation, two homes, and grief.
- Separation and divorceWhen parents separate, the family reorganises, and it’s still a family. What helpsWho else can help
- Co-parentingThese pages are about raising a child with another adult: a partner, a former partner or a step-parent, sometimes across two cultures. What helpsWho else can help
- BereavementThese pages are about the death of a grandparent, a parent, a sibling, a friend or a much-loved pet. What helpsWho else can help
Looking after yourself
Your own wellbeing, and the people who can help you.
- Parent wellbeingThis section is about you, the adult. What helpsWho else can help
- Community supportThis is about the people and services around a family: grandparents, godparents, the neighbour across the road, a church, mosque or synagogue, other parents at school, a helpline, the GP. What helpsWho else can help
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