Building understanding,early enough to matter
Child Therapy Service helps adults understand what might be happening underneath behaviour — so children and young people can get the support they need sooner.
Understand first. Then support.
Sometimes we only notice when things are already hard
Disruptive. Disengaged. Avoidant.
What we see is only part of the picture.
Behaviour is communication
Change starts with understanding
When adults understand what may be behind the behaviour, they can respond differently and put the right support in place.
“I felt stressed, so I went to the toilet, used that technique, and it worked — I went back into class.”
A young person, at risk of EBSA, using one of the strategies from a coaching sessionUnderstand sooner. Support better.
We help adults understand what may be getting in the way, notice patterns earlier, turn that understanding into practical support, and review what changes.
Understand→Notice→Act→Review
Understand
What may be making access harder.
Notice
Spot patterns early enough to respond.
Act
Put practical support in place.
Review
See what is helping and adjust what is not.
Social impact is built into what we do
As a social enterprise, Child Therapy Service CIC exists to create positive change for children and young people. We reinvest in free tools, subsidised places and funded projects that widen access to practical support.
A Certified Social Enterprise, previously supported through Cambridge Social Ventures at Cambridge Judge Business School.
Everything here started in a classroom
Tracy Chadwick
Founder and lead trainer
Tracy Chadwick, founder and lead trainer. A teacher and somatic practitioner with over 25 years of practice, Tracy created The BOUNCE Approach® out of what she kept seeing in classrooms: children described as difficult whose bodies simply did not feel safe enough to learn.
“I started the Child Therapy Service because I could see how much could change when adults understood what might be happening underneath a child's behaviour.
I wanted that understanding to come earlier — before difficulties became bigger and support became harder to put in place.
That thinking grew into The BOUNCE Approach®: a practical way to understand need, know where to start and respond differently.”
- ✓The six pillars grew from patterns seen in real settings
- ✓The BOUNCE framework and core resources are written by Tracy
- ✓Snapshots, the Professional Studio and KidZone grew from the same practice
- ✓Built around what adults actually need to use in real settings
How it grew
Started in Eastbourne with in-person training, support groups, and free coffee mornings.
Moved online when the pandemic hit, reaching families and professionals across the UK.
The first learning portal created, to offer resources, training and support in one place.
Specialist trainers joined, with new coffee mornings for EHCPs and school avoidance.
An improved Learning Portal design, so courses, tools and resources sit in one place.
65 courses, around 127 hours of CPD, and a growing set of interactive tools, used across the UK and beyond.
The people around BOUNCE
Founding members
Louise
Founding member
Cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, more than twenty years across NHS and not-for-profit mental health services.
Debbie
Founding member
Early years and neurodevelopment specialist, now supporting neurodivergent children in the NHS, with particular experience in autism and PDA.
Specialist trainers bring their own disciplines and lead their own courses. The BOUNCE Approach® training is Tracy's work; their courses are theirs.
Specialist trainers
Dr. Claire Stubbs
Counselling psychology and psychotherapy
Supporting young people through addiction, self-harm, bereavement, anxiety and depression.
Kim Griffin
Occupational therapy and sensory processing
Occupational therapist and founder of GriffinOT, specialising in sensory processing and motor skill differences.
Kate Arnold
Nutrition and lifestyle medicine
Nutrition, inflammation, stress, sleep, movement and gut health.
Laura Hellfeld
Neurodivergent health education and sleep
Autistic and ADHD health educator, independent nurse and sleep consultant.
Clare Truman
PDA and access to education
Education consultant, author and researcher on PDA and access to education.
Developed and tested in real settings
The BOUNCE Approach® has been developed and tested in mainstream schools, specialist provision, alternative provision and residential care since 2019. We have run seven funded projects, one in every year since we started, each paid for out of our own income rather than by the settings taking part.
Working with Leeds Beckett University
A university research partnership exploring a question we kept coming back to: can one assessment really tell us enough about a child's SEMH needs? The Accelerated Industry Placement is exploring the earliest signs of difficulty, what adults notice first, and how different needs can show up in different ways.
What we learnt
One assessment system is not enough. Regulation, wellbeing, engagement, social skills and transition can each tell us something different about what a child may be experiencing. That learning helped us develop a range of focused Snapshots, so adults can choose the right starting point, notice need earlier and match support more quickly.
Notice it earlier, while there is still time to change it
Most people arrive with a child in mind, not a plan. That is enough to start.
A UK community interest company and Certified Social Enterprise.