We first met Olivia when she was 17 years old. She was experiencing both verbal and motor tics that had started to impact on her studies and peer relationships. Lockdown was a challenging time for so many, and for Olivia it meant disruption to her studies, exams and to friendship groups. Following the cancellation of exams, Olivia’s move into further education saw her group of friends each taking different paths and she found herself without her peer support network.

On the face of things, Olivia’s parents thought she was ok:

“She had all of her material needs being met and there were so many ‘positives’ in her life. As her parent and caregiver, I really struggled to understand why she responded the way she did, first with her involuntary verbal tics, and then later with her motor tics. It was at this point, after a month of keeping a diary for our GP, that we were referred to Kids Inspire for support.”

One of our therapists first met Olivia and her family as a unit, together they explored what Olivia was experiencing and reflected on what lay beneath her behaviour. As an independent and confident young person, the tics were Olivia’s body’s way of responding and trying to manage a build-up of anxiety inside. Later, as part of the one-to-one prescribed Somatic Experiencing (SE), our therapist taught Olivia exercises and other emotional wellbeing tools to draw from when she felt overwhelmed and out of control. The sessions importantly gave Olivia a space to explore her sense of self and to reflect on her reactions within situations.

Olivia’s mum told us:

“Initially, Olivia used these exercises daily, but thankfully I have noticed a real change since our referral. She bonded well and had a positive rapport with Shirley straight away. Shirley spoke to Olivia as the young independent person she is and helped her to understand her body’s responses and to come to terms with how she can help herself to move forward.

Later, my husband and I had our own parenting strategy sessions with an adult therapist. These sessions have helped us to see from Olivia’s perspective and to understand how it is important to be there for Olivia, but equally to encourage her to find her own solutions to build her own emotional resilience.

Our experience with Kids Inspire has been such a positive one and we feel fortunate to have had the support available to us, and even more grateful that we, as parents, received support too. We are growing together and have all learnt a great deal about mental health, wellbeing and emotional resilience.”