Session Overview
Supporting Your Demand Avoidant Child:
When Nothing Works and Everything’s Hard
Some children experience everyday demands as genuinely threatening, leading to resistance that can leave parents exhausted and confused. In this practical session for parents, we explore why traditional approaches often backfire, what daily life actually feels like from your child’s perspective, and how your own state shapes their capacity to cope. You’ll leave with gentle, realistic strategies for reducing conflict and staying connected, even on the hardest days.
Learning outcomes:
- Understand why some children respond to everyday demands with anxiety or avoidance
- Feel more confident spotting the signs that your child is feeling overwhelmed
- Learn simple, flexible strategies to reduce pressure and avoid power struggles
- Discover ways to offer choice and support emotional regulation
- Take away ideas for calming the atmosphere at home, for your child and for yourself
Resources
Here are some further resources that complement the session:
- PDA Language Swaps: Dozens of phrase alternatives for everyday situations (mornings, mealtimes, bedtime, transitions, screen time) showing how to shift from directive language to declarative language that reduces resistance.
- Demand Decoder: A reflective worksheet for analysing specific demands that trigger your child, identifying what makes them feel hard, and brainstorming lower-demand alternatives together.
Book Pooky to speak
For more information about my speaking and training work, check out my speaking page or email me – [email protected]
