Why it may be a good idea to plan therapy session during school holidays

When planning your family’s activities for the upcoming school holidays, keep in mind that it might be a good idea to set time aside for some extra therapy sessions. Holiday based sessions can help to boost your child’s progress towards planned goals for a range of reasons.

Sustaining momentum & stable routines

For many children with some degree of neurodivergence, progress being made towards goals such as reducing social anxiety or sustaining positive friendships may be delayed or even sent backwards if momentum is lost.

Continuing regular therapy sessions can help sustain positive routines and help to cement positive changes through reinforcement of new behaviours or practicing the strategies that help manage stress.

Making the most of freedom from school-related stress

For many children, time away from school can be a less stressful time where different forms of play, more family time and new fun or interesting experiences can put them in a more relaxed and positive frame of mind, creating the potential to engage more deeply.

For these kids, it provides the therapist with an opportunity to shift the focus away from dealing with everyday pressures and anxieties, which may provide a more positive framework to progress towards desirable goals and aspirations.

Dealing with holiday-related stress

While many children become less stressed wile on holidays away from school, some can experience an increase in different forms of stress, which may best be addressed with targeted therapy support.

For example, extended periods of unsupervised play with siblings or other related children can heighten the potential for stressful conflicts or bullying. By refocussing away from school to explore home or other holiday related stressors, therapy can be important to sustain resilience to successfully deal with these issues.

Catching up with your therapy plan

When kids are at school it can be tough keeping up with their planned, regular therapy sessions. Unexpected hassles with home or work life can often lead to cancelling therapy sessions, which can set your child and family back from achieving planned goals.

With the potential to fit more sessions into a child’s life while on holidays, it can be a great way to up the intensity of therapeutic progress and make sure you take full advantage of the therapy supports funded by your plan.

Other things to consider

While maintaining or boosting therapy supports during school holidays can be a good idea, you should also balance that against other considerations. Each child and family is different, and there’s no right or wrong choice, whatever you decide.

Family trips away

Spending extended time away, whether you might go camping, visit distant family members, head overseas or whatever, is a vitally important experience for the whole family, and a perfectly appropriate reason to discontinue therapy for a while.

The only advice we would suggest is to talk with your child’s therapists about some of the things you can do while you are all away together. We can share many simple techniques for parents or guardians to support their child’s wellbeing and reinforce the positive habits that they have been developing with your therapist.

Avoiding therapy fatigue

Sometimes we all just need a break! While we always try to make it fun, therapy can still end up feeling like hard work. So long as their break is planned, positive and they feel well supported by those around them, taking a restful break from therapy can help to make them more receptive upon their return.

Book ahead to avoid disappointment!

If you do feel that extra sessions over the holidays may be a good idea for your child, the sooner you get them booked, the better. You can find your local clinic here, and contact our client care team on 1300 372 439 to book your appointment.