For Parents
You want your child to feel safe, happy and able to find their way in the world.
When something doesn’t feel right - at home, at school or university, or in their relationships - it can be hard to understand what is happening, when to step in or how you can help.
What you may be noticing
Changes in mood, behaviour, confidence, school or university life, work or relationships.
Your child may seem anxious, angry, withdrawn, overwhelmed, or not quite themselves.
What you may be carrying
Worry, confusion, fear, guilt, frustration, or the feeling that you do not know how to help.
Parents can be left holding questions that feel difficult to answer alone.
How support can help
A space to slow things down, find deeper understanding, and think about the right support.
This may include individual therapy, parent consultations, or support around school, university and wider relationships.
For Referrers
For therapists, clinicians and professionals considering a referral for a young person, young adult, parent or family.
I work where emotional, relational or behavioural difficulties feel complex, stuck or hard to understand in isolation. Often, this means thinking carefully with the person seeking support and, where appropriate, working with the relationships, family and professional network around them.
Professional Registrations
Looking for the right place to refer someone?
These questions may help you decide if I might be the right fit.
Would this be an appropriate referral?
Presenting difficulties may include anxiety, shame, anger, emotional dysregulation, identity questions, family conflict, school difficulty, risk or wider professional concern.
I may be particularly helpful where the difficulty involves relational complexity, trauma, masculinity, family systems, or where different people around the person seeking support seem to be holding different parts of the picture.
What informs my therapeutic approach?
My work integrates psychodynamic, systemic-relational and somatic approaches. I pay attention to emotional meaning, relationships, wider systems, and the body’s response to stress, threat and safety.
Where appropriate, I draw on trauma-informed and polyvagal-informed ideas, including regulation and body awareness, alongside reflective therapeutic conversation.
What professional experience do I bring?
I bring over two decades of experience holding complex clinical work with young people, families and professional networks across therapy, schools, safeguarding and community-based services.
As a registered Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist, I have worked with emotional distress, relational difficulty, risk and wider systemic pressures. My experience helps me think carefully about both the inner world of the person seeking support and the wider relationships around them.
If you are considering a referral, you are welcome to get in touch so we can think together about whether I may be the right fit.
How It Works
Slow down. Make sense. Reconnect.
Starting therapy or seeking support can feel like a big step. The first conversation is simply a chance to understand what is happening and think together about what kind of help may be needed.
1
Get in touch
Send a short enquiry about what is happening and what kind of support you are looking for.
2
Initial consultation
We meet to slow things down, understand the situation, and think about what may be needed.
3
Agree the right support
Together, we decide the best next steps. This may include individual therapy, parent support, school liaison, or a wider relational approach.
About
Ash McMahon
Child, Adolescent & Family Psychotherapist
I help young people, young adults, parents and professionals make sense of emotional, relational and behavioural difficulties.
When things feel complex, stuck or hard to hold alone, my role is to help slow things down, think carefully about what may be happening beneath the surface, and support a clearer way forward.
Arrange an initial consultation
You are welcome to get in touch if you are a parent, young adult, therapist, school or professional thinking about a referral.
Send a brief message and I will reply to arrange a first conversation.
Maida Vale, London
Bournemouth, Dorset
Information shared through this form is treated confidentially and used only to respond to your enquiry. This is not an emergency service. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999 or go to A&E. For urgent mental health support, contact NHS 111 and select the mental health option.