Our Services
VERVE offers therapy and training that foster real connection — helping families build communication and professionals deepen reflective practice.
VERVE SERVICESFor Families
Child-led therapy focused on communication and connection. We help families find strength in understanding.
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Get in touch and let us know exactly what it is that you are concerned about
Feel free to phone and ask us whatever you would like to know about, for example : the way we work, the reasoning and theory behind what we do, why and how it optimally supports your child and you, what to expect from the sessions and any other questions you wish to ask in order to feel confident that it is us that your child and you would most like to be working with.
We will then arrange a first session to suit you.
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First Meeting : Assessment
The playroom will have been arranged so that your child can settle to do whatever they wish to, with a selection of toys e.g. duplo bricks, home corner, playmobil, lego. As soon as you are comfortable, the therapist will pop the camera on (part of their computer) and leave the room , so that your child is just with you and not being ‘watched’ by this new person, you don’t need to get them to ‘do anything’ we just want them to be enjoying themselves and doing what they naturally do.
After several minutes the therapist will return and invite you to tell them your child’s history and why you are here. If you have done this many times before please do share any reports you have, so that you don’t have to go through it all again.
All the time that you are talking your child will be playing and interacting with us which in addition to the video is providing an enormous amount of information about their skills.
In general the therapist will not share your video back with you on this first meeting. The session will end with the therapist having given you a brief general verbal summary of their observations of your child’s development, tying it in with everything you have told them.
After the session has finished, and in preparation for the therapy sessions the therapist will analyse the video in detail in relation to your child’s communication skills in terms of their regulation (attention, listening, ‘behaviour’) , communicative intent (the way they use their language to interact e.g engage, respond, reject etc) Play, understand, express themselves (for example - use their voice, gesture, words, sentences, speech sounds, fluency).
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The ‘Therapy’ Process
The room will have been set up to have what your child was most interested in last time. The therapist will leave you alone for your child to get comfy and then they will return. Before they share back last sessions video they will summarise your child’s communication skills with the additional information they have gained from analysing the video in detail and tie in their observations with the details that you have given about his general ‘history’.
They will then share the video to show what you didn’t know you intuitively do that supports each area of your child’s learning and communication development, suggesting exaggeration of particular skills to support your child in the area specific to them
The therapist will then ask you to play with your child again ( turning on the video and leaving the room).
They will then return to the room and play the new video back analysing the impact of what you have been trying out.
The therapist will then ask you to experiment with this over the next week (five minutes quiet times daily), seeing you a week later to discuss (and watch on video) the developments you have seen during the week with the therapist using freeze frame to show the details in your child’s development and what their emerging skills are showing evidence of.
In general there are likely to be four sessions to begin with. The first two with one week between, then possibly two/three weeks before Session 3, and three/four weeks before Session 4. The space between each session won’t be known until the second session.
Six weeks after Session 4, the therapist will arrange a ‘review session’, a new video taken at the start, and analysed in the session.
If future sessions (touchstone) are recommended they are likely to be offered specific to each individual child (often once a month/every two months)
In addition:
Communication/Contact: The therapist will ensure that with your consent they are in contact with any Practitioners/Professionals that are working with you and your child.
Summary reports can be provided after the first course of therapy and or later as requested: The report includes a description of your child’s communication skills preceding therapy, observations of their emerging skills during therapy, progress over time and a summary of their current skills.
Nursery/School Visit: Where appropriate, the therapist will also offer to share VERVE in Nursery/School share.
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If we are working together over Zoom we will arrange an introductory session on line.
Before we meet we will ask you to take a short video of yourselves with your child doing whatever they enjoy doing and to send that video on WhatsApp or WeTransfer (both encrypted and free to use). Once received, it will be downloaded, deleted from the phone, and stored securely.
We will then meet on zoom and carry out steps one, two and three on line.
VERVE SERVICESFor Professionals
Training, supervision, and professional development in the VERVE methodology. VERVE supports speech and language therapists, educators, and allied health professionals to deepen their understanding of interaction and communication.
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VERVE provides Speech and Language Therapists with a framework to analyse interaction, strengthen parent partnerships, and refine clinical decision-making.
Training and supervision explore:
Using video to support parent–child reflection
Analysing moment-by-moment communication
Understanding co-regulation, emotional readiness, ‘mutual face watching’ and the significance of ‘not looking’.
Applying the VERVE principles - Safe face, safe space, hold steady in assessment, therapy and collaboration.
Peer support, mentoring and supervision sessions, offered individually or in small groups, online or in person.
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VERVE offers reflective courses and supervision for practitioners working with children and families, including occupational therapists, psychologists, early childhood specialists, and support workers.
Through guided video reflection and discussion, practitioners learn to:
Recognise subtle interaction cues and engagement signals
Build regulation and shared attention
Support families using strengths-based approaches
Reflect on their own communication style and timing
Training can be delivered as one-to-one supervision, small group reflection, or team workshops.
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The VERVEing in Schools programme supports educators in observing how interaction, regulation, and communication unfold in the classroom.
It encourages teachers to pause, notice, and reflect on what enables learning and engagement.Training and CPD sessions explore:
Classroom communication and emotional readiness
Supporting individual regulation, learning, speech and language through video reflection and analysis
Video reflection for team Learning
Integrating VERVE principles into early learning and SEND support
Sessions can be delivered as INSET days, small-group CPD, or whole-school programmes.
DOWNLOAD - EARLY YEARS INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMME
DOWNLOAD - EARLY YEARS GROUP PROGRAMMEDOWNLOAD - PRIMARY SCHOOL INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMME
DOWNLOAD - PRIMARY SCHOOL GROUP PROGRAMME
THERAPIST DIRECTORYFind a VERVE-Trained Therapist
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Looking for further guidance and practical tools?
Explore VERVE’s collection of articles and resources created to help families and professionals build communication, confidence, and connection.