Ruth Coppard is a Child Psychologist with years of experience. And Ruth Coppard is a parent. As a Child and Educational Psychologist she has worked with children from the age of a few months to late adolescence. She has met children with behavioural problems, and children with serious physical and emotional difficulties, children with developmental disorders and learning problems, as well as children and parents who are just a bit mixed up. Sometimes you just need to hear someone else’s ideas, to have someone else confirm your thinking, to check what you might do next. Because she knows how child development usually progresses, she knows when things are unusual.

Ruth Coppard can help – if she can help directly, she will; if she can’t, she will say so and guide you towards someone who might. And sometimes she can help best by explaining what other professionals mean in their evaluations and reports. If your child has a particular syndrome or physical difficulty, a good first stop is the Contact A Family website www.contact.org.uk. This charity provides support, advice and information for families with disabled children. It is a wonderful way of accessing details from people who have in-depth knowledge and would be a good first step. And of course, if there is an emergency or if you feel your child is suicidal, you must contact your local paediatrician, psychiatrist or psychologist. Ruth Coppard can not help with anorexia – this requires on-site and personal evaluation, possibly hospitalisation, and a lot of direct counselling with the child and parents.