Our therapeutic framework is not a collection of techniques layered onto a standard provision. It is the lens through which every adult at Reign understands behaviour, relationships, learning, and care. These are not programmes — they are how we think, and how we show up for children, every single day.
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Polyvagal Theory
We understand all behaviour through the lens of the autonomic nervous system. When a child is dysregulated, they are not being defiant — their nervous system is in a protective state. Our entire provision is designed to support co-regulation before learning, compliance, or consequence. Regulation first. Always.
Stephen Porges · Nervous System Framework
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PACE Model
Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy. Developed by Dan Hughes for children with complex trauma and attachment difficulties, PACE shapes every relational interaction at Reign — especially in the most challenging moments when connection matters most.
Dan Hughes · Dyadic Developmental Practice
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Zones of Regulation
A structured framework for developing emotional literacy and self-regulation. We use Zones of Regulation throughout our provision to give children a shared, visual, non-shaming language for their internal states — building self-awareness and the vocabulary to seek support.
Leah Kuypers · Emotional Literacy
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Low Arousal Approach
Developed by Andrew McDonnell, the Low Arousal Approach guides how we respond to distress, conflict, and escalating behaviour. We do not use restrictive or punitive responses. We de-escalate, create space, and remain regulated ourselves — modelling the co-regulation our children need most.
Andrew McDonnell · Studio 3
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Trauma-Informed Practice
Underpinning everything is a whole-organisation understanding of developmental trauma — how ACEs, early adversity, and disrupted attachment shape a child's brain, behaviour, and relational world. This is not a programme. It is a way of being with children, all day, every day.
Bessel van der Kolk · ACEs Research
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Neuro-Affirmative Practice
We reject the deficit model of neurodevelopmental difference. Autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, and PDA profiles are not disorders to be corrected. They are valid, valuable ways of being human — and our environment, curriculum, and relationships are designed around neurological diversity, not despite it.
Identity-First · Social Model of Disability
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The Thrive Approach
Thrive is a whole-school relational approach grounded in the neuroscience of attachment. It gives our staff a shared language and framework for understanding the social and emotional needs behind children's behaviour — and practical tools to meet those needs through the quality of daily relationship and interaction.
Thrive · Attachment & Neuroscience
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Therapeutic Play & TAPPAC
Play is the primary language of childhood. Our therapeutic play practice — informed by TAPPAC (Therapeutic Approaches in Play and the Performing Arts with Children) — provides children with structured, boundaried, and non-directive opportunities to process their experiences, build trust, and develop emotional literacy through the medium that comes most naturally to them: play.
TAPPAC · Therapeutic Play · Non-Directive
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Play Therapy
Individual play therapy sessions are offered within the provision by our qualified Play Therapist. These are planned, purposeful therapeutic encounters — distinct from general therapeutic play — where a child is offered a consistent, private, and boundaried relationship with their therapist as the primary medium for healing and growth.
Individual Therapy · Therapeutic Relationship
