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PDA Support (Pathological Demand Avoidance)

This course includes 8 x 45-min sessions

For children who experience a strong need to avoid everyday demands, often driven by high levels of anxiety and a need to feel in control.
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Headstuff ADHD Therapy - Children's ADHD Services - PDA Support

Specialist support that works with your child, not against them

Children with PDA are not simply being oppositional – their behaviour is a response to feeling overwhelmed by expectations, even when those expectations seem small or reasonable to others. If everyday life with your child feels exhausting and traditional approaches are making things worse, this course is designed for you. By reducing pressure and working with your child’s nervous system rather than against it, we create the conditions for progress and connection.

Who this package is for?

PDA Support is for children whose demand avoidance is making everyday life feel impossible, and for the families trying to make sense of it. It’s often the right fit for families whose child:

●   Resists or avoids everyday requests and routines
●   Appears controlling or needs to be “in charge”
●   Uses distraction, negotiation or delay to avoid demands
●   Experiences high anxiety when expectations are placed on them
●   Shifts quickly between engagement and refusal

These patterns can be confusing and exhausting for families, particularly when typical approaches increase anxiety rather than reduce it. This course recognises that when children feel safe and understood, their capacity to engage increases.

What you’ll take away

Across 8 x 45-minute sessions, the course works to reduce pressure, build trust and create the conditions for co-operation:

●   A clearer understanding of the extreme anxiety that sits underneath demand avoidance
●   Realistic, adapted expectations that reduce pressure on your child
●   Low-demand, collaborative approaches that work
●  Stronger emotional regulation and flexibility for your child
●  Greater trust, safety and connection at home
●  Parent support to help you communicate in new ways, recognise early signs of overwhelm, respond without escalating anxiety, and feel more confident managing day-to-day challenges

Ready to book?

If PDA Support feels like the right next step for your family, you can book and pay securely below. Once booked, we’ll be in touch to arrange a convenient time for the first session.

Once you have made your booking, we will be in touch within 24 working hours to arrange a mutually convenient appointment.

Frequently asked questions

What happens during the sessions
The course runs across 8 x 45-minute sessions. We work with both your child and you as parents, because PDA is best supported by changes that involve the whole family environment rather than only working with the child.

What we focus on with your child

  • Reducing pressures and adapting expectations to become realistic
  • Using low-demand, collaborative approaches that work
  • Supporting emotional regulation and flexibility
  • Building trust, safety and connection

What we focus on with you as a parent

  • Communicating in new ways that reduce resistance
  • Recognising early signs of overwhelm and meltdowns
  • Responding in ways that encourage cooperation without escalating anxiety
  • Feeling more confident managing day-to-day challenges

When children feel safe and understood, their capacity to engage increases.

What is Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA)?
PDA describes a pattern where a child experiences extreme anxiety in response to everyday demands, leading them to avoid those demands using strategies like distraction, negotiation, refusal or controlling behaviour. PDA is increasingly understood as part of the autism spectrum, though it can present alongside ADHD or independently. PDA isn’t a child being defiant — it’s a child whose nervous system responds to demands as threats.
How is PDA different from ODD or general defiance?

The distinction matters. ODD and general defiance often respond to clear boundaries and consequences. PDA does not — and using these traditional approaches typically increases anxiety and makes the avoidance worse. PDA needs a fundamentally different approach: low-demand, collaborative, focused on reducing pressure. That’s exactly what this course is built around.

Does my child need a PDA diagnosis to access this programme?
No. Many families come to us without any formal diagnosis. If you’re recognising the patterns described above and traditional parenting approaches are making things worse, the programme is designed to help regardless of diagnostic status.
Will this course make my child compliant?
No, and that’s not the goal. The aim isn’t to make your child do what they’re told — it’s to reduce the underlying anxiety driving the avoidance, so cooperation becomes possible rather than forced. Forced compliance with PDA usually makes things worse over time. Building safety and trust is what creates lasting change.
What happens after I book?
Once your booking is confirmed, we’ll contact you within one working day to arrange the first session. We’ll also send a short pre-session form to help us understand your situation and prepare properly.
Are sessions online or face-to-face?
All sessions are held online. This makes it easy to fit around family life, school runs and work, with no travel involved. We’ll send you a secure video link once your booking is confirmed.

Take the next step for your child

If everyday life with your child feels exhausting and traditional approaches are making things worse, PDA Support can help. If you’d like to see your other options first, you can explore all our children’s ADHD services.

Book PDA Support