Testimonials

“Debbie has been working in our school for approximately the last 7 weeks.

In this short time she has had a major positive impact on several of our current and one of our former pupils.

The staff and students at our school have noticed a positive shift in the behaviour and general social well being of the students that Debbie has been involved with.

These at risk students have a range of social and emotional and behavioural needs.

Debbie has developed a range of programmes to cater for their diverse needs.

These programmes range from one to one sessions, to friendship groups of up to five students.

Debbie has also created opportunities for some of our at risk students engage in therapy using a dog, and she is looking into opportunities for our at risk students to work with horses and possibly some other livestock in a rural farm setting".

Assistant Principal

September 2011

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"I Am writing this letter in high recommendation of Debbie's work as a Child and Adolescent Behaviourist.

Through my observation of Debbie's work with the three students currently on my case load, I have seen a huge improvement and shift in their behaviours. Her ability to help children grow emotionally stronger through therapy and counselling only supports the huge needs that Debbie's services are definitely required.

I cannot speak highly enough of the great work that Debbie does for the children and families that I work along side of."

Social Worker in Schools

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"I am a grandmother raising 3 of my 5 grandchildren who have all been affected by behavioural problems. My youngest grandson is 7 and he has had quite a few problems and I was quite concerned that maybe his school would ask that he be removed due to his constant bad behaviour.

He has been in quite a few different courses to help him cope with some difficulties that he has had, with various results,but when the school finally enlisted the Equine Therapy we were able to finally understand some of his behaviours and learnt through his therapist how to get him to relate to what he was doing and getting some answers out of him on how he was feeling and that certain circumstances caused different reactions.

His bad behaviour at school has lessened since he has started this therapy and I am very pleased with him being involved and participating with the Equine Therapy Child Behavioural Program. I highly recommend it for any child who needs to lean skills to help them especially if they are not coping at school."

Grandmother of 5

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"We have been troubled of recent with some problems with one of our children and after trying a “Super Nanny” type person, The 1,2,3 program, various reward systems/charts and visiting a child physiologist, we decided to look at the program offered by Debbie Rowberry. Initially skeptical as all previous attempts had failed and this child has had to deal with an enormous amount of medication and appeared to have developed behaviour problems we decided to talk to Debbie about the program she offered. Debbie’s program particularly interested us as the approach seemed much more relaxed, suitable for a young child with the use of animals as a third medium a good way for a child to learn and listen without realizing that this is happening.

Debbie’s approach is very gentle, trust inspiring, and uses many tools which include discussion, stories, reading, drawing pictures and animals to name a few all of which make it an ideal situation and comfortable environment for a child to open up and discussed feelings and emotions in. Over the past few weeks we have noticed a big change in our child’s behaviour for the better and as parents feel for the first time that someone is actually helping us sort the problem out in a positive way. Our child is very happy to spend time with Debbie and her beautiful animals who help with this therapy and doesn’t see any of it as a negative experience, we of course are only seeing it as a positive experience with a child who is much better than she was initially. Thank you Debbie, keep doing your great work."

Mother of 3

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Debbie is extremely skilled & competent to assess student’s needs and adapt the programmes to meet their individual needs. She delivers the programme in quiet calm manner and makes each student feel safe in the caring environment to take risks & apply new skills. Each session the students revise the skills they have learnt and then extend their knowledge with new strategies. Any new issues identified are addressed promptly. Students understand how and where to apply the skills at the end of each day.

All of the students who have been fortunate to participate in the programme have made notable positive changes, with their emotional resilience increasing. They remember to apply self-understanding skills and use the breathing strategies to calm down when anxious or stressed. When working with peers they respect others personal boundaries and know when to stop and walk away. They are also learning to cope with the negative behaviour they encounter occasionally in a positive way.

The biggest benefit to our students was the Emotional Resilience this then enabled student’s self-understanding and peer engagement to increase.

The programme has been very effective for the autistic students. They can now cope in a noisy mainstream classroom by using their magical earmuffs to block the noise. When their anxiety levels are high they are all applying the breathing techniques to calm down. When someone is in their personal space they have learnt to walk away before their stress levels increase. The confidence levels of these students have increased significantly, with two of the students speaking confidently in front of the class. Previously they would not have answered a question in a full class setting. Another student calms himself with the breathing techniques enabling him to remain on task & complete his work. These students are seldom work in withdrawal spaces now as by applying the skills they learnt at Willow Farm Therapy they can function successfully in the mainstream.

Kedgley Intermediate School