More Than Just Behaviour: Understanding What Young People Are Carrying
By Deborah Lowndes
The Purpose Place Psychotherapy & Counselling
In my work with young people—especially those navigating complex trauma—I’ve learned to look beyond the behaviour. What may seem like emotional outbursts, resistance, or withdrawal is often something much deeper: a young nervous system trying its best to survive.
So often, the young people who sit across from me have been labelled as “too much,” “too sensitive,” or “disengaged.” But I’ve come to understand these reactions as the language of the body—a body that may have learned early on that safety is not a given.
Dysregulation, avoidance, even risk-taking—these aren’t flaws. They’re adaptations.
They’re creative strategies that have helped young people manage overwhelming environments, unmet needs, or relational ruptures. And in therapy, our task isn’t to extinguish these behaviours—it’s to understand the wisdom behind them.
At The Purpose Place, I offer a space where behaviour is met with curiosity rather than control. I take an integrative, trauma-informed approach, weaving together body-based awareness, relational attunement, and narrative exploration to help young people feel safe enough to be seen.
Over time, therapy can support young people to:
- Make sense of what they’re feeling and why
- Develop more flexible coping tools
- Reconnect with their body and emotions
- Reclaim a sense of agency and possibility
The work is gentle, non-linear, and deeply human. When young people realise they don’t have to perform or be fixed—that they can simply be—they begin to soften. And often, that’s when healing starts to unfold.