It's easy to get started with the Emotional Regulation Programme:
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No, we do not typically meet with your child. Assembly is not a traditional clinical therapy service; instead, our mission is to support you (the parent or caregiver) in helping your child at home. You’ll be the one implementing strategies with your child in daily life, guided by our professionals. (Of course, your child will still be involved in many of the home activities and practice exercises – they just won’t be meeting with our clinician one-on-one.)

This approach might feel different from standard child therapy, but it is proven to be effective. We deliberately work through parents because it empowers you to become an agent of change for your child. It also makes the support more sustainable – you are with your child every day, in all the settings where issues might occur, whereas a therapist would only see them briefly in a clinic. Our team will equip you with tools and know-how, and we’ll be there to support you via messaging and video calls as you apply those tools. Over time, you should see your child’s behaviors or emotions improving (and remember, you’re not alone in this – we’ll be with you each step of the way as you become part of the solution).

You will have direct access to our clinical team, but note that this is not formal therapy. Assembly is not a clinical treatment provider, so our clinicians will not be diagnosing your child or providing one-on-one psychotherapy. However, all our programs are clinician-guided – meaning an experienced professional (for example, a psychologist trained in neurodiversity and supervised by our Chief Clinical Officer) will be assigned to your family to support you throughout the process. You can reach out to your clinician via in-app text messaging, and you’ll have regular video consultations to discuss progress. These 1:1 calls are included at certain points in a programme, and additional ad-hoc sessions can be scheduled for an extra fee if needed. In all cases, our team’s role is to guide and coach you rather than to provide direct therapy to your child – this ensures that you gain the knowledge and confidence to help your child long-term, instead of relying on a professional every moment.

Assembly’s current programmes are best suited for families with children aged approximately 4–14 years. We designed the modules with the developmental needs of early childhood through early adolescence in mind. We are actively working on expanding our offerings to support a broader age range, including older teens, in the future. Every child is different, so if your child is just outside this age range, feel free to reach out and we can discuss whether our approach would still be a good fit.

Executive functioning refers to the set of mental skills that help us manage tasks and achieve goals. These skills are like the brain’s “command center” – they enable a person to plan, focus, remember instructions, problem-solve, and juggle multiple tasks effectively. Key components of executive functioning include:
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1. Working Memory: The ability to hold information in mind and manipulate it (for example, remembering a set of instructions and following them in order).
2. Cognitive Flexibility: The ability to adapt one’s thinking when circumstances change or when presented with new information (often referred to as flexible thinking).
3. Inhibitory Control: The ability to control impulses and resist distractions, enabling a person to pause and think before acting.
4. Planning and Organisation: The ability to create and maintain a roadmap to reach a goal, including prioritizing tasks and organizing time and resources.
5. Time Management: The skill of allocating time wisely, estimating how long tasks will take, and meeting deadlines.
6. Self-Monitoring: The ability to track one’s own progress on tasks and adjust one’s approach as needed (essentially, self-evaluation and correction).

Strong executive functioning helps children (and adults) to work more independently, handle complex tasks, and adapt to new challenges. Difficulties in this area might show up as trouble with homework, forgetting instructions, struggling to switch between activities, or acting impulsively. Assembly’s programmes include exercises to strengthen these executive skills in your child, tailored to their age and needs.

We developed the Assembly Profiling Tool as a holistic, non-diagnostic assessment to truly understand your child’s needs. While formal diagnoses (like ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, etc.) can be helpful in some ways, they are very broad categories. Each child is an individual – two children with the same diagnosis might have different specific challenges. Likewise, a child might struggle in certain areas without meeting the full criteria of a diagnosis. We also know that many standard diagnostic reports, although they provide useful recommendations, often focus on one category and may not address other related difficulties that impact your child.

Our solution was to create a trans-diagnostic profiling questionnaire that looks at your child as a whole. Instead of asking “does my child have X disorder,” it asks questions across multiple developmental domains to pinpoint where your child could use support. Our tool provides an overview of six key areas of development:
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1. Attention, Concentration & Organisation – e.g. ability to stay focused, follow instructions, and keep things in order.
2. Impulse Control – e.g. ability to think before acting and regulate impulses.
3. Emotional Regulation & Cooperation – e.g. ability to manage emotions, handle frustration, and cooperate with others.
4. Play, Social Communication & Language – e.g. ability to play imaginatively, interact socially, and communicate effectively.
5. Sensory & Motor Management – e.g. sensitivity to sensory input (like noise, touch) and coordination of gross/fine motor skills.
6. Emotional Well-being & Agency – e.g. general mood, self-esteem, and the child’s sense of control or ownership over their actions.

After you complete the questionnaire, our clinicians review your child’s profile (showing relative strengths and difficulties across these areas). We then use that profile to recommend personalised strategies and skill-building exercises. The goal is to target your child’s specific needs, whether or not you have a formal diagnosis, and to complement any other recommendations you might have received from doctors or teachers. This holistic view makes our guidance uniquely tailored to your child, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Not at all. You do not need a formal diagnosis to sign up for Assembly. Our programmes are specifically designed to be needs-led, which means we focus on your child’s particular challenges and goals rather than on any label. In fact, research has shown that parent-based programmes can help children even if they don’t meet the criteria for a diagnosable disorder – by acting early based on the child’s needs, parents can often prevent issues from escalating.

At Assembly we believe that understanding your child’s profile is more important than a diagnosis. When you start with us, we will ask you to complete our holistic Assembly Profiling Tool. This takes the place of requiring a diagnosis – it gives us a detailed picture of where your child might need support. Using those results, we work with you to meet your child’s needs through our tailored modules. Bottom line: if you know your child is struggling in certain areas (socially, emotionally, behaviorally, or academically), we’re here to help you help them – diagnosis or not.

Yes, absolutely. We understand that pursuing a medical or educational diagnosis is a personal decision, and it’s not the path every family wants to take. Assembly is built to support children’s development with or without an official diagnosis. What’s most important to us is understanding your child’s needs. By having you complete the Assembly Profiling Tool at the start, we gather the information we need to tailor our support to your child – no diagnostic label required.

In many ways, our needs-led approach is ideal for families who choose not to go through the diagnostic process. You’ll still get expert guidance and a structured plan to help your child, but everything is focused on practical strategies for the issues you identify, rather than on a clinical category. We will gladly work with you and your child on the specific challenges you’re facing, on your own terms.

Assembly is designed for ongoing support and skill-building, rather than crisis management. This means it works best for children and parents dealing with developmental or emotional challenges that interfere with daily life – things like anxiety, frustration, social or behavioural issues at home or school – but who are not in immediate danger or severe distress. Assembly focuses on addressing underlying cognitive and emotional skills that can improve a child’s functioning over time and it can nicely complement traditional therapies or interventions your child might be receiving (for example, we can work on day-to-day coping skills while you’re on a waitlist for services, or alongside school support).

However, Assembly is not a crisis or emergency service. We are not an alternative to CAMHS or acute mental health care for situations that require immediate clinical intervention. If your child is experiencing very serious mental health issues – such as self-harming behaviors, suicidal thoughts, an eating disorder, psychosis, or severe depression – those must be addressed by the appropriate medical and mental health professionals. In those cases, the priority is to ensure your child’s safety and stabilization through doctors, therapists, or possibly inpatient care. (If you are ever concerned about your child’s safety, you should seek emergency help right away, e.g. call your GP, 111, or go to A&E, as our website notes). Similarly, children with extremely complex needs often require a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach (involving pediatricians, specialists, school SENCO, etc.) before a programme like Assembly can be helpful.

Once the immediate or severe issues are being properly managed, Assembly can become a very useful addition by empowering you as a parent. For example, if your child has come out of a crisis and you now want to rebuild routines and coping skills, or if your child has mild to moderate challenges that haven’t qualified for specialist services, our programmes can fill that gap. Assembly is right for your family if you find yourself saying things like, “My child is anxious (or angry, or struggling socially) and I don’t know how to help them day-to-day,” or “We’re waiting on a diagnosis or therapy, but we want to start doing something constructive now.” In cases like these – where your child’s issues are real and concerning but not life-threatening – Assembly can make a significant difference. We focus on practical, at-home strategies that build up your child’s resilience and skills gradually.

Remember, you are not alone, and you can be part of the solution to your child’s challenges. Many parents feel stuck or unsure of how to help their child, especially when the child isn’t improving through traditional routes or isn’t “severe enough” to get immediate services. Assembly was created by parents and professionals who understand that frustration. If your child’s situation sounds like what we described and you’re eager to take positive steps with professional guidance, then Assembly is likely a good fit for you. We’ll be with you each step of the way, supporting you as you support your child.

Assembly was born out of a parent’s determination to find better support for families. Our founder, Ayse Tanyeri, was a mother looking for ways to help her son with his challenges. When she couldn’t find accessible, practical solutions, she decided to create one. Ayse teamed up with Dr. Frank Burbach – a consultant clinical psychologist with 30 years of NHS experience – and together with a strong Clinical Advisory Board, they developed the Assembly approach. (You can read more about our team’s credentials and story on the Team page.)

Assembly is fundamentally a parent-led initiative – it started with a parent seeing a need, and it continues to thrive by collaborating with parents and experts. If you’d like to get involved, whether as a participant, partner, or supporter, we’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch with us via our contact page or email, and we can discuss opportunities to support our mission of empowering families. Every parent who joins Assembly becomes part of a community striving to improve children’s lives at home. In that sense, by even considering our programme, you’re already getting involved in the change we’re trying to create!

Visit our Team page for more details.