Start by Asking: “Is This a Friendship Skill Problem, or Is the Environment Not Accepting the Child?”

When a child struggles socially, adults may immediately think:
“They need better social skills.”

Sometimes a child may benefit from support understanding communication, relationships, boundaries or social situations.

But that isn't always the whole story.

A child may be struggling because:
  • They are being bullied
  • Other children exclude them
  • Their communication style differs from their peers
  • Their interests differ from the group
  • The social environment is overwhelming
  • They have experienced repeated rejection
  • They are being pressured to fit in
  • They don't feel safe being themselves
  • Other people don't understand their communication needs
  • They are masking to try to gain acceptance
  • The friendship itself is unhealthy

A child experiencing exclusion doesn't automatically need to become better at fitting in.

Sometimes the people or environment around the child also need to change.
​
Support should help young people understand relationships, communicate their needs and develop confidence without teaching them that belonging requires hiding who they are.

Why Are Friendships Important?

Friendships can provide children and teenagers with opportunities for:
  • Connection
  • Companionship
  • Shared interests
  • Emotional support
  • Fun
  • Cooperation
  • Problem-solving
  • Learning about boundaries
  • Understanding different perspectives
  • Developing independence
  • Building a sense of belonging

However, there isn't one correct way to experience friendship.

Some children enjoy large friendship groups.

Others prefer one or two close friends.

Some enjoy spending substantial time socially.

Others need more time alone.

A child's social wellbeing shouldn't be judged simply by the number of friends they have.

A more useful question may be:
“Does this child have the type and amount of social connection that feels meaningful and comfortable for them?”
What Are Friendship Difficulties?

Friendship difficulties can involve many different experiences.
A child or teenager might:
  • Want friends but find it difficult to connect
  • Make friends easily but struggle to maintain friendships
  • Frequently experience misunderstandings
  • Feel excluded from groups
  • Find group friendships confusing
  • Have difficulty recognising unhealthy friendships
  • Struggle to communicate boundaries
  • Become highly distressed following disagreements
  • Worry excessively about what friends think
  • Feel pressure to behave differently around peers
  • Find it difficult when friendships change
  • Prefer different types of social interaction from their peers

Understanding what part of friendship is difficult is important.
Friendship Difficulties Aren't Always a Social Skills Deficit

The phrase “social skills” can sometimes oversimplify a much more complex situation.

Communication happens between people.

A misunderstanding isn't necessarily caused by one person having poor social skills.
Differences can occur in:
  • Communication style
  • Expectations
  • Interests
  • Emotional expression
  • Processing speed
  • Sensory needs
  • Interpretation of language
  • Personal boundaries
This is particularly important when supporting neurodivergent children.

The goal shouldn't automatically be:
“Teach the child to behave more like everyone else.”

It may instead involve helping the child understand themselves and other people, communicate effectively, recognise safe relationships and find environments where differences are accepted.
Signs Your Child May Be Struggling With Friendships

Parents might notice:
  • Frequently saying they have no friends
  • Being repeatedly left out
  • Not being invited to activities
  • Frequent friendship arguments
  • Distress when friendships change
  • Worry about going to school
  • Avoiding social events
  • Becoming unusually quiet after school
  • Emotional escalations following social situations
  • Constantly analysing conversations
  • Frequently asking whether someone is still their friend
  • Changing themselves significantly to gain acceptance
  • Feeling that nobody understands them
  • Reduced confidence
  • Withdrawal from previously enjoyed activities
  • Spending breaks alone despite wanting company

These signs don't automatically mean something is wrong with the child.

They indicate that it may be useful to understand what they are experiencing.
When Friendship Difficulties Affect School Attendance

Bullying, exclusion, friendship conflict or feeling socially unsafe can make attending school increasingly difficult. If a child is becoming distressed before school, avoiding particular classes or asking to stay home, it can help to look beyond the attendance itself and understand what may be happening at school.

Related resource: School Anxiety, School Avoidance & Difficulty Attending School
Friendship Changes Are a Normal Part of Growing Up

Friendships don't remain the same throughout childhood.
Children may:
  • Develop new interests
  • Change friendship groups
  • Become closer to different people
  • Experience disagreements
  • Outgrow friendships
  • Move schools
  • Become more independent

A friendship ending can still be genuinely upsetting even when nothing inappropriate has occurred.

Adults sometimes reassure children by saying:
“You'll make new friends.”

That may eventually be true.

But the child may still be grieving the friendship they have lost.
Acknowledging that loss can be important.
When Family Changes Affect Friendships

Moving house, changing schools, alternating between homes or changes in transport and routines can affect opportunities to see friends and participate socially. For some children and teenagers, this can feel like another significant loss occurring alongside family change.

Read: Family Changes & Adjustment in Children & Teenagers
Friendship Conflict vs Bullying

Not every disagreement between children is bullying.
Friendship conflict can involve:
  • Disagreements
  • Misunderstandings
  • Different opinions
  • Hurt feelings
  • Arguments
  • Difficulty compromising

Both children may contribute to a conflict, and the relationship may later recover.

Bullying is different.

It generally involves repeated harmful behaviour where there is an imbalance of power that makes it difficult for the person being targeted to stop what is happening.

Understanding the difference matters because the response should be different.

A child experiencing bullying shouldn't simply be told:
“You both need to work this out.”

What Can Bullying Look Like?

Bullying isn't limited to physical aggression.
It may involve:
Verbal Bullying
  • Name-calling
  • Insults
  • Threats
  • Humiliation
  • Repeated teasing intended to cause harm
Physical Bullying
  • Hitting
  • Pushing
  • Tripping
  • Damaging belongings
  • Taking belongings
  • Physically intimidating someone
Social or Relational Bullying
  • Deliberately excluding someone
  • Encouraging others not to speak to them
  • Spreading rumours
  • Public humiliation
  • Manipulating friendships
  • Threatening to end friendships as a means of control
Online Bullying
  • Harmful messages
  • Group-chat exclusion
  • Sharing embarrassing material
  • Rumours
  • Fake accounts
  • Harassment
  • Deliberate public humiliation
Bullying can occur across multiple environments rather than stopping when a child leaves school.
Social Exclusion

Being excluded can be particularly difficult because it isn't always obvious to adults.
A child may describe:
“They all walked away when I came over.”
“They have a group chat I'm not in.”
“They invite everyone except me.”
“They stop talking whenever I get near them.”

Occasional exclusion doesn't automatically constitute bullying.

But repeated deliberate exclusion can significantly affect wellbeing and may form part of a broader bullying pattern.
It deserves attention.
“They're Just Joking”

Humour is part of many friendships.

But something isn't harmless simply because another person calls it a joke.

A useful distinction is whether:
  • Everyone is enjoying the interaction
  • Someone has asked for it to stop
  • The same person is repeatedly targeted
  • The humour humiliates or intimidates someone
  • There is an imbalance of power
  • The child feels unable to respond safely

If someone repeatedly says:
“I'm only joking”
after hurting another person, the label doesn't remove the impact.
Online Friendships & Cyberbullying

For teenagers especially, friendships often extend across:
  • Messaging
  • Group chats
  • Gaming
  • Social media
  • Video platforms
  • Online communities

Online friendships can provide genuine connection and belonging.

They can also create challenges.
Young people may experience:
  • Pressure to respond immediately
  • Group-chat conflict
  • Exclusion
  • Screenshots being shared
  • Rumours spreading quickly
  • Public comments
  • Difficulty escaping conflict
  • Comparison with others
  • Pressure to share personal information

Parents should avoid assuming that online friendships aren't “real friendships.”

For many young people, online relationships are an important part of their social world.

The focus should instead be on helping them understand safe, respectful and healthy relationships both online and offline.

What Does a Healthy Friendship Look Like?

Healthy friendships aren't perfect.

Friends can disagree.

They can become frustrated.
They may need space.

But generally, healthy friendships involve:
  • Mutual respect
  • Feeling safe
  • Being able to say no
  • Shared enjoyment
  • Respect for boundaries
  • Ability to disagree
  • Being able to spend time with other people
  • Support without control
  • Being able to be yourself
  • Repair after disagreements

A helpful question for young people is:
“How do you usually feel after spending time with this person?”
Signs a Friendship May Be Unhealthy

A friendship may need closer attention if someone:
  • Frequently humiliates the child
  • Controls who they can speak to
  • Threatens to stop being their friend
  • Pressures them to do things they don't want to do
  • Shares private information
  • Repeatedly ignores boundaries
  • Makes them feel afraid
  • Regularly insults them
  • Manipulates them
  • Uses exclusion to control them
  • Makes them feel they must constantly earn the friendship

Children sometimes tolerate unhealthy relationships because they fear having no friends at all.

This can make discussions about boundaries and respectful relationships particularly important.
Friendship Anxiety & Reassurance Seeking

Some children become highly worried about friendships.
They may repeatedly ask:
“Are they angry with me?”
“Do you think we're still friends?”
“Why haven't they replied?”
“What if they don't invite me?”

A small change in tone or a delayed message may trigger substantial worry.
Sometimes this relates to anxiety.

Sometimes it follows previous experiences of rejection, bullying or unpredictable friendships.

Rather than immediately reassuring:
“Of course they're still your friend,”
it can help to explore:
“What happened that made you wonder about that?”
​
Explore Anxiety, Worry & Feeling Overwhelmed
Friendship Break-Ups

Friendship break-ups can be painful.
For children and teenagers, a close friendship may represent:
  • Belonging
  • Identity
  • Routine
  • Trust
  • Shared experiences
  • Emotional support

When that friendship ends, the young person may experience:
  • Sadness
  • Anger
  • Confusion
  • Anxiety
  • Embarrassment
  • Loneliness
  • Rejection
  • Grief
Adults should avoid minimising the experience because it wasn't a romantic relationship.
For the young person, the loss may be substantial.
Autism & Friendships

Autistic children and teenagers can want friendship and connection just like anyone else, although individual preferences for social interaction vary considerably.
​
Friendship difficulties may arise because of differences in:
  • Communication
  • Social expectations
  • Sensory needs
  • Interests
  • Processing
  • Interpretation of indirect language
  • Group dynamics

​An autistic child may also communicate very effectively with people who share or understand their communication style.

This is why support shouldn't automatically frame autistic communication as defective.

The goal should be mutual understanding, not simply teaching the autistic child to imitate neurotypical social behaviour.

Explore Autism Support & Resources
Shared Interests Can Be a Powerful Foundation for Friendship

Some children connect most comfortably through shared interests rather than conventional social conversation.
This might involve:
  • Gaming
  • Animals
  • Art
  • Sport
  • LEGO
  • Coding
  • Books
  • Music
  • Science
  • Collecting
  • Particular hobbies

Adults sometimes focus heavily on teaching conversation techniques while overlooking something simpler:
People often become friends because they enjoy doing the same things.

Helping a child find communities based around genuine interests may sometimes be more useful than repeatedly practising generic social interaction.
ADHD & Friendships

Children and teenagers with ADHD may experience friendship challenges related to:
  • Impulsivity
  • Interrupting
  • Difficulty waiting
  • Emotional intensity
  • Forgetfulness
  • Difficulty noticing when attention has shifted
  • Managing group conversations
  • Strong responses to perceived rejection

​These experiences should be approached with curiosity rather than judgement.
A child shouldn't repeatedly receive the message:
“You're too much.”

Support can help them understand their own communication and emotional responses while also helping the people around them understand ADHD-related differences.

Explore ADHD Support & Resources
Rejection & Strong Emotional Responses

Some young people experience rejection, criticism or perceived exclusion very intensely.

A small social event may feel enormous.

For example:
A friend doesn't sit next to them.

The young person thinks:
“They hate me.”

​This can trigger intense sadness, anger or panic.

Sometimes the interpretation may be inaccurate.

Sometimes the young person has genuinely experienced repeated rejection and has become highly alert to signs that it may happen again.

​Support should explore both possibilities.

Explore Emotional Regulation & Dysregulation
Masking to Fit In

Some children and teenagers change significant parts of themselves in an effort to gain social acceptance.
They may:
  • Copy other people's behaviour
  • Hide their interests
  • Force eye contact
  • Rehearse conversations
  • Suppress natural movements
  • Pretend not to be confused
  • Laugh when they don't understand
  • Tolerate uncomfortable situations
  • Agree with others to avoid rejection

This may help someone appear socially successful while requiring substantial effort.

A child may come home exhausted after spending the entire school day monitoring themselves.
Support shouldn't teach them:
“You need to mask better.”

It may instead help them understand themselves, communicate needs, identify safe relationships and find environments where they don't need to continually perform.
Being Different Isn't the Same as Being Socially Unsuccessful

A young person may:
  • Prefer one close friend
  • Dislike large groups
  • Need substantial time alone
  • Prefer structured activities
  • Communicate directly
  • Have highly focused interests
  • Find small talk uninteresting

None of these automatically represents a social problem.

Support should be based on what the young person wants and what is affecting their wellbeing, rather than whether they conform to conventional expectations of sociability.
Bullying & Neurodivergent Children

Neurodivergent children can sometimes be targeted because peers perceive them as different.
Bullying may relate to:
  • Communication differences
  • Interests
  • Behaviour
  • Sensory needs
  • Emotional responses
  • Learning differences
  • Appearance
  • Disability

The solution cannot simply be:
“Teach the child how not to be bullied.”

Responsibility for bullying lies with those engaging in harmful behaviour and with the adults and systems responsible for maintaining safe environments.

The child may still benefit from support processing what has happened and developing confidence, boundaries and self-advocacy.
Friendship Difficulties & School Attendance

For some children and teenagers, friendship problems or bullying can make school extremely difficult.
They may:
  • Ask to stay home
  • Become distressed before school
  • Report headaches or stomach discomfort
  • Avoid particular classes
  • Avoid lunch or recess
  • Spend breaks alone
  • Ask to be collected early
  • Experience emotional escalations before school

If a child doesn't want to attend school, it is important to ask:
“What is making school difficult?”
rather than assuming the child simply lacks motivation.

Explore School Anxiety, School Avoidance & Difficulty Attending School
Bullying Can Affect Confidence & Identity

Repeated negative social experiences can influence the way a young person sees themselves.

They may begin thinking:
“Nobody likes me.”
“There's something wrong with me.”
“I'm weird.”
“I'll never fit in.”
“I need to change who I am.”

These beliefs can remain even after the bullying or exclusion has stopped.

Support may involve helping the young person separate:
What other people did
from
Who they are.

Explore Confidence, Self-Esteem & Identity Support

How Parents Can Support a Child Experiencing Friendship Difficulties

Parents often want to solve the situation immediately.
But understanding what is happening should usually come first.
Listen Before Problem-Solving

Try:
“Tell me what happened.”

rather than immediately:
“You should have...”
Don't Automatically Blame the Child

Avoid assuming:
“If this keeps happening, you must be doing something wrong.”
​
Repeated difficulties deserve investigation, not blame.
Don't Automatically Blame the Other Child Either

Some situations are misunderstandings or ordinary conflict.
Gather information before reaching conclusions.
Validate Their Experience

You might say:
“That sounds really upsetting.”

Validation doesn't require agreeing with every interpretation of what happened.
Ask What They Want

Children don't always want adults to immediately intervene.
Ask:
“Would you like me to listen, help you think about what to do, or help you speak to someone?”

Where safety or bullying concerns exist, adult intervention may still be necessary.
Should I Contact the School?

It may be appropriate to contact the school when:
  • Bullying is suspected
  • Exclusion is persistent
  • The child feels unsafe
  • School attendance is being affected
  • Behaviour has changed significantly
  • The child is avoiding particular areas or activities
  • Online behaviour involves students from the school
  • Previous attempts to resolve the issue haven't worked

Try to provide specific information:
What happened?
When?
Where?
Who was involved?
How often has it happened?
What impact is it having?

This is usually more useful than simply reporting:
“My child is being bullied.”
Keep a Record When Problems Are Ongoing

If bullying or persistent exclusion is occurring, it may help to record:
  • Dates
  • Incidents
  • Locations
  • People involved
  • Screenshots where appropriate
  • Communication with the school
  • Changes in the child's wellbeing
  • Changes in attendance
This can help identify patterns and support clearer communication with the school.
What Not to Say to a Child Who Is Being Bullied

Try to avoid responses such as:
“Just ignore them.”
“You need to toughen up.”
“They're probably jealous.”
“Just hit them back.”
“You must have done something.”

These responses can leave a child feeling blamed or unsupported.
​
Instead, communicate:
“I'm glad you told me.”
“You don't deserve to be treated that way.”
“We're going to work out what needs to happen next.”
Should I Encourage My Child to Make More Friends?

Not necessarily.
More friends doesn't automatically mean better social wellbeing.

One supportive friendship may be more meaningful than belonging to a large group where the child doesn't feel comfortable.
Instead ask:
“Does my child feel connected?”
“Do they want more social interaction?”
“Do their friendships feel safe and reciprocal?”

The child's preferences matter.
Helping Children Develop Healthy Boundaries

Children can learn that friendship doesn't require:
  • Agreeing with everything
  • Sharing everything
  • Being available constantly
  • Keeping harmful secrets
  • Tolerating insults
  • Giving away belongings
  • Doing things that make them uncomfortable
  • Abandoning other friendships

A useful message is:
“A friend can be disappointed with your boundary and you can still keep the boundary.”
Helping Children Navigate Friendship Conflict

Where the issue is ordinary conflict rather than bullying, children may benefit from learning to:
  • Describe what happened
  • Listen to another perspective
  • Communicate how they felt
  • Take responsibility where appropriate
  • Apologise genuinely
  • Explain what they need
  • Negotiate
  • Decide whether the friendship can be repaired

Repair doesn't always mean returning the friendship to exactly how it was.

Sometimes healthy resolution involves creating more distance.
How Can Counselling Help?

Counselling may provide a safe space for a child or teenager to explore:
  • Friendship difficulties
  • Bullying
  • Exclusion
  • Conflict
  • Loneliness
  • Social anxiety
  • Rejection
  • Confidence
  • Identity
  • Boundaries
  • Emotional regulation
  • Communication
  • Adjustment following friendship changes
  • School-related distress

Counselling may also help a young person:
  • Understand patterns in relationships
  • Identify what they value in friendship
  • Recognise healthy and unhealthy relationships
  • Develop boundaries
  • Process difficult experiences
  • Build self-understanding
  • Develop self-advocacy
  • Explore anxiety around friendships
  • Develop strategies for managing conflict

The goal shouldn't be to create a child who appears more socially typical.

The goal is to support the young person to develop safe, meaningful and authentic relationships.
Explore Counselling for Children and Teens
When Might Speech Pathology Help?

Sometimes social difficulties involve communication.

Speech Pathology may be relevant where a child experiences difficulties involving:
  • Understanding language
  • Expressing thoughts or needs
  • Following complex conversations
  • Social communication
  • Understanding indirect language
  • Communication breakdowns
  • Advocating for themselves

Importantly, communication support should respect neurodivergent communication styles rather than simply teaching children to imitate neurotypical behaviour.

Explore Speech Pathology
When Might Occupational Therapy Help?

Occupational Therapy may be relevant where friendship or social participation difficulties are connected with:
  • Sensory processing
  • Emotional regulation
  • Executive functioning
  • School participation
  • Community participation
  • Environmental demands

For example, a child may want to participate socially but find the noise and sensory demands of a playground overwhelming.

Changing the environment may be as important as supporting the child.

Explore Occupational Therapy
When Might Psychology Assessment Be Relevant?

Sometimes persistent social difficulties occur alongside broader questions about:
  • Autism
  • ADHD
  • Learning difficulties
  • Intellectual functioning
  • Cognitive functioning
Psychological assessment and counselling serve different purposes.

Where families are seeking greater understanding of a child's developmental, cognitive or learning profile, assessment may be worth exploring.
Explore Psychology Assessments
When Should Parents Seek Additional Support?

Consider seeking additional support if friendship or bullying concerns are:
  • Persistent
  • Causing substantial distress
  • Affecting school attendance
  • Affecting sleep
  • Significantly reducing confidence
  • Causing withdrawal
  • Affecting everyday functioning
  • Associated with significant anxiety or low mood
  • Making the child feel unsafe
  • Becoming increasingly difficult for the family to manage
The appropriate support will depend on what is contributing.
Friendship & Bullying Counselling in Falcon & Mandurah

Belong Health provides counselling for children aged 7+ and teenagers from our Falcon clinic:

Belong Health
13 Littleton Street
Falcon WA 6211

Our clinic provides a local option for families from Falcon, Mandurah and surrounding Peel areas seeking counselling support for friendship difficulties, bullying, social challenges, confidence, anxiety and emotional wellbeing.

Enquire About Counselling
Telehealth Counselling Across Perth & Western Australia

Where clinically appropriate, counselling may also be available via telehealth across Perth and Western Australia.
Telehealth may be suitable for some children and teenagers who:
  • Live elsewhere in Perth
  • Live regionally or remotely
  • Find travel difficult
  • Prefer engaging from home
  • Need greater flexibility

Suitability is considered individually.
Explore Telehealth Counselling
Free 20-Minute Meet & Greet

Where available, Belong Health offers a free 20-minute Meet & Greet with a Counsellor before deciding whether to proceed.

Parents and young people can use this opportunity to:
  • Meet the Counsellor
  • Briefly discuss what's happening
  • Ask questions
  • Learn about their approach
  • Discuss whether counselling may be appropriate
  • Decide whether the Counsellor feels like a suitable fit

There is no obligation to continue after the Meet & Greet.
Book a Free Meet & Greet
Related Child, Teen & Family Resources

You may also find these Belong Health pages helpful:
Child & Teen Counselling
Anxiety, Worry & Feeling Overwhelmed
School Anxiety, School Avoidance & Difficulty Attending School
Stress, Feeling Overwhelmed & Burnout
Confidence, Self-Esteem & Identity
Emotional Regulation & Dysregulation
Grief, Loss & Bereavement
Autism Support & Resources
ADHD Support & Resources
Explore the Belong Health Resource Hub

Frequently Asked Questions About Friendship, Bullying & Social Difficulties

Is it normal for children to have friendship problems?
Yes. Disagreements, friendship changes and occasional conflict are common during childhood and adolescence. Additional support may be useful when difficulties are persistent, causing significant distress, affecting confidence or interfering with school and everyday life.

What's the difference between friendship conflict and bullying?
Friendship conflict can involve disagreements, misunderstandings and hurt feelings between children. Bullying generally involves repeated harmful behaviour and an imbalance of power that makes it difficult for the person being targeted to stop what is happening.

Is social exclusion bullying?
Not every instance of exclusion is bullying. However, repeated and deliberate exclusion intended to harm, isolate or control someone may form part of a bullying pattern.

What are signs my child may be experiencing bullying?
Possible signs include reluctance to attend school, unexplained distress, withdrawal, changes in sleep, physical complaints, reduced confidence, avoiding particular places or people, damaged belongings or significant changes in behaviour.

What is relational bullying?
Relational or social bullying involves using relationships or social groups to harm someone, such as deliberate exclusion, spreading rumours, manipulating friendships or encouraging other people to reject someone.

What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying involves harmful behaviour through digital communication such as messaging, social media, gaming or group chats. It may include harassment, humiliation, exclusion, rumours or sharing material intended to cause harm.

Why does my child say they have no friends?
There can be many reasons. They may be experiencing exclusion, friendship changes, bullying, anxiety, communication differences or difficulty finding peers with similar interests. It is important to understand what “no friends” means from the child's perspective.

Should I encourage my child to have more friends?
Not necessarily. Some children are comfortable with one or two close friendships and don't want a large social group. Quality, safety and the child's own preferences are generally more meaningful than the number of friends they have.

What does a healthy friendship look like?
Healthy friendships generally involve mutual respect, safety, shared enjoyment, boundaries, the ability to disagree and the freedom for each person to maintain other relationships and interests.

How can I tell if my child's friendship is unhealthy?
Concerns may include repeated humiliation, controlling behaviour, pressure, threats to end the friendship, sharing private information, ignoring boundaries, manipulation or making the child feel afraid.

Can friendship problems cause anxiety?
Yes. Repeated conflict, exclusion, bullying or unpredictable friendships may contribute to anxiety and reassurance seeking for some children and teenagers.

Can bullying affect self-esteem?
Yes. Repeated bullying or exclusion can influence how a young person views themselves and may contribute to reduced confidence, shame, anxiety or beliefs that they need to change themselves to gain acceptance.

Can friendship problems affect school attendance?
Yes. Bullying, exclusion, social anxiety and friendship difficulties can make school attendance difficult for some children and teenagers.

Do autistic children want friends?
Many autistic children and teenagers want friendship and connection, although individual preferences for the amount and type of social interaction vary. Support should respect the young person's communication style and social preferences.

Do autistic children need social skills training?
Not automatically. Social difficulties can involve differences between communication styles, environments and expectations rather than a deficit located solely within the autistic child. Support should focus on the individual's goals, mutual understanding, safety and meaningful relationships.

Can ADHD affect friendships?
ADHD-related differences involving impulsivity, attention, emotional regulation and executive functioning can influence social interactions for some young people. Support should focus on understanding the individual rather than blaming them for friendship difficulties.

What is masking?
Masking can involve consciously or unconsciously changing or suppressing natural behaviour in order to meet social expectations or gain acceptance. For some neurodivergent young people, sustained masking can require considerable effort.

Should I contact the school about bullying?
If bullying is suspected, your child feels unsafe, school attendance is being affected or difficulties are persistent, contacting the school may be appropriate. Providing specific information about incidents can help the school understand what is occurring.

Should I keep records of bullying?
Where concerns are ongoing, recording dates, incidents, locations, communication with the school and relevant screenshots may help identify patterns and support discussions about what needs to change.

What should I say when my child tells me they are being bullied?
Listen carefully, acknowledge their experience and let them know you are glad they told you. Avoid blaming them or immediately telling them to ignore the behaviour. Work with them to understand what has happened and what support is needed.

Can counselling help with friendship difficulties?
Counselling may help children and teenagers explore relationships, boundaries, conflict, rejection, confidence, anxiety and difficult social experiences. The goal should be meaningful and safe relationships rather than simply making the young person appear more socially typical.

Can counselling help after bullying?
Counselling may provide a space to process bullying experiences, explore their impact on confidence and identity, develop boundaries and self-advocacy and address related anxiety or emotional distress.

Can Speech Pathology help with social difficulties?
Speech Pathology may be relevant where communication, language or social communication differences are contributing to difficulties. Support should respect neurodivergent communication styles and individual communication preferences.

Can Occupational Therapy help with social participation?
Occupational Therapy may be relevant where sensory processing, emotional regulation, executive functioning or environmental demands are affecting participation at school, in the community or in social activities.

When might a Psychology Assessment be helpful?
Psychological assessment may be worth considering when persistent social difficulties occur alongside questions about Autism, ADHD, learning difficulties, intellectual functioning or cognitive functioning.

What age does Belong Health provide counselling from?
Belong Health currently provides counselling for children aged 7+ and teenagers, depending on individual needs and clinician suitability.

Where does Belong Health provide counselling?
In-clinic counselling is currently available from Belong Health's Falcon clinic near Mandurah. Telehealth may also be available across Perth and Western Australia where clinically appropriate.

Can we meet the Counsellor before starting?
Where available, Belong Health offers a free 20-minute Meet & Greet so families can briefly discuss their needs, ask questions and decide whether the Counsellor may be an appropriate fit.

How do we get started?
Contact Belong Health or complete the online enquiry form. Our admin team can discuss current availability and next steps.

Enquire With Belong Health
​Last reviewed: August 2026
This page is reviewed periodically to reflect current evidence, clinical practice and relevant NDIS guidance.
© COPYRIGHT 2026. BELONG HEALTH ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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