PANS/PANDAS Support
Therapeutic support
I offer therapeutic support for children, young people and families affected by PANS/PANDAS. Through my professional work and lived experience, I understand how sudden changes in anxiety, OCD symptoms, mood, behaviour and family life can feel frightening and exhausting — not only for the child, but for parents, carers and siblings too.
Alongside medical care, therapy can provide a calm space to make sense of what is happening, support emotional regulation, rebuild confidence and find practical ways forward. This can be helpful while families are navigating the medical journey, and while rebuilding routines, connection and a sense of safety. I work with children and young people, parents, carers and siblings, depending on what would be most helpful for your family.
If you are unsure whether therapy is appropriate, or whether now is the right time, please do get in touch. We can arrange a 15-minute discovery call to think together about what may be helpful for your child and family.
The Flare: A story about PANS/PANDAS and ways to cope
Written by Dr Vicky Queralt Illustrated by Anna Edgell
The Flare is a therapeutic, emotionally resonant story that blends clinical insight with child-friendly storytelling. It is designed to support children experiencing symptoms associated with PANS/PANDAS (Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome/ Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) while also helping peers, families, and professionals better understand their experience.
Synopsis
When a young boy named Leo experiences sudden and overwhelming changes in his thoughts, feelings, and behaviour, everything in his world feels confusing and out of control. A visit to the doctor helps make sense of it all: Leo is experiencing a condition called PANS/PANDAS. But instead of overwhelming him with medical language, the doctor helps Leo understand by giving the experience a name he can relate to: “the Flare.”
With the support of his mum, doctor, and warm-hearted Aunty Kate, Leo starts to understand what’s happening inside him. He learns about a practical, child friendly coping tool, which helps him take small steps to feel more grounded, connected, and hopeful, even while the Flare is present.
Gentle, empowering, and emotionally resonant, The Flare helps children make sense of frightening changes, while offering families a supportive framework to move forward together.
Reconnecting After a Flare
PANS and PANDAS can bring sudden, unexpected changes in behaviour, mood and everyday family life. This can be incredibly hard for the child, and can also leave parents, carers and siblings feeling exhausted, isolated and overwhelmed.
This resource shares gentle, practical ways to reconnect with your child and with each other, helping to rebuild a sense of balance, understanding and safety at home.
Developed in collaboration with PANS PANDAS UK, this resources offers simple reconnection ideas to help families feel more united, grounded and supported during difficult times.
You can download the resource as a free PDF here. Printed copies are also available to buy through the PANS PANDAS UK charity shop, here, with proceeds supporting the charity’s work. The printed copy also includes a Reconnection Family Plan, with space for families to add their own ideas and make the resource personal to them.
Reconnecting After a Flare family support resource
Parenting strategies webinar
This webinar, created for PANS PANDAS UK and recorded as part of their parenting support online conference, aims to help caregivers understand why PANS/PANDAS can feel so intense and provides compassionate, practical tools for navigating difficult moments. It encourages shifting away from pressure to return to “normal,” and instead noticing small progress and grounding in the present.
The webinar introduces ideas and practical strategies to help caregivers think about uncertainty, care for their own emotional wellbeing, and use compassion-based approaches that may support calm, reduce stress and strengthen a sense of safety and connection for both them and their child.
