Power Phrase System is a structured therapeutic language resource for children aged 6–12 — a sequence a clinician or educator brings into their own practice, not a stand-alone activity and not a fix on its own.
For a dysregulated, anxious, or selectively mute child, naming an internal state can be the hardest task in the room — not the entry point to it. Emotion-labelling gives children a vocabulary for distress, but not always a way through it.
PPU works in a different order: establish safety first, offer language without demand, and then connect a small change in language to an emerging sense of who the child is becoming. The clinician sets the pace and pitches the language to the child's stage.
The cards are the vocabulary; choosing them is the grammar. You and the child look at the same pieces, so you're on the same page from the first moment.
The settling layer. Lines like “I won't rush you” signal there's no pressure and nothing to perform — so the child isn't cornered into speaking.
The “how-much” words — can, will, might, could, not yet. The child says not just what, but how ready they are. Honesty about the in-between.
The action words and the identity behind them — KIND, BRAVE, GENEROUS. A feeling becomes something the child can picture and do.
One sentence, built by the child
I will→share→KIND
They didn't write it from a blank page. They assembled it from cards. That's the whole move — and it works many ways: I can be → guide → LEADER, We shall → work together → COOPERATIVE.
Built around how a child's brain actually works, rather than asking them to work a different way:
Designed to sit comfortably with neurodivergent children — autistic, ADHD, language-delayed — and with any child having a hard day.
Explore the six decks, or read the evidence base behind the approach.
Explore the decks →Important: Power Phrase System cards are educational SEL tools. Not a substitute for professional psychological assessment, diagnosis, or treatment. ABN 55 260 040 085 · Warabrook NSW 2304, Australia