Support for young people and families with concerns that interfere with day-to-day life
These may be defined as contextual difficulties (bereavements, losses, transitions, struggles and adjustments) or as mental health concerns (e.g. depression, anxiety, PTSD). They might be around relating to each other and others, or in managing cultural differences, marginalisation and discrimination.
In all of these cases, we will work together to assess your needs, think about who or what might be helpful in addressing these needs, and co-create a plan around differences that might make a difference both now and in the future.
Some examples of support for young people and families in processing past trauma
- Individual therapy – some young people need their own space to make sense of their experiences, for some this is through life story work, for others it is through play or dialogue and making sense of and having strategies to manage both overwhelming emotions and everyday dilemmas.
- Parent-child therapy – others need to do this work together with a parent or carer (I often use a model called Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) focusing on developing the relationship between a parent and child to support them to feel safe and secure).
- Family therapy – some families find it most helpful to come together (sometimes in different groupings at different times) to reflect and experiment with how to bring the best out in one another. This can be particularly important where patterns of interactions and reactions can be seen in many family generations.
Some examples of support for young people and carers in managing ongoing trauma – uncertainty around asylum seeking, future placements etc
- Individual therapy for young people – whilst working with individuals managing ongoing uncertainty and trauma, I use a systemic framework - keeping clients’ contexts and relationships in mind. Depending on what you might need, I and my collaborating colleagues tend to draw on trauma-informed, DDP, NVR, and CFT/ACT informed therapeutic models which variably focus on bodily responses, family relationships, non-violent resistance to undesirable behaviour, and aligning your life with your values. You might want to google some of these and ask questions or you might want to just see how our conversations feel. We will endeavour to help you find alternative provision where other modalities might be more useful (e.g. specialist diagnostic assessments and other professional intervention).
- Consultation and training for carers - I also offer individual and group consultations and training to the carers who often need to manage some very challenging day to day difficulties during difficult and sometimes prolonged periods of uncertainty.
- Whole network interventions – facilitating collaboration and consistency in working together in often complex and uncertain contexts is a key component that I offer professionals and carers in such networks.
Contact me on Tel: +44 7306 767 209 or email:
