Problems with life events

Our emotional wellbeing is very dependent on what is happening in our life and those around us. This is generally well understood, and supported by research.

For example, if we are:

• in a relationship where we are experiencing violence or sexual or emotional abuse
• living in a home that is crowded, noisy, or damp
• out of work, or having to work very long hours in a job that is boring and badly paid, and are struggling to pay the bills
• worried about our immigration or asylum status
• parent of a child who is struggling in school and has difficulties with learning or communication
• living with bad memories from our past

Living with these challenges can put huge strain on family life and make it very difficult at times to feel we are doing a good job as parents. 

We can find ourselves feeling depressed, anxious, angry or sad, and sometimes difficulties lead to more arguments, or use of alcohol or drugs to manage the stress. 

Children and young people also feel the strain of these life events and are likely to need extra care and attention, which is hard to give when parents are struggling themselves.

How we can help

We cannot solve your practical problems, although we can point you towards people who can help you with these.

However, we can help you to understand what the problems are and the effect that these are having on you and your child/family. It is easy to fall into the trap of feeling that we are failing personally when faced with difficult life events. We can give you time and space to work out how to best cope with what you and your child is facing, to deal with the past and to find better ways for how to go on in the future. We will help you to work out how to best use the support of family, friends or other professionals. We will also help to ensure that everyone is safe.

We can either meet with you individually as a parent, or as a couple, or see your child on their own, or we can meet with several family members – most likely a combination of these!  We also offer groups for children/young people and for parents. We will talk with you about what the different options are and what you would find most useful.

The therapies we offer are family therapy, child psychotherapy, psychology interventions (eg. cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), narrative therapy), and child psychiatry. Where there are concerns about a child’s learning or communication, we may do cognitive assessments to find out more about exactly how they are struggling, and work with schools to plan targeted support for them. We work with interpreters when needed.

Sometimes we will only meet with you a few times, and sometimes our interventions last for many weeks or months. We will work out together with you what you need.

Our related services