Young People
Adolescence and young adulthood can be amazing and it can also be hugely turbulent and often full of competing pressures. Having so many opportunities and possibilities for the future can seem massively exciting, and completely overwhelming. It’s full of quite a lot of highs and lows. Added to this you may be going through other major life events: relationship problems, parental separation or divorce, bereavement, moving home/ placement/ school, violence at home.
My hope is that by talking things through together we can work out what’s going to help you. Maybe you want to:
- cope better with pressure or stress
- understand yourself better
- have somewhere to off-load
- improve your relationships
- build up your confidence and self-esteem
Everyone is different and all our situations are completely unique, and my aim is to get to know and understand you and your experiences as much as possible.
I’m told by people who come to see me that one of the best things is that I’m someone to talk to who is unconnected to their everyday life. I won’t tell you what you should do or what you should talk about, and I won’t judge you for who you are or what we discuss.
Parents
There is no such thing as a perfect parent! We all try to do the best we can, but sometimes you may feel like you’ve tried everything and are at a loss of what to do next.
Parenting can be completely brilliant, sometimes overwhelming, and at times pretty unrewarding. I work in a positive, non-judgemental way in order to help you be the parent you want to be, mainly by focussing on building (or re-building) really strong bonds between you and your child or children.
It may be that your family experiences:
- Emotional flash points that start arguments
- Repeating patterns of behaviour
- Everyday sticking points eg. Homework, chores, curfews
There may be methods you hadn’t thought about, or ways of responding to your child that might just help improve the relationship. Sometimes just having some time dedicated to yourself, with someone outside your family or friendship circle to off-load to can be enough in itself, without any changes needed.
It could be that your own childhood experiences are affecting the way in which you are parenting now. It could be that you are struggling with your child/ren growing up and leaving home – this is a huge transition for parents and not always given the recognition it deserves, as it can have a massive impact.
By talking through what’s going on, and looking at key triggers in your family, together we can find different options and things to try that will suit you and your family.
