This series tells fictional stories of the counselling journey. Drawn from our counsellors’ extensive experience, this story recounts how a young teenager builds her self-esteem and confidence as she explores her gender identity. Aly’s parents contacted Relate after months of growing concern about their 14-year-old daughter. Over the last six months, she’d slowly retreated. Their… Read more »
How can parents know whether or not their child is struggling with their mental health? How do we assess or measure a child’s state of mind? This matters all the more today and even more now as they step back into the school environment after nearly 3 months away. Many children will take time finding… Read more »
The #pandemic has been an intense time for many families with younger children. Five days of semi-normal life may actually feel overwhelming for some young children and (let’s face it) some adults too. And of course afterwards, we are back into our small bubbles, with a very limited social circle. So, planning ahead for this holiday… Read more »
This Christmas may seem exceptionally challenging for teenagers. It’s a time where friendships outside the family are a priority. Here are 3 Christmas tips to help you support your teens: Talk about and plan this Christmas break together. This helps in two ways. Firstly, it can give space to share internalised feelings (anger, sadness at… Read more »
This series tells fictional stories of the counselling journey. Drawn from our counsellors’ extensive experience, this story explores how a young teenager learns to name and handle complex emotions. At the Start 13-year-old Joe’s life, like that of many young teenagers, had been in significant turmoil since March. All of a sudden, half way through… Read more »
This series tells fictional stories of the counselling journey. Drawn from our counsellors’ extensive experience, this story explores the use of mobile phones in our everyday. Initial meeting Laura came to Relate family counselling as she was worried about Sophia, her 15-year-old daughter. Constant arguments were making their relationship difficult and disrupting family life with… Read more »
Panic attacks are increasingly common. They are also treatable and you can make a full recovery and never have another one. Whilst they can be very frightening they are not dangerous. Some of the things you may experience can be scary but remember these will pass. Panic attack symptoms include: racing heart sweaty hands breathing… Read more »
Often, when you have suicidal thoughts, you can think “I am alone.” We absolutely recognise how difficult things may be for you at the moment, and you may feel that things will never change, that you can’t tell anyone one what’s going on inside or that it all feels too much to manage. Please remember… Read more »
Our kids may be expressing sadness about lots of things at the moment, in lots of different ways – through anger, clinginess, regression… So how do we help them process their sadness and turn it into hope? In the below video, Caroline (our Clinical Superviser) talks about the power of a promise jar… If your… Read more »
Mindfulness is a great way of understanding and processing our emotions, particularly in times of high pressure, change and intensity – like this Covid-19 pandemic. These resources are a collection of recommendations from our counsellors, trustees and you! If you have a resource you would like to recommend, please get in touch with us on… Read more »
