Íø±¬ÃÅ

A motion passed by Íø±¬ÃÅ members at last year’s AGM highlighted the complex interplay between psychological needs and life challenges that create barriers to parents accessing therapy and the benefits to children of having psychologically healthy caregivers. In this blog, Hannah Easton and Laura Whitaker detail how Leeds-based Íø±¬ÃÅ-accredited service Barca delivers a bespoke counselling service for parents that recognises and responds to the difficulties many parents face in getting the support they need.ÌýÌý

Founded in 1994, has grown to be one of West Leeds’ leading and biggest charities, offering a range of support services for children, young people, adults and families in the communities we serve.ÌýÌý

Through our impact data, community engagement and feedback from clients, we recognised that often parents were missing out on the opportunity to access services that weren’t flexible in responding to fluctuating engagement patterns and the ability to commit to regular appointment patterns. Parents were telling us that they wanted a safe space to talk but options in the local community were limited and often restricted to a CBT therapeutic approach, which could not be tailored to their individual needs or uncertain availability to attend.Ìý

So, in 2021 we set up Barca’s ‘Rediscover’ counselling service for parents. Underpinning the service’s 12-session model were some core guiding principles:Ìý

• holistic support creates protective factors – by supporting the family, you support the child for life
• the importance of trust and relationship – parents/carers saw their child form trusted relationships with Barca and therefore were able to build their own trusting relationships with usÌý
• we understand the impact of fear and shame.Ìý

The Wellbeing Wheel was chosen as our outcome measure, as it enables us to explore impact across everyday domains of life such as housing, health, employability, finance and healthy relationships. It also meant we could support self-reflection skills and goal setting by using pre and post-intervention scoring. Sessions are offered free of charge. Whilst we recognised the potential benefits and challenges of offering a free service, we made our decision as many of our clients don’t have the funds to pay. For those who need support with travel costs, we are also able to provide some bus passes.Ìý

Most parents/carers need a service which can look beyond a diagnosis or challenging life circumstances. The majority of the people referred have multiple ACEs so we are clear from assessment that we work within our limitations, and are not offering a trauma treatment process. Our counsellors do bring a range of modalities, which enabled us to tailor our support to parents and create a safe space where they could talk, explore their experiences, ask questions, and reflect on what they want for themselves.  Parents share that this brings back their identity as a person and provides a life raft that supports them towards where they want to go.Ìý

We can experience some ‘not able to attend the session’. Often our parents/carers had sole custody of their children, meaning if they were poorly or had a school meeting, as parents they had competing demands. We don’t replace missed sessions, however, missed sessions did not mean people were excluded from the service. We were in contact to help unpick obstacles for attending e.g. anxiety, competing demands or financial constraints. If the parent/carer accepted our contact or preferably contacted us themselves, we continued with their session offer. Parents/carers experiencing choice and control is an important principle of our service.

Rediscover continues to be an invaluable part of our community offer to children, young people, and families.ÌýÌý