Simply call us on 0208 890 3133 or use our contact form.
You will receive a call from Fran, our Director within 3 days of your initial enquiry. The call will last approximately thirty minutes, and there is no charge for this initial discussion call.
The main aim of this initial call is to give you the opportunity to explore how play therapy or counselling might be a supportive experience for your child and/or family and how we can help you improve the wellbeing of your child.
If you would like to work with us, we will begin to arrange the sessions. We hold our appointments after school and at weekends as we believe it’s important that the session(s) should not impact on your child’s education.
We offer 16 individual sessions. Usually, young people only need to access around 8 to 10 sessions, while children often attend all 16 sessions.
Children up to the age of 13 are offered 40-minute sessions and those over 13 years of age are offered 50-minute sessions.
Yes, if your child is under the age of 14 years, an adult needs to attend the initial appointment. The adult attending does not need to be a parent, as long as they are over the age of 18 years and we have a signed consent form from the parent to confirm that you give Flourishing Minds consent for your child to leave the centre with the named person.
We understand that you may not have a support system in place to look after any other children whilst your child is having their session, so we have a waiting room with toys and coffee for you and your other child/children while you wait. We do ask that you try to arrange care for your other children for at least the first meeting with the counsellor if possible.
Flourishing Minds is a self-funding service and as such, we receive no funding to provide our services. Our fee is £20 per session. We offer a sliding scale ranging from £12 to £20.
We understand that finances can be difficult, so we also offer a supported fee scheme for those on limited income. If this is the case, we ask for a small contribution of at least £5 to cover our art material costs. If you are able to contribute a higher amount, this would be a great help to support our service.
The discussions in the sessions are largely kept between the child and the counsellor. However, if there are any concerns about your child being at risk of harm by another person, or being at risk of self-harm or suicidal thoughts, we will inform you at once. Your child’s safety is our number one priority.
It is important to us and your child that the therapeutic relationship is somewhere your child feels safe and able to talk about anything that is worrying them. For this reason, what they speak about about will mostly stay within the session.
However, at Flourishing Minds, we also believe it is important that as the parent/primary carer, you are included in the therapeutic process, so your counsellor will invite you into the session every 6 weeks to get updates and feedback about what they are exploring.
If your child is over the age of 14, they are considered able to access counselling in their own right under ‘Gillick competence’. This is a UK term that means a child under the age of 16 is competent to consent to their own medical care, without parental permission. However, the counsellor will make every effort to support the child or young person to tell you what is happening in their lives.
No, counselling and play therapy is a voluntary process that the child must be willing to engage in for it to be effective.
