Helping parents focus on what their children need is an important part of the therapeutic work we do. Parents who come to do a residential assessment are often deeply affected by trauma from their own childhood and lives. This affects their connection with their own children. Gary, who currently works at our residential centre ’46’, tell us some of the techniques he uses when working with parents who struggle with their mental health.

Can you tell us a bit about the playfulness sessions you do?

Parents take part in playfulness sessions there are six sessions in total, these look at all the different types of play that a child will enjoy.

We believe that as adults and parents it is important that we rediscover our playfulness, and this will help us to play better with our children.

Learning to be playful benefits our child and our capacity to support their learning and development. It also helps us to rediscover how play can help us to problem solve, work through experiences and understand our child better.

What is the worry jar, and why does it help parents?

Here at 46, we know that worrying is something that we all do. Our worries can often take our attention away from our child and their care and routine.

Our child needs us to have our mind and attention on them, but how can we do this when we are worrying?

By writing down our worries and putting them in a jar, we create a space in our mind for our child. Once we are finished with our child’s routine and care, we can address the worry in the jar as talking through the worry can help us resolve it.

Can you tell us about the mental health workbook you give to parents?

What we know from experience is that there is still stigma around mental health within our society.

We believe that having a mental health diagnosis does not mean that you cannot be a good enough parent.

We have a mental health workbook, which we give to a parent or partner to help you gain greater understanding of the mental health diagnosis, and how to manage it so that it does not cause problems in your parenting or for the child.

If you have any questions about our services call us on 020 8835 9570 or make a referral to our residential service here