THE FAMILY WELLBEING TEAM
We offer support in a variety of ways to children, young people and their families across Luton and Bedfordshire.
Children experience the pain of loss just as much as adults, although their reactions will depend on their age, maturity and understanding of events. Adults often try to protect children from the pain of the loss, perhaps feeling that they are too young to understand, or that talking about the loss will be too distressing. However, our experience in supporting families has shown that it can be more helpful to talk to children, whilst remembering the following:
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Be age appropriate
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Be sensitive
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Be honest
Experience has shown us that children can gain a great deal from meeting others of their own age who have had similar experiences and, if given the chance to understand events and to express their own feelings, they can learn to adjust to their loss.
What Interventions Do We Offer?
Guided Self-Help Intervention
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Anxiety (Parents) – Delivered to parents with children aged 11 years and under. This intervention uses the manual “Helping your Child with Fears and Worries” by Cathy Creswell and Lucy Willetts. The aim of this intervention is to provide parents with anxiety management strategies to support their child. Up to 8 sessions.
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Behaviour (Younger Children) – Delivered to parents with children aged 7 years and under. This intervention provides strategies and techniques designed to promote positive behaviour in your children. Up to 7 sessions.
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Anxiety (Teenagers) – Delivered to children and young people aged 12+ years. This intervention uses Guided Self Help to provide the young person with anxiety management techniques and strategies to help manage difficulties with anxiety.
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Low Mood (Teenagers) – Delivered to young people aged 13+ years. This intervention uses Behavioural Activation to help provide strategies and techniques to help with low mood.
Getting Support Intervention
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Anxiety Group – This 4-week programme is delivered to children aged 8-12 years and their parent(s). The child and their parent/ carer attend the group together and spend time in separate rooms learning strategies and techniques to help with anxiety.
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Anxiety Workshop – One-off session for parents of children under the age of 8 years who struggle with anxiety. The parent will learn some techniques to help manage their child’s anxiety. The focus of the workshop is on emotional regulation and anxiety management strategies and techniques.
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Behaviour Workshop – One-off session for parents of children under the age of 8 years who struggle with difficult behaviour. The focus of the workshop is on emotional regulation and working on parenting techniques to help promote positive behaviour.
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Self Esteem Group
Getting Advice Workshops
The CHUMS Family Wellbeing Team is offering a series of one-off psychoeducation “Getting Advice” workshops around sleep difficulties, resiliency, and school transitions. These workshops are available throughout the year (see dates below).
These workshops are designed as an introduction to each individual topic along with some practical advice, techniques, and strategies to help with the topic being discussed. The workshops are not designed for families who have previously accessed mental health services looking for further support but can be useful as a recap if felt necessary.
Please see below for more information of the getting advice workshops we offer. If one of these workshops sound like something you would like to attend, please complete the registration form in the below link along with your preferred date of attendance.
IMPORTANT: THESE WORKSHOPS ARE DESIGNED AS A STARTING POINT FOR FAMILIES WHO HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY ACCESSED SUPPORT FROM MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
If you are concerned that your child’s problem is causing a moderate/severe impact on their life, then these series of workshops are unlikely to address your concerns and we would recommend making a CHUMS/CAMHS referral by clicking here http://chums.uk.com/bedfordshire-and-luton-referral-forms/.
Equally these workshops will not address queries or difficulties in relation to risky behaviour (e.g., self-harm, suicide ideation).
PLEASE NOTE: CHUMS is not an urgent response service. For urgent support with physical or mental health issues, please contact your GP or call NHS 24 Hour Crisis Line on 111 – Option 2.
CHUMS Offer Bereavement Support Through:
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Bereavement Groups for Parents/Carers, Children and Young People
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1:1 Bereavement Support
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Parent/Carer Psycho-education Workshops
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Ongoing Monthly Bereavement Groups – for Parents/Carers, Children and Young People
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Telephone Advice and Guidance
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Bereavement Literature
