Strengthening relationships between parents and child in the early years
Being a parent can be overwhelming at times. The Emotional Foundations Project aims to support parents to better understand and meet the emotional needs of their young children aged 0-5.
Who is it for?
The Emotional Foundations Project is for parents who would like to think about their relationship with their baby or young child. Our therapeutic support can help with a range of issues including anxiety, attachment difficulties, postnatal depression, feeding / weaning difficulties, sleep difficulties, the impact of traumatic birth, experiences in NICU/SCBU, separation difficulties, grief, sibling relationships.
We welcome all parents and embrace differing family make up and cultures. We work with lone parents and with parental couples.
How does it work?
Babies and children are observed: their tiny gestures and their play are watched, and we try to make sense of their experience of the world. Together we focus on the child to learn more about how they communicate their feelings, and to find new ways to respond to help them child feel understood. Parents can think about how their own experiences and childhood may influence how they parent.
Therapists help parents recognise their own strengths and abilities, and work to understand any relationship difficulties as well as finding moments of connection and joy.
Referral Process
We accept self-referrals from families and referrals from involved professionals.
Families are matched with volunteer therapist. Your therapist will have or be working towards a qualification as a parent infant psychotherapist, child psychotherapist or adult psychotherapist. They will have specialised knowledge in infant observation and maternal and infant mental health.
Therapy takes the form of regular play-based meetings in person or online and can last from a few weeks to six months.
We do not work with parents who are currently receiving support from the Perinatal Mental Health Team.
The Emotional Foundations Project is being financially supported by The Evelyn Trust.
How to arrange support
You can use one of the buttons below to make a referral. Clicking on the button will take you to one of our online referral forms.