Telephone and video sessions (e.g. Zoom or Skype) are available
The Balint Consultancy can offer therapeutic consultations for parents and older adolescents. Adolescents often wish for a chance to speak in confidence about their concerns particularly in the context of family challenges such as divorce and separation.
We also offer expertise and advice to parents who are worried about their child’s behaviour or wellbeing.
Parents can find it helpful to have space to think about their child’s specific difficulties and whether psychotherapeutic or psychiatric treatment is needed. Sometimes a child’s behaviour can be understood as a communication about wider difficulties and we offer a thinking space to help make sense of what might previously have seemed random or rebellious behaviour.
Difficulties between couples can express themselves via conflicts over parenting, or worries about children’s behaviour and family issues may be expressed as tension within the couple or co-parents. Relationships between parents and children can often get out of step or derailed, particularly coming into adolescence, despite the love that parents feel, leaving both parties hurt and lonely. Repairing relationships between parental couples and between children and parents can bring huge positive shifts.
We can also offer sessions for the whole family to come together and find ways to communicate about circumstances that are causing problems. Often people do not notice destructive patterns that have been set up over the years, between parents about the best way to manage their children, sibling rivalries, and family myths and secrets which shape dynamics, often at an unspoken level. Sometimes just opening up conversations about these hard to talk about issues can be a huge relief to everyone.