Latest news

New counselling venues in Mansfield and Worksop

We’ve switched our Mansfield and Worksop services to new homes. Both offer the very best environment for confidential relationships counselling.

First off, in Mansfield we can now be found in the Sherwood Therapy Centre at 22, Woodhouse Road. Here, our counselling team is working alongside colleagues from Sherwood Community Counselling Services.

You can ring the Mansfield service direct on 01623-636553, or use our centralised booking service on 0115-9507836.

Over in Worksop, we’ve moved into The Crossing Church and Centre in Newcastle Street. It’s modern, spacious, welcoming -- and has become the focal point for 60 community groups who meet regularly.

Relate counsellor Clive Street, who operates the Worksop service, says: “The centre is just the ticket! It has excellent facilities for confidential counselling sessions.”

Relate provides counselling sessions at The Crossing centre on Wednesday evenings. Appointments can be made on 0115-9507836, or by calling 01623- 636553.

↑ 08/07/2009

Grant recognises our Relate2You success

The success of our community-based scheme offering support for families in Nottingham’s inner-city areas has been acknowledged by a Government department, which has made us a £123,000 grant to cover costs for two years.

The project focuses on parents, families and young people at inner-city schools and children’s centres, providing counselling services, group work, support and training programmes.

After a pioneering 18-month pilot scheme – at Southglade Children’s Centre, Bestwood, the Jesse Boot Primary School, Bakersfield, and Ellis Guildford Second School, Basford – parenting support services have been extended to cover nine city sites.

Our achievement has been not only in providing excellent traditional counselling but in building more informal support groups where parents and friends can drop in for coffee and a chat.

Relate director says: “Relate2You has been a turning point in the lives of some local families. We’ve learned a lot about getting through to parents in socially-deprived areas who in the past have been much harder to reach.

“ A lot of our success is down to building trust within the community – getting our counsellors known and respected.”

↑ 03/06/2009

Celeb tragedies hold a mirror to life

Thousands of Nottingham people see their own crises reflected in the impact of grave disability or illness on the lives of famous personalities when they are spotlighted in the media.

“They face the same struggle and share the same anguish,” says Relate director Bridget Gilliatt. “They recognise the bravery needed to cope with life-changing situations and their affect on relationships across entire families.

“A significant and highly-valued part of our day-to-day counselling involves helping people to manage relationships through what can be lonely times, when the pressure sometimes spans months and years.

“We try to help them come to terms with what’s happening, to be realistic in their expectations and to safeguard the relationships between those nearest to them.

“A confidential session with a trained counsellor also gives people the chance to say the unsayable – to get any guilty out of their systems. We can provide a safety valve.”

↑ 03/06/2009

Giving young people a voice

Our Relate service aimed at giving eleven to nineteen-year-olds their own voice as they try to deal with relationships problems has been extended to Newark. It is already available at our Nottingham and Mansfield offices.

This specialised counselling gives young people a space where they can be listened to and understood. It builds confidence and self-respect and helps them find a way out of their difficulties.

Relate training manager Marion Ashton says: “Young people don’t always have a voice because of conflict at home, where parents and other relatives are pre-occupied with what’s happening in their own lives.

“But this service is not just about helping young people to handle the break-up of parental relationships. They may be struggling with emotional issues of their own.”

↑ 03/06/2009

Don’t let cash and job worries ruin your relationships

At a time of economic recession, Relate emphasises a key message: It’s not just financial well-being that’s under threat.

Couples and families need to recognise that money and job worries can damage and even destroy relationships as well.

There’s plenty of evidence of the impact of economic problems, not just on relationships that are already struggling but on couples whose lives together have so far been cushioned by the good times.

People are often tempted to turn to friends or relatives for advice. But however well-intentioned, the people we know best can struggle to stay objective when they are dragged into discussing relationships and are more likely to impose their own views.

It’s better to talk in confidence to a Relate-trained counsellor because they are:

• Sympathetic, but skilled in putting their own views to one side and listening in a detached way.

• Patient and won’t rush you – they give you time to talk.

• Fully focused on your problem and ready to explore the background to what’s happened.

• Ready to help you recognise and come to terms with what has changed in your relationships and the part you yourself have played in it.

↑ 03/06/2009

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