Warm Connections Counselling

Warm Connections Counselling

Warm Connections Counselling provides individual therapeutic support to families with children and young people aged zero to 15 years. This service offers long-term support to parents, children or young people and aims to strengthen family relationships and improve wellbeing.

The service is:

Child and young person-centred

The service can support families where parents, children or young people may be experiencing social and emotional difficulties that are affecting their well-being and relationships with others around them. In all our work, even when working with parents, we will be considering the impact on the young people in the family. Our counsellors focus on building long-term relationships and understanding our clients to support them through their challenges rather than offering short-term technique-based / strategy-base therapy.

Family context informed

Warm Connections Counselling recognises the importance of family and attachment relationships in shaping the lives of children and young people. We understand that what is happening for one family member may affect others and can offer individual therapy to some or all family members, as appropriate. When considering the family context, we may ask parents to undertake therapy with us before seeing children and our counsellors would have an assessment session with a parent before a child or young person is seen.

Strengths-based and trauma focused

Our counsellors help individuals within the family draw on their collective and individual strengths to work towards positive changes. The service acknowledges that past experiences affect the present and our counsellors are trained in and work with people who have experienced trauma.

Some of the issues Warm Connections Counselling can help address include:

• trauma, including historic family violence or abuse
• feelings of anxiety or depression
• challenges around parenting (including step-parenting/new partnerships
• social and emotional difficulties causing challenges at home, work or school

However, different support may be needed for:

• group or family therapy with the whole family together, including time-limited skills training
• couples counselling
• serious diagnosed mental health conditions
• diagnosing learning difficulties or other neurological difficulties
• social, communication and behavioural learning for children diagnosed with or suspected of having autism spectrum disorder
• mediating family conflict after separation and family situations where child safety is an ongoing concern
• managing ongoing family violence or abuse where safety continues to be at risk
• school academic challenges or difficulties.

Where your needs would be better met by another service, we can provide information and suggestions on an alternative specialist service designed to meet those needs and may offer a short session to explore options.

Warm Connections Counselling offers counselling rooms at locations in Lanyon, Gungahlin, Tuggeranong and Civic.

Warm Connections Counselling is a free service funded through the ACT Government, Community Services Directorate, Child, Youth and Family Services Program.