Absolutely, we welcome any children or young people living in the local area who have additional needs that impact their everyday activities. We accept referrals from anyone who has discussed the referral with and gained consent from the child’s primary caregiver.
If the therapist feels that your child would benefit from another service that is offered by Growing Hope, they will refer you directly to the appropriate therapist. If a referral outside of Growing Hope is needed, you will be asked to take your child’s report and recommendations to your GP.
If your referral has been accepted, you will receive an email from us with confirmation and with information either about our waiting list process or with an appointment date and time for your child’s assessment.
We will try to process your child’s referral within one working week. If you have not heard from us after this time, please contact us.
Unfortunately no, Growing Hope therapists don’t visit children’s schools as part of therapy. It is really important to Growing Hope that each child’s parent or carer is involved in the therapy sessions in order that they have strategies to continue at home.
Unfortunately, no. In order that Growing Hope can help as many children and young people and their families as possible we are a clinic-based service. This means we can see more children each day.
Yes, you can bring your child’s sibling to their appointment. However, the therapist will expect you to be able to actively participate in the session so that you can learn strategies to take home with you. If your child’s sibling will prevent you from being able to participate in the session, please arrange for alternative childcare.
Yes, our therapists will always offer to pray for you and your child each session as we believe that Jesus brings hope into everyone’s lives. You are very welcome to say no if you do not want prayer at any point. We want all the families who attend Growing Hope clinics to feel welcome and comfortable; if you feel uncomfortable at any point, please let the therapist know.
Following assessment, you will receive a short report of the findings. If your child or young person receives a block of intervention, you will be given a brief summary of the progress they have made with their therapy goals.
Yes, children are able to be re-referred to the service if they have new or ongoing areas of difficulty that still need to be addressed. Growing Hope’s policy is that there must be a six-week gap between the end of the last therapy block and the re-referral.
You do not need to bring anything specific to be able to participate in church. However, if your child needs or uses the following it might be helpful to bring these: A fidget toy if this helps your child focus Pads and a change of clothes if your child needs support for personal care A snack if this will help your child remain regulated When you arrive at church please do find the Clinic Manager who you have been working with at Growing Hope and they will make sure your child or young person receives the support they need and that you receive a warm welcome.
You can wear anything you like to church. Most people will wear everyday, casual clothing.
Yes, you can go along to any church service whenever you would like without prior arrangement. If you would like information about the times and locations of services at a local church, please ask the Clinic Manager at the Growing Hope clinic.
Absolutely; churches often have visitors who are not Christians. Anyone is welcome to go along to a church service and see what it is like. You do not have to participate in anything that you do not want to.
Occupational therapy helps with everyday activities that a child participates in, whether that is washing, dressing, eating, playing, handwriting or something else. Occupational therapists look to see if there’s anything that a child finds difficult and then at how they can help to make it easier. They see both children with diagnosed needs and significant disabilities, and those with undiagnosed needs and general concerns about coordination.
Growing Hope is unable to provide large pieces of equipment such as seating, wheelchairs and bathing equipment for use at home. We will be able to recommend small pieces of equipment (such as pencil grips, wobble cushions and gym balls). If you are unable to afford these, please speak to your therapist; Growing Hope may be able to provide this equipment for you.
Occupational therapy intervention involves working on goals that have been set by the child with the help of their parent or carer and therapist. Sessions will always be play-based and will give the opportunity to improve underlying skills – such as posture, strength, dexterity – as well as to practise activities that a child is requires assistance with, such as using scissors, forming a better pencil grasp, or being able to sit at a table.
An occupational therapy assessment aims to look at the functional areas that a child or young person is finding difficult. This will involve discussion with the parent or carer and the child or young person, some observation of play, writing, scissor-skills and similar tasks, and sometimes a standardised assessment. Where standardised assessments are used, they enable the occupational therapist to look at the child or young person’s level of functioning in relation to age norms. This can provide others with a clear picture of where an individual may be struggling.
If we are worried about something or struggling with how we are feeling in some way then it can become difficult to cope with most other aspects of our daily lives. Counselling sessions offer an opportunity to think about how we are feeling and how best to understand and cope with those feelings, with someone who is completely separate from our family or school. We normally do this through playing, chatting, drawing and writing.
Unless there is a safeguarding concern, what your child shares within their session is confidential to them and to the professionals involved. This means that what is shared with you as a parent needs to be with permission from the child.
We do not tend to write a counselling report, but will offer a follow-up session at the end of your child’s block of counselling to go over broad themes of sessions and to think about how to support your child going forward. There is also the chance to speak for 5-10 minutes at the end of each counselling session.
The majority of counselling sessions are done with just the counsellor and child in the room, but for the last 5-10 minutes of the session you are welcome to come and hear from your child about what we have thought about that day.
Each session lasts for around 45 minutes.
An assessment session is an opportunity to talk with a counsellor about the details of your child’s difficulties. You do not need to bring anything to the session.
We will normally offer an initial assessment session, usually with just the parent(s). Following this, if we feel our service is appropriate, we will usually offer 5-6 sessions for your child with a final follow-up session for the parent(s). If we don’t feel we can meet your need then we will do our best to signpost you to somewhere that we think would be helpful for you.
Counselling sessions take place online and so are more suited to older children.
Art Therapy can support children/families explore and learn to express their emotions effectively, experience a positive therapeutic base/relationship, develop a deeper sense of self and self-esteem, work on sensory integration and developing resilience and work on safe coping strategies.
AT is a place for children/families to come and express themselves through the artmaking, play and exploring various art materials. This work is based on a safe therapeutic relationship and the client/s can use the materials to express themselves, which is particularly helpful for those who struggle to verbally express themselves. The client/s can decide what they would like to use and the therapist follows the process, working with what the client/s decides to bring up. Goal-based and short-term work is also possible with Art Therapy.
The Art Therapist would spend some time with the client/s getting to know their goals and interests and discussing whether this service is something that they are interested in. It is an opportunity to see if the artmaking is of interest and what the client/s would like to see happen in the following sessions.
There is no need to be artistic to use the service and it is open to all. Any mark making and exploring various materials is part of the work, particularly helpful in describing different life experiences.
Speech and language therapy helps children and young people with their communication skills, so that they are able to understand other people better and clearly communicate their own thoughts and ideas to others.
Speech and language therapy intervention involves working on goals that have been set by the child or young person, with help from their parent or carer and therapist. Sessions will often be play-based and involved games and structured activities that provide opportunities to develop communication skills.
A speech and language therapy assessment aims to look at a range of different areas of communication, including attention and listening, understanding and expression, social communication and interaction skills. It will involve discussion with the child or young person and their parent or carer. It will also involve some observation of play and interaction with others, as well as some structured activities and sometimes a standardised assessment (e.g. looking at pictures and responding to questions). This information will help to show which areas of communication are having an impact on everyday life. It can also help you understand your child’s difficulties with communication and find the right support.
A Music Therapy session will generally involve songs used each week to start and end the therapy and then time in between for free musical play. Here your child and the therapist will use instruments to improvise, providing space for expression and opportunity to work towards individualised goals.
Music therapy is not a music lesson – your child will have opportunity to play instruments and explore musical sound but will not directly learn how to play specific instruments.
Music therapy assessment involves providing opportunity to see if your child responds positively to music and is interested in engaging with the therapist and instruments provided.
Goals for each young person will be tailored to their needs but in all cases, the therapist aims to provide an environment in which a relationship can develop between herself and the young person through the use of shared improvised music and sound as an interactive and communicative medium. This music reflects and communicates the young person’s inner feelings without the need for words, enabling them to express emotions in a safe environment. There is also chance to work towards goals such as: prolonging attention span, exploring interaction and supporting meaningful play with others.
Growing Hope is a registered charity in England and Wales, number: 1176358
info@growinghope.org.uk | 07519 965200 | Growing Hope, 390 Caledonian Road, London, N1 1DN | Find the location of your local clinic here.
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