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Changing Lives through Changing Minds CIC
The aim of the provision is to provide a therapeutic, alternative education service to children and young people who have difficulties in, or are disengaged from, mainstream education due to mental health difficulties, or have an identified therapeutic need. The service identifies and works to resolve underlying psychological and emotional difficulties that impact on education. Our project also provides 1:1/group therapy/counselling support to children, young people and families.
Our project offers a wide range of therapeutic interventions to overcome mental health difficulties, our unique offer enables us to provide Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning. Our Interventions are tailored to meet the individual needs of children and young people and vulnerable adults, parents and carers to increase resilience, improve emotional health and wellbeing, reduce vulnerabilities and prevent abuse and exploitation.
How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?
As a therapeutic/counselling support service we contribute to reducing suicide and improving support for those bereaved or affected by suicide by understanding, listening, empathising and responding our service users individual’s needs. We hold and promote positive activities, increasing self-worth and self-esteem aiming to give them a sense of belonging, increasing opportunities to lead a more stable and secure life.
The referral and assessment process ensure the service users voice is heard throughout, we check out what they understand about our project and why they believe they have been referred. We wonder what they would like to be different and goals they may have. We use therapeutic skills to explore what lies beneath their behaviour and advocate / drive / challenge on their behalf.
Our therapeutic support work includes:
• Communication
• Relationships
• Self-harm
• Anxiety/stress and depression
• Bereavement, loss and grief
• Trauma and abuse
• Bullying and peer relationships
• Family difficulties
• Sex and relationships, including Child Sexual Exploitation
• Body Image, sexuality, health and hygiene
• Disability and additional health needs
• Anger and self-regulation
Our Therapy Interventions Include, but not limited to:
• Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning (EAP/L)
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Trauma Focused Interventions; Including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Therapeutic Play
• Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
• Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
• Person Centred Counselling
• Group therapy; Including Wellness, Recovery, Action Planning (WRAP)
• Creative therapies
• Psychoeducation; Stress Management, Relaxation, Self-Regulation, Education / Normalisation, Development of skills, strategies and techniques
• Filial Therapy
The aim of this is to enable service users build on their emotional intelligence and resilience, improving emotional health and well-being. Key Service Outcomes include:
• Service user’s recognise and fulfil their potential
• Increase resilience and protective factors
• Service user’s feel safe and are safe
• To contribute towards placement/family security/stability
• Improve services users’ educational attendance, attainment and employability
• To improve emotional health and wellbeing
• Aftercare Plan
What are your current priorities?
Current priorities include:
• Assess and tailor approaches to improve mental health.
• Multi-agency working and collaboration to ensure peoples needs and fully met.
• Provide resources and strategies to those at risk of suicide and provide support for families as a whole.
• Proactive approach to speaking openly and freely about self-harm and suicide to reduce stigma, shame and increase awareness.
• Respond to peoples needs in a timely way, ensuring people receive a service when they need it the most.
What challenges are you currently facing?
As a Community Interest Company (not for profit) one of our biggest challenges is funding. At present we are rely on commissioning, donations or self-funded interventions to provide services to our service users. This is a challenge as some referrals we receive we may not be able to provide a service due to funding not being available.