The Parent Book.
Therapist-written support for parents
A quick tipWith a subscription
Explaining Where Mum Is
At six, a child may ask out of the blue where their mum is; give them a short, honest answer.
A two-minute read, three things to try, for ages 5 to 11.
Where to start
Prepare a short, true sentence in advance, pitched at the child’s age. Keep it simple and true: “Mum can’t look after a child at the moment. We love her and we love you.” Offer to come back to the question whenever the child wants. The rest of the tip, and why it works, is in the library.
Sources
Kinship, advice service for kinship-care families; PAC-UK where there is a trauma overlay
It goes with
The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.
Free on this subject
Family stress .What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print. Difficult conversations .What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
The rest of the library
The Parent Book is a library written by therapists: chapters on the situations parents bring to our therapy rooms most often, quick tips for tonight, things to do together, and every sheet to print. One subscription opens all of it, from the day you join.
Subscribe to the library
£129 a year, by Direct Debit.
The Direct Debit is set up now and the first payment is taken on the next collection date. It renews each year on the anniversary of that payment. Change your mind in the first fourteen days and we refund you in full; after that, you can cancel at any time from your account page and read to the end of the year you have paid for.
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The monthly letter
Once a month, a short letter from Kensington Square Therapy about what tends to be on parents’ minds at that point in the year, and what is new in the library. It is free, and you can leave at any time.
If you need help right now
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If you or your child is in immediate danger : 999 If either you or your child is in a mental health crisis : NHS 111 · England, Scotland and Wales: call 111 and choose the mental-health option. Northern Ireland: call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 · 24/7.If your child is under 19 and needs to talk to someone themselves : Childline · 0800 1111 · 24/7 · www.childline.org.uk .If you are worried that a child is being harmed or is at risk : NSPCC Helpline · 0808 800 5000 · Mon-Fri 10am-4pm by phone; email 11am-4pm, seven days a week. An email sent when the service is closed is not received. · email help@nspcc.org.uk · www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/our-services/nspcc-helpline · If the NSPCC service is closed and the concern cannot wait, call the police on 101 . You can also contact the child’s local out-of-hours children’s social care, social work or social services team. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 .If you would prefer to text rather than speak : Shout · Text SHOUT to 85258 · 24/7 · giveusashout.org .If you or someone you are worried about needs someone to talk to : Samaritans · 116 123 · 24/7 · www.samaritans.org .
If you need help right now
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