Time to Listen is a Not for Profit Counselling and Theraputic service

We are a not for profit organisation trying to raise money in order to provide counselling and therapy to people who may not be able to afford it, this ensures all clients receive the help and support they not only deserve but need.

Not all clients can afford counselling sessions and we understand this therefore by donating you could provide an individual or even a family with the tools necessary to live a happy, healthy life.

Triple 10K in Lily's name!

The Founder/Director Gail Thornton is currently completing the Triple 10K with a heavy heart after the devastating loss of Lily (Gails dog and TTL's beloved therapy dog). She is now hoping to raise more donations in Lilys name to fund free counselling sessions for clients.

The Triple 10K consists of Gail running The Burton Constable (done), The York 10K (done) and The Leeds 10K (5th September).

This page was initially set up because of our sponsored bike, we had a couple employees participating for this - each of the Time to Listen employee's who took part had to bike from South Port to Hornsea which is 150miles! Gail (Director of Time To Listen) did however clock up the miles through her passion of running!

We hope that with you're help we can raise as much money as possible to provide this life changing opportunity to those children, teens, adults and families.

Would you donate to you help remould an innocent child, a struggling family or provide one person with the support they need to make it through their current barriers and hand them a lifeline ticket to fight for the well-being and good-spirited life they ARE worthy of!

Please donate to our page and you could help a vulnerable person receive the support they need, could you be their HERO!

we happily accept donations, the minimum donation is £3.00

Want to know more about us? visit our website:Time To Listen

or keep reading:

Time to Listen is here to help you talk about your feelings, thoughts and troubles and help you make good choices for yourself. Your counsellor will listen to you in a way that does not judge you. They will not take sides or tell you what to do. If you come to see them on your own they will not go straight to your parents or guardian and tell them what you have said. Sometimes it is hard to talk about your worries so they can find different ways to help you explore what life is like for you at the moment. They can help you to make your own choices and decisions. Counselling is about understanding, acceptance, support, choice and change.

Once we know that you need help, either because your parents have contacted us, or someone else, such as your school, we will make an appointment for you to see one of our special counsellors quickly, usually within 10 working days. If you are going to come with your parents, we may see them first to help them understand what they will need to do in the session in order to help you better.

Meeting your Counsellor - When you first meet your counsellor they will explain what counselling is all about, what they will and won’t tell others, ask you what you would like to get from coming to see them, what goals you would like to have reached when you finish therapy. All this the counsellor will do in a kind, understanding, non-judgemental and accepting way. Usually you will see your counsellor every week for about 50 minutes, at the same time on the same day for an agreed number of times.

Choice of Counsellor - Occasionally the first counsellor that you meet may not feel right for you and it is important that you tell us as quickly as possible so that we can find another counsellor who will suit you better. If you can’t tell us then please tell your parent or guardian so they can let us know. Please don’t think you will be in trouble as it is really important that you like the counsellor and feel that you can learn to trust them if they are going to help you talk about your feelings and maybe reach your goals.

End of Therapy - At the end of your time with your counsellor they will ask you to fill out a form about how much you think the therapy has helped you. You will also be asked to tell us what you have and haven’t liked about coming to see your counsellor and if you have any ideas that would make it better. Your answers will help us to know if we are doing a good job and hopefully give us some good ideas on how to make things even better. This information will be shared with people who check up on us to make sure we are doing the best we can for you.

What Drives Us

Behavioural and emotional difficulties have a profound effect on the educational attainment of children and young people, their ability to form secure attachments and not to mention their self-esteem, self-confidence and self-belief. Experiencing difficulties affects concentration, attention, ability to follow instruction, memory loss, lack of empathy and the inability to form relationships to name but a few. This leads to detentions, exclusions and young people being more likely to leave school with poor, if any, academic achievements. In addition, when our mental and emotional wellbeing is compromised it affects our immune system and increases the chances of suffering from anxiety and depression. In turn this may lead to ill health, inactivity and often a withdrawal from society.

The children of today are the adults of tomorrow and require our full support, understanding and investment if they are going to be in any position to take on the responsibility for the next generation. Unfortunately, over the last few years, due to the Government funding cuts, financial investment has not only been reduced in Hull it has been cut from many vital children and young peoples’ services leaving a huge void, which is proving difficult to fill. In addition, there is a tendency to pathologise the child or young person who is demonstrating emotional or behavioural difficulties. The focus being on “What is wrong with them” rather than asking, “What has happened to them”. When this happens they are assigned a label, which in some cases is not only misleading but can also follow them for the rest of their lives. By investing in early intervention there can be huge financial savings in terms of personal, public spending and the cost to the taxpayer, but more significantly a huge investment in the 'Adults of Tomorrow'.

Mission Statement

Improve the mental health and wellbeing of Children, Young People and Families by providing a range of Person-Centred therapeutic interventions that are respectful of and responsive to their preferences, needs and values in order to help achieve positive change.

In relation to children who are not able to live with their birth families we want them to develop in a safe, nurturing and supportive family where their self-esteem and self-confidence can grow strong in order for them to reach their true potential. We will work to help them have a clear understanding of their history and form a positive view of themselves.

Our Core Values are…

Confidential – discrete and committed to maintaining client confidentiality

Accepting – non-judgemental and congruent

Respectful – of our client’s autonomy, their human rights and dignity

Empathic – to identify with our clients and enhance the therapeutic relationship

Objectives:

Provide qualified and experienced psychotherapists/counsellors to work in a person-centred way

Provide a high quality service that meets the needs of the service users

Provide a wide range of therapeutic interventions to meet the needs of children and young people

Promote and improve emotional and mental health for children, young people and families

Maintain and develop a professional workforce in an inspirational and understanding working environment

Maintain services that meet the needs of our clients

To ensure we maintain confidentiality and security of all adoption records and information.

Invest in workforce training to ensure skills reflect the needs of our client base

Provide External Training to relevant agencies on a range of topics to enhance children and young people’s well-being

Work in partnership with other services in the statutory and voluntary sectors

Work to provide any other relevant and related service for which there is a genuine demand and inadequate provision

Keep ourselves informed of all research and good practice in the field of counselling and psychotherapy

With Regards to Adoption Issues

As a service we adhere to the National Minimum Standards (NMS) that are applicable to the provision of adoption services. The principles that underpin these standards are also the same values that all the counsellors and psychotherapists support and abide by as below;-

The child’s welfare, safety and needs are at the centre of the adoption process.

Adopted children should have an enjoyable childhood, and benefit from excellent parenting and education, enjoying a wide range of opportunities to develop their talents and skills leading to a successful adult life.

Children are entitled to grow up as part of a loving family that can meet their developmental needs during childhood and beyond.

Children’s wishes and feelings are important and will be actively sought and fully taken into account at all stages of the adoption process.

A sense of identity is important to a child’s well-being. To help children develop this, their ethnic origin, cultural background, religion, language and sexuality need to be properly recognised and positively valued and promoted.

To work with the whole family network, as we recognise the importance of the support that family and friends provide to the adoptive family.

To work with schools, as we believe sharing knowledge and adopting a joined up approach can help children with trauma and attachment difficulties. By increasing understanding of attachment and learning, we believe schools are better able to provide education in a way that children can access.

To ensure we involve and consult service users in the delivery and development of services.

The particular needs of disabled children and children with complex needs will be fully recognised and taken into account.

Children, birth parents/guardians and families and adoptive parents and families will be valued and respected.

We aim to work closely with local authority adoption and permanency teams to ensure our services remain consistent with their requirements.

A genuine partnership between all those involved in adoption is essential for the NMS to deliver the best outcomes for children; this includes the Government, local government, other statutory agencies, Voluntary Adoption Agencies and Adoption Support Agencies.

Service Provision

Time to Listen specialises in working with children, young people and families, focusing on the development of a therapeutic relationship in order to provide a “secure base” to promote safe self-exploration. As we know one way of working does not fit all therefore from this “secure base” the psychotherapists/counsellors work in an integrative way to establish, with the client, what the best approach is in order to meet their needs.

The therapeutic service looks to provide a holistic approach to meet the needs of children, young people and families.

Therefore to achieve this we offer;

Humanistic Person-Centred approach providing therapy that is respectful of and responsive to the clients preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that these principles guide all decisions

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (Parent/Guardian and Child)

EMDR Trauma Therapy

Play Therapy

Theraplay

Parent-Child Relationship Therapy

Attachment Focused Therapy

Therapeutic Parenting Courses

Adoption Counselling for children, adults and birth relatives

Therapeutic Life Story Work

Inner Child Therapy

Transactional Analysis Therapy

CBT – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Sand Tray Therapy

Art Therapy

Neuro Linguistic Programming

Emotional Freedom Technique

Hypnotherapy – Groups/Individual

Mindfulness and Relaxation – Groups/Individual

Anger workshops – Groups/Individual

Clinical Supervision

Training and advice for schools regarding attachment, trauma and learning

Specialist training for professionals, adopters and carers

All our psychotherapists/counsellors are qualified experienced professionals who specialise in working with children and young people. They will either be BACP Accredited or equivalent or working towards Accreditation and have enhanced disclosures from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We Work With the Following Issues;

Abusive/Neglectful experiences resulting in Debilitating Behaviour

Attachment Issues including Abandonment, Loss, Rejection and Bereavement

Domestic Violence

Sexual, Emotional and Physical abuse

Rape

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Anger

Sexually Harmful Behaviour

Self-harm including Suicidal Intentions

Eating Disorders

Extreme Dysfunctional Behaviour

Placement Breakdown

Anxiety and Depression

Low Self-confidence/Self-esteem

Identity/Body Image

We also offer Specialist Training/Workshops on the following issues;

Neuroscience, Brain Development and Attachment

Understanding and Working With Self-harm

Understanding and Working with Anger

Self-Compassion rather than Self-Esteem

Developing a Therapeutic Relationship

Positive Parenting Skills

Basic Counselling Skills

Adoption and Attachment-Healing the Primal Wound

CPD Self Development using Creativity

Bespoke packages around Attachment & Emotional Health and Wellbeing

Services to be Provided

Our main priority is to be able to provide counselling and therapeutic services to children, young people and families where the issue relates to adoption. We also provide support to families, where a child has been or is due to be adopted, around attachment focused parenting to assist in the development of a secure attachment for all parties. Support will also be provided in situations involving disruption or potential placement breakdown. This may also involve training for the parents and extended family in order to meet the needs of the child.

We also provide support and training to adoption agencies and local authorities due to our expertise in both attachment issues and training.