|
RELATE (National Marriage Guidance
Council)
Herbert Gray College
Little Church Street
Rugby
Warwicks CV21 3AP
Tel. 0788 73241/60811
The London Marriage Guidance
Council
76a New Cavendish Street
London W1M 7LB
Tel. 01-580 1087
RELATE offers counseling on all aspects of marital problems, either
at headquarters or local counseling centers, to individuals, couples
or groups. Individuals and couples will see their counsel-for for 1
hour every week for as long as helpful, and are asked to contribute
what they can afford towards the cost of maintaining the service. A
special sex therapy advisory service is also available. Group
counseling may be especially helpful for clients who would like to
explore and share their difficulties in a group setting: groups of
up to eight clients, with two group leaders, meet for a fixed series
of thirty 1 1/2-hour sessions over a year, charges being
individually negotiated. Potential group members are offered an
initial assessment interview. Contact the Council direct or by
referral.
Family Welfare Association
501 Kingsland Road
London E8
Tel. 01-254 6251
The Association deals with all stress issues relating to the
individual and the family unit, and will refer callers to its local
offices in their area where they can benefit from counseling,
GP-related schemes and other social services and special projects.
The Tavistock Institute of Marital
Studies
120 Belsize Lane
London NW3 5BA
Tel. 01-435 7111
The Institute maintains three principal activities, all of which
closely support and inform each other: psychotherapy for couples;
training and consultation for practitioners and managers, with a
two-year diploma course in marital psychotherapy; and research and
service development. The therapy offered to couples aims to help
them discover and implement their own choices. There is an initial
consultation, and two therapists are normally assigned to each
couple, with partners seen together and separately in regular weekly
sessions of 1 hour. There is also a special consultation service
available to individuals whose partners are unable or unwilling to
attend. Negotiable fees are based on client's financial
circumstances and the cost of providing the service. The Institute’s
services are in great demand and there is a waiting list, but there
is a special consulting service for couples in urgent distress.
National Family Conciliation
Council
Shaftesbury Centre
Percy Street
Swindon SN2 2AZ
Tel. 0793 514055
The Council's primary aim is to help couples involved in the process
of separation and divorce to reach agreements, or reduce the area or
intensity of conflict between them, especially on disputes
concerning their children, in both the short and the long term. The
service the Council provides can do much to ease the stress of
confusion, conflict and lack of communication which often surrounds
the breakdown of a marriage and may be intensified by legal
proceedings, with adverse effects that may last for many years. The
Council encourages couples to meet on neutral ground, with the help
of trained conciliators, to explore possibilities of reaching joint
decisions that will in particular help them to maintain their joint
responsibility as parents and involvement in their children’s
welfare.
CRUSE
Cruse House
126 Sheen Road
Richmond
Surrey TW9 1UR
Tel. 01-940 4818
Cruse - whose name comes from the Biblical story of the widow’s
cruse - offers help to all bereaved people, either through links
with its headquarters, or local Cruse branches. Its services include
counseling, advice and information on practical matters, and
opportunities for contact with others in similar situations. There
is a Contact List for national members who are widowed and would
like to contact other widows and widowers, and regular social
meetings are held in the branches.
Exploring Parenthood
41 North Road
London N7 9DP
Tel. 01-607 9647
A national advice and counseling service for parents, which aims to
help them find their own way of coping more confidently with the
stresses and strains of family life. Easy access to family
therapists and counselors is provided through a telephone advice
line and day workshops, where parents can explore their difficulties
together with other parents facing similar problems, led by
professional counselors and therapists. Courses are arranged to
provide instruction for parent support-group leaders and in-service
training for professionals: health visitors, teachers, nursery
workers, and so on. It also runs workshops and support groups in a
one-parent family program.
Working Mothers’ Association
77 Holloway Road
London N7 8JZ
Tel. 01-700 5771
Through a network of local groups, the Association provides an
informal support system for working mothers, assisting parents to
make the best choices available in childcare, and offering advice
and information to all who combine parenthood with another
occupation. The Working Mothers’ groups are set up, run and funded
independently on a volunteer basis and offer moral support, regular
meetings - special 'back-to-work' meetings are held for new or
prospective working mothers - and a telephone counseling service.
Some have a nanny-sharing register and an emergency register of
child-carers or mothers willing to look after an extra child in case
of illness.
National Stepfamily Association
162 Tenison Road
Cambridge CB1 2DP
Tel. 0223 460312
The Association helps with all aspects of being in a stepfamily
unit. Members are put in touch with local self-help groups and are
advised on how to set one up. Mailing lists of relevant literature,
and a national list of specialist family therapists, are available.
Members receive a quarterly newsletter and free copies of booklets
and leaflets. The Association offers a number of specialist
publications designed to help different step-family members, on
subjects such as preparing for step-parenthood, teenagers in
stepfamilies, becoming a step-grandparent, all stressing the special
challenges of being in a step-family and advising on how to cope. A
most important feature of the Association’s work is the counseling
service it provides: most of the counselors are themselves members
of step-families, some are professional family therapists, some
specially trained telephone counselors. Step-families with stress
problems may be seen individually or in a group. The Stepfamily
Telephone Counseling Service, which is free and confidential,
answers callers’ needs (adults and children) at moments of crisis,
stress or worry. It will refer callers if required for on-going
further counseling in local step-family self-help groups.
Gingerbread
35 Wellington Street
London WC2E 7BN
Tel. 01-240 0953
This registered charity for single-parent families has a nationwide
network of 300 affiliated self-help groups, offering advice, shared
experiences, social contact and joint activities.
National Council for One-Parent
Families
255 Kentish Town Road
London NW5 2LX
Tel. 01-267 1361
Provides free advice on all aspects of single-parenting, including
legal advice on such matters as custody and maintenance, social
security, tax, and housing. It lobbies for a fairer deal for single
parents.
OPUS (Organization for Parents
Under Stress)
106 Godstone Road
Whyteleafe
CR3 0EB
Tel. 01-645 0469
Aims to help and support parents with problems through a national
network of 25 groups offering a telephone helpline service run by
volunteer parents who have experienced stress. Callers may remain
anonymous if they wish. Some groups offer further services as well,
but the initial contact is always by telephone.
Homestart Consultancy
140 New Walk
Leicester LE1 7JL
Tel. 0533 554988
Local Homestart schemes on a nationwide basis provide support,
friendship and practical help to parents of under-5s.
|