Elizabeth Williams - counselling services

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Helping adults, families and children from difficult beginnings

I specialise in supporting parents and families raising children from difficult beginnings and adults experiencing difficulties due to unresolved childhood issues. This may include (but is certainly not limited to) families formed through adoption, foster care, blended families or where early childhood trauma has been experienced.  I consider parents and carers the experts in their children's lives and assist them to parent in ways that support healing.  Raising a traumatised child or young person, you may also have experienced trauma making the task of parenting even more difficult. In these circumstances seeking help can be extremely beneficial for you and your family. 

General mental health support

I have many years of experience working with children, young people and adults across all areas of mental health.

Why a mental health social worker  
As a mental health social worker, I am trained to recognise how a client isn’t alone in their struggles.  I offer a dual approach to healing; 

the internal - helping clients understand behaviours and coping mechanisms they have developed to manage their environment.

the external - advocating for clients and accessing systems available to them.  If the healing professional only focuses on what’s going on inside, there is a danger of a person feeling alone in their struggles and pain.

Trauma impacts mental, behavioural, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. My practise is guided by a commitment to a number of key therapies and approaches that support relationships;

• attachment theory
• narrative therapy
• dyadic development psychotherapy (Dan Hughes) 
• strengths based practice
• cognitive behavioural therapy
• models of grief and loss

Therapeutic parenting has been proven to help heal wounds experienced in early childhood.  Children who lack secure attachment struggle to understand and build healthy interpersonal relationships. For some children, attachment is disrupted via difficult circumstances:

- abrupt loss of or extended separation from a parent 

- child abuse or neglect

- invasive and/or painful medical procedures 

- prenatal exposure to toxins and/or neurological problems. 

So what is therapeutic parenting? 

High structure - high nurture parenting that fosters feelings of safety and connection crucial for a child to attach and heal. Learning this is the most important thing you can do to help a traumatised child. It is intentional parenting, it is long term, it is not a quick fix and requires self care but it is game changing. This is the focus of my approach with families.