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Children naturally express themselves through play. We use play therapy to help them express their feelings more easily through toys instead of words. This way we are able to support younger children or children with additional needs.

This form of play encourages groups of children to work together, communicate with each other and share. It is one of the most effective methods that we use to educate early years children and develop their understanding of learning. We use this to encourage teamwork and to help them build new friendships and relationships when families come into refuge.

 The word ‘resilience’ comes from the Latin ‘resilio’ meaning to bounce back. The children who come to our service have been through a lot of change and this could affect their development and emotional wellbeing. We are keen to build children’s resilience and coping strategies from a young age for them to be able to deal with stress or adversity later in life.

We work with children and young people who may have lost some of their self-esteem and confidence due to the situations they have been in as well as other stressful factors in life such as school transition periods. We are committed to helping them understand that they can value themselves and feel worthy, regardless of any imperfections or what others may think about them. We encourage them to master the things they are good at and focus on achieving their goals. We do a lot of this through group work to show the children and young people they are not alone and that it is okay for them to express their feelings.

Enables workers to explain the meaning of various emotions or feelings and to have conversation about the different circumstances in which they experience the discussed emotions or feelings. We tend to use wishes and feelings with children under 8 to explore different forms of emotions as well as wants and needs. This is to ensure that children can recognise what they are feeling and help them understand how they can deal with the emotions that they are feeling.

Art therapy is a technique rooted in the idea that creative expression can foster healing and mental well-being. Art, either creating it or viewing others’ art, is used to help people explore emotions, develop self-awareness, cope with stress, boost self-esteem, and work on social skills.

Lego therapy is a social development program primarily for autistic children and other children with social communication difficulties. It uses children’s love of Lego play, as well as their strengths and interests, to develop communication and social skills.

Music therapy is the use of music to address the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of a group or individual. It employs a variety of activities, such as listening to melodies, playing an instrument, drumming, writing songs, and guided imagery.