The Heal Trust :: programmes

The H.E.A.L. Trust provides a range of programmes. The series of Clearing Anger programmes includes four stages; Restore, Resolve, Reconnect, and Release. In addition we offer a single parenting programme, an attachment parenting programme for early childhood, and a generic parenting programme.

Restore Stage One

Are you tired of feeling judged, rejected, or not worthy. Do you put up barriers of self-defense and find yourself making excuses when you are criticised? Feeling judged and rejected causes enormous pain. As a way of protection you may avoid anything that aggravates the pain of self-rejection. You may take fewer social, academic or career risks.

Restore is designed to develop a positive sense of self. Inner resources are developed that build self-esteem, emotional stability and positive identity to strengthen day-to-day life. Restore teaches how to self-sooth and provide adequate self-care. Strategies are learned that disarm self criticism, shift you out of a negative feeling state, and raise your self-esteem.

Strength-based strategies are developed for dealing with overwhelming triggers and feelings so that you can keep yourself emotionally and physically safe. Restore offers techniques for handling criticism without being devastated and without the need to attack back. Restore will teach you how to maintain control in your life through physical and emotional boundaries that create power balance in relationships.

We recommend Restore as the preparatory programme to Resolve, Reconnect, Release, or the parenting progammes.

Resolve Stage Two

None of us escapes the heartache and disappointments of life. Regardless of how we've been hurt we all face a common question: What should we do with our pain? Should we stoically ignore it? Should we just "get over it"? Should we optimistically hope that everything will work out in the end?

If we fail to respond to the wounds that life and relationships inflict, our pain will be wasted; it will numb us or destroy us. But suffering doesn't have to rob us of joy. It can, instead, lead us to life - if we take the path to healing. The programme Resolve helps you to make peace with the past by working through a process of putting right what has gone wrong and resolving the grief that has contributed to feelings of anxiety anger and rage. If you're ready to embark on a journey that enables release from guilt and shame and you want to bring control and peace to your life, contact us now.

Reconnect Stage Three

Reconnect works from the premise that a child's attachment to primary caregivers significantly contributes to the development of positive and/or negative assumptions about self and the world. Insecure childhood attachments are at the core of most presenting problems and Reconnect addresses each stage of development in order to help resolve the pain associated with insecure attachments, unmet needs and trauma. Techniques are taught that help to bring affirmation, acceptance, value, and nurture so that secure attachment with self and others can be created and the love that is longed for can be given and received.

Release Stage Four

Release helps those seeking new direction after struggling with painful relationships. Practical tools to avoid slipping back into negative patterns of relating, or defensive or avoidant behaviour are mastered, so that healthy, loving relationships can be maintained and sustained.

SMART Teens

"Solutions for Managing Anger and Rebuilding Trust" uses creative approaches for working with teenagers looking to gain control of anger and bring resolution and restoration to realtionships. The many meanings and roots of anger are explored, including the other feelings and dilemmas that anger sometimes disguises and protects young people from facing. Teenagers -

identify situations that trigger their anger
learn impulse control, anger management, violence diffusing skills, and personal safety strategies
explore ways to keep all parties safe in the process of resolving problematic situations
learn how to express and vent their anger constructively
Learn forgiveness techniques so that when they've put right what has gone wrong, they can make peace with the past
Reflect on their values, personal behaviour and standards for themselves
Explore what they want for their future and how to get back on track

Parenting programmes:

Bonding with Little Ones

Bonding with Little Ones is an attachment parenting programme that nurtures and empowers parents to make informed choices for their children based on scientific study of the developing brain. The first 3 to 5 years of seeking and safely engaging the world are critical for the future success of every boy and girl. The way we parent has a direct effect on the actual wiring and long-term chemical balance in children’s brains.

Parents receive the know-how on building emotional well-being for life as they respond to crying and separations, sleep and bedtimes, anger and tantrums, nurture and comfort, fun and play, difficult behaviour and discipline. Encouragement to develop warm, constant and physically affectionate relationships is given, to enable children to be at ease and comfortable with themselves, and safe in the world.

Building Families for Single Parents

Single parents embark of a journey of personal growth as they learn to deal with the challenges of single parenting. This programme supports the development of self-confidence, self-care and effecive parenting skills for single parents to meet their own needs and those of their children.

Building Families for Life

This generic parenting programme is for parents of children of all ages. It provides a step-by-step approach to understanding parenting style and what is required to raise cooperative, respectful children with healthy self-esteem so they can reach their personal best in life. (Developed by Lorraine Sievers on behalf of Life Enrichment Trust)

Counselling

Participants in all programmes are encouraged to do one-to-one counselling or family therapy as back-up and support for the work being done in the groups. When our recommendation for counselling or family therapy is followed, participants experience maximum gain from the programmes.

“Instead of managing anger, Restore, Resolve, Reconnect and Release get to the root cause. I find the material is very balanced and thorough and above all, it makes sense." (Elaine Porter, Service Coordinator for Mental Health and Addictions, Waiparaera Trust)

Resolve is an educational and therapeutic small group programme for those who feel disappointment, hurt, resentment, bitterness, who struggle with angry feelings and behaviour, or need to make peace with the past.

If you are looking to find deep healing for the emotional pain and shame that has resulted from either destructive patterns of relating, insecure attachment style, poor parenting practices or abuse, Resolve will help facilitate a process that helps you work through and put right what has gone wrong so you can make peace with the past.

You will be highly supported by experienced counsellors who gently and safely facilitate the programme so you can address and resolve painful issues. Anger, family violence, trauma, abandonment and the pain of adoption, the break down of relationships, parental neglect and abuse in childhood, are carefully addressed in a nurturing environment.

Resolve is underpinned by a well researched theoretical framework based on evidence-based practice.

Reconnect is a small group programme that works from the premise that a child's attachment to primary caregivers significantly contributes to the development of postive and/or negative assumptions about self and the world.

Insecure childhood attachments are at the core of most presenting problems and Reconnect addresses each stage of development in order to help resolve the pain associated with insecure childhood attachments, unmet needs and trauma.

If you are ready to identify unresolved issues that may be fuelling various addictions, depression, eating disorders and painful relationships, this safe and nurturing small group is an ideal place to complete unfinished work. You learn strategies that help break destructive patterns of thinking and behaviour and learn to develop awareness of your inner resources and healing capacity.

Techniques are taught that help you affirm, accept, value, and nurture yourself so you can create secure attachment with others and give and receive the love that is longed for.

Release is the final development stage that helps you in your search for new direction after struggling with painful relationships. Practical tools are taught that help you avoid slipping back into negative patterns of relating and defensive or avoidant behaviour.

In this stage of growth you learn how to create and maintain healthy loving relationships with parents and children, with friends and colleagues. You learn how to give more love to yourself, your family, your community and the world.

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Single parents embark on a journey of personal growth as they learn to deal with the challenges of single parenting. Building Families for Single Parents supports the development of self-confidence, self care, and effective parenting skills for single parents to meet their own needs and the needs of their children. Firstly they identify their strengths and then learn how to create secure attachment with their children through building a foundation of security and closeness. Techniques are taught that address issues of loss, grief and anger; how to keep children out of conflict; how to give correct feedback when children make mistakes, how to problem solve, negotiate, co-parent cooperatively; and how to strengthen the family. Parents learn how to put their children’s welfare first through plans that help them negotiate their way through the many issues needing agreement with their children’s other parent.

They discover what makes their family unique by identifying long-standing family traditions and they learn how to build new traditions. They learn how to succeed in raising children who are responsible, respectful and resourceful. They discover how to resource their family to create a sense of belonging which strengthens family identity and the foundation on which they build family life. The programme covers:

Setting the stage for single parenting
Effective self care
Nurture: the gentle side of care
Feelings and the art of communication
Clearing anger and building trust
Understanding personality
Understanding and managing misbehaviour
Positive discipline in action
Respectful co-parenting
Celebrating family.

Building Families for Life is a generic programme for parents of children of all ages and provides a step-by-step approach to understanding what is required to raise cooperative, respectful, resourceful children with healthy self-esteem. The teaching and activities develop self-awareness of parenting style that recognises attachment and bonding style, inspiring deeper understanding and change that enables personal growth. Parents are taught skills that meet the needs of their children given their personality and stage of development and are equipped with a model of parenting that merges love with authority, which develops close relationships through effective communication.

Parents learn easy-to-implement, highly effective solutions to the day-to-day problems faced by families and learn how to make wise responses and decisions about their children’s behaviour. Parents learn to recognise the symptoms of withdrawal; how to find the real issues beneath children’s anger; and how to clear away anger so that relationships can be restored and repaired. The programme covers:

Introduction to parenting style
Identifying parenting style
Understanding personality
Embracing your child’s development
Providing loving support
Setting clear boundaries
Holding boundaries
Clearing anger and dealing with withdrawal.

Building Families for Life was developed by Lorraine Sievers on behalf of Life Enrichment Trust.

SMART teens (Solutions for Managing Anger and Rebuilding Trust) uses creative approaches for working with teens and their anger. Skills to manage antisocial behaviour and to control anger in day-to-day life are developed within a therapeutic small group experience that is designed to bring resolution to past emotional wounding.

Topics of interest are explored so that situations that are difficult and confusing can be resolved. As students openly share, bonds of trust and support are built. As they reflect on their values and personal behaviour, they get in touch with what they want for their future and learn how to get on track.

SMART teens is presently under further development to produce a model that includes restorative justice practice, one-to-one counselling, with the view to delivery in schools over a period of 20 weeks to enable greater effectiveness and lasting outcomes.

Participants in The H.E.A.L. Trust programmes are encouraged to receive one-to-one counselling so the work they are completing in the programmes can be personalised and processed within the safety of the counsellor-client relationship.

This may be arranged with an independent counsellor of the client's choice, or the agencies providing the programmes can also suggest a number of appropriately trained and qualified counsellors.

Individual counselling is not a requirement for participation in the programmes, however, experience has shown that those who do so benefit greatly. In the privacy of the counselling session the learning can be integrated into every aspect of their lives, enabling permanent and positive changes to be made.