Support for children and young people

We provide emotional support for patients, families, friends and carers who have been affected or bereaved by cancer or a life-threatening condition.

Home > Support for children

Counselling and art therapy

Counselling helps children express emotions through talking, guided play or art, building self-esteem and resilience -especially during tough times like their own diagnosis of a life-threatening condition, or the diagnosis of a family member.

We are able to support children and young people aged 4+ in our counselling rooms in Frome.

For ages 13+ counselling is also available online.

Refer a child or young person for support

 FAQs

  • You and your child’s counsellor will have the opportunity to meet and talk about what to expect before the first session. Children are seen by themselves, and parents/carers stay in the building while the child is being seen. A parent/carer may contact the counsellor at any time if you have any questions or concerns. The counsellor may offer you a review meeting if they think it could be helpful.

    There is regular contact between the counsellor and parent/carer, but anything talked about or made in sessions is confidential. If the client or others are believed to be at risk, we will follow We Hear You safeguarding procedures.

  • We Hear You provides up to 12 sessions of counselling. The number of sessions is very much up to the individual child or young person and how much support they need at the time.

  • We are able to support children and young people in Frome.

    In addition to our face-to-face service, we provide online counselling for young people aged 13 and over.

  • Our service is provided to children and young people aged four to 17.

  • The sessions last for 45-50 minutes, once a week at the same time and on the same day.

  • We Hear You is a free and low-cost service. This means we ask our clients to pay £20 per session. which covers 20% of the cost of counselling session where they are able to afford it. Ability to pay does not effect the service you will receive.

  • You can call the We Hear You office on 01373 455255 to talk to one of our team if you have any questions before completing the referral form.

  • Initially, the children’s counsellor will want to speak to you as a parent/carer, so please fill out the form or contact the We Hear You office on 01373 455255 to arrange an appointment.

  • “I saw my counsellor when my uncle was ill and then he died. I saw her for about eight weeks. When my uncle was ill I felt sad and scared that he would die. I talked to my counsellor about what was happening and how I felt. I used to get the play dough and make emotions out of it, so we had red bits for anger, white bits for happiness and blue bits for sadness. I would put the bits into a bowl, choosing how I felt, over time the red bits got less.”

You can fill in the form below to refer a child or young person.

Please note we are only able to offer services to those living in Bath and North East Somerset, Somerset or Wiltshire and who fulfil one of the below criteria

If you do not fulfil one of the following criteria you can still find information on other support available on our further resources page.

We treat all information you share with us in confidence. If we believe that you or someone else is at risk of harm, we may need to share relevant details with appropriate services to help keep everyone safe, in line with our safeguarding policies.

Please note that we are not a crisis service - if you are in immediate danger or need urgent support, please call 999, the Samaritans on 116 123, or Childline on 0800 1111.

If you need help completing this form, please call us on 01373 455255.