Children and Young People’s Therapy

I’m sorry our therapy waiting list is currently full and we are not able to accept any more referrals at the moment.  Please check the resource library on our website for help, you can also contact your GP or call Rape Crisis helpline on 0808 500 22 22 which is open 24 hours.

We hope to be able to accept referrals again soon, please keep an eye on our website and social media.

We offer therapy to children and young people so they can explore their thoughts, feelings and experiences in a way that works best for them.

This can involve talking, but also creative therapy and play.

This is available to children and young people for both historic and recent events of sexual abuse.

“It is really good and it will help you and it is the BEST!”

What difference have we made to our clients (2022-2023)?

Therapy for 0 – 13 years

If the abuse or assault happened recently

Therapy is available for children who have experienced sexual violence recently, but this is only referred to us by the Children and Young People’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC). This is based in Nottingham, and you can find out more or get in contact with them here.

Once we receive the referral, a therapist will be in touch with you. If you decide your child would benefit from therapy, they will be able to attend 10 sessions.

If the abuse was in the past

An adult can refer a child for therapy on their behalf. Although the form needs to completed by an adult, the child must be open to engaging in therapy.

One of our therapist will be in touch to arrange an IOA (Initial options assessment). This appointment is to assess your child’s current needs and to ensure that they get the right service at the right time. This appointment will last up to half hour.

If it is identified that therapy is the right service for them, the parent/carer will then be invited for an assessment by one of our therapists to look at the child’s needs in more detail before meeting with them themselves. This could take up to 12 months, but please feel free to give us a call to check our current waiting times because these can vary. In the meantime SV2 offer the following support:

• Parent support whilst your child is on the waiting list (please contact us to find out more)
• Referral into the therapy service for secondary survivors (family members effected by the abuse)
• On-line self help recourses

This service offers up to 10 therapy sessions

Therapy for 14 – 17 years

If you are 14 or over, you can refer to the therapy service yourself by completing the same form as an adult.

This can be for something that happened recently or in the past, and you can receive up to 10 sessions. If you have been to the Children’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) then you don’t need to complete the form as one will have already been done for you.

We encourage you to involve your parents when completing the self-referral, but if for whatever reason you don’t want to then it can be done without them.