Circles of Support - East London

The Circles of Support parent/ carer group is facilitated by parent carers who work with a model of association called ENABL, which stands for Empathetic, Non judgemental, Active, Boundaried Listening. It is important that as parent carers we are maintaining out personal boundaries so that we do not take on too much and are able to give our best to our children and loved ones. It is also important that we work together to create a protected space where parent carers are able to be vulnerable and share things that challenge and are difficult, without feeling judged. We believe that it working together with professionals and staff within health, education and social are is the most effective way for our children to get the best support possible and we consider ourselves as collaborators with health, education and social care professionals and practitioners, rather than merely recipients of their help.

Our Circle of Support parent carer group is run by parent carers, with one main facilitator (also a parent carer) and several other experienced parent carers who regularly work in the spirit of coproduction with health, education and social care. All meetings take place on zoom and last for 1.5 hours. We generally have around 10 people or less in a meeting at one time, but are able to accommodate more should the occasion arise, as we use break out rooms to help facilitate intimate conversations. 

All people in the group are parent carers, however some parents are Experts by Experience with NHS England, and some parents are parent facilitators with a early intervention parenting model called E-PAtS (Early Positive Approaches to Support) which was developed by the Tizard Centre, University of Kent

All sessions are held online.