What is Parents in Mind and peer to peer support?
‘Talk and support, parent to parent’
Parents in Mind offers emotional support for parents who are experiencing low mood, anxiety or poor mental health when expecting or within the first two years of birth.
Many mums, dads & partners can find it difficult to open up about how they are feeling and continue to suffer in silence. Parents in Mind aims to improve parents emotional wellbeing and to reduce isolation within the community, by providing a safe space to talk and good quality support from a trained volunteer.
Building on the peer support offered by NCT for many years, the Parents in Mind project wants to see more parents & families be able to access the support that they need at what can be a very challenging time. Well trained volunteer peer supporters offer a listening ear and non-judgemental support, helping parents to develop coping strategies and to access local services.
We are not clinicians, health advisors or therapist – we simple offer parents a safe, judgment-free & filter free space to offload the full feelings of parenthood.
Face-to-face groups and private one-to-ones can be accessed within the community and/or virtually to suit and enable all parents access to PIM support.
We don’t have large waits, we engage with parents wanting support quickly, with support able to begin the following week if they choose.
Who might want to access the service?
Parents in Mind can help parents who are feeling down or anxious during pregnancy or during the first two years after childbirth, or who are struggling emotionally as a result of pregnancy and/or early parenthood. There doesn’t need to be a formal diagnosis. It might be the first step for parents who have found it hard to talk about how they are feeling, or who want to meet other local parents who are experiencing similar challenges.
