Caring for someone who was born with a cleft can bring unique challenges which can sometimes feel difficult to face alone.
CLAPA offers a dedicated counselling service for parents and family members (18+) of children born with a cleft.
Learn more about how counselling can help you, about CLAPA’s counsellors, or sign up for counselling.
What can counselling help with?
Counselling is an opportunity to work on any issues you may have in your life. The resolution of these may make your life better.
Your counsellor has many ways they could work with you, for instance, some of the way they could help you is to:
- Talk through issues
- Make sense of events in your life that are difficult
- Work on problem-solving strategies or behaviour change strategies
- Help you deal with difficult feelings and emotions
- Help you make sense of information
- Help you deal with difficult relationships
You might be feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or depressed, and we can support you with these feelings. However, please note we are unable to support complex mental health issues such as PTSD and Psychosis where specialist support is required.
Don’t worry if any of this seems a bit complicated or overwhelming; your counsellor can spend time with you whilst you decide on the issues that are important to look at in your sessions. Your counsellor knows that you already have strengths and resources and will help you identify and use these to overcome your present issues.
To make all of this happen, you need to work with your counsellor to tell them what works and what doesn’t. By telling your counsellor what you want, you will be helping them to become better at their job as well as getting the most out of your sessions.
How does CLAPA’s counselling service work?
To sign up, you need to complete our self-referral form. Once you’ve sent this to us, someone from our team will be in touch with you to discuss the next steps.
Counselling sessions can take place on Zoom (video meeting platform) or telephone, whichever is your preference.
During the first session the format of the counselling was very clearly explained and I felt completely at ease from the beginning. The sessions allowed me to speak openly and honestly about my experiences and I completed each meeting with a sense of relief and a feeling of validation.Parent who accessed CLAPA's counselling service
My sessions with you not only allowed me to make sense of my recent experiences of having a baby born with some complex health issues, but also enabled to delve into various other areas of my life too.
I am extremely grateful for your time and for the opportunity to unravel a lot of the feelings and emotions I had been experiencing of late. Thank you again!
About CLAPA’s counsellors
CLAPA’s counselling service is offered by a qualified counsellor and student counsellors completing their professional training. You may see either, depending on availability.
Our qualified counsellor has experience supporting adults in the cleft community, while student counsellors work under professional guidance as part of their training. They’ll help you explore your goals and find the support you need.
All counsellors are fully insured and members of professional bodies like COSCA or BACP, following strict ethical standards. Please note that counselling with a student counsellor depends on placement availability.
We’re here to listen, support, and work with you at your own pace—making sure you feel understood and supported every step of the way.