For Professionals
For Professionals
When you refer a family or young person to receive support with us, they can expect a warm and welcoming environment where they can feel empowered and supported on their journey to better mental health. We are here to support the families of Waltham Forest to thrive.
What do professionals say about us?
“As an Early Help Practitioner, I am confident and proud to refer young people to Roots. I know they will receive the highest level of support, kindness, empathy, and—most importantly—a safe space to talk about their mental health. The feedback I’ve received from young people is that they feel truly listened to and comfortable. There is still a lot of stigmas around mental health in young people, but I believe Roots is helping to change that, one young mind at a time.”
“It has been a positive and collaborative partnership, and we greatly value the relationship we’ve developed with the Roots, often offering helpful advice even outside of formal sessions. The Roots intervention is a welcome addition to our offer for young people within Waltham Forest.”
How can we help?
Children and families who are referred to us will be offered one of our various support services. In order to find out what type of support is most suited for your family, a member of our team will have an initial meeting with your child or with you as a family group. In this initial meeting, we explore the challenges, strengths and circumstances of your family.
We will ask questions about any problems, how significant the problems are, and what solutions and support might look like. This information will help us to understand how we can best support you and your family.
Making a Referral
Criteria
- Must have a Waltham Forest postcode for home address, school or GP
- Ages: Young people for 1:1 therapy must be age 11-17, 5-11 for parent-led support
- No requirement for crisis support
- Is not currently accessing therapy elsewhere and has not completed therapy within the 3 months prior to referral
- Referral must be discussed with young person and family and consented to prior to submission
- Please submit referrals via our referral form and include all relevant information
Attend a workshop
Our workshops don’t require a referral and can be signed up to via Eventbrite.
Working With Schools
How can The Roots and schools work together?
- Staff workshops and training sessions
- Mental Health and Wellbeing workshops for students
- Wellbeing
- Anxiety
- Low Mood
- Anti-Bullying
- Exam Stress
- Social Media and Online Safety
- Body Image and Self Esteem
- Letting them know about our service
- Making a referral on their behalf (with their consent) or supporting a self-referral
- Displaying The Roots flyers and posters at your locations
Single Session Support – Parent workshops
We deliver one-off workshops across Waltham Forest for parents and carers to attend. These workshops aim to support families with common mental health challenges and wellbeing concerns. On key topics, such as Emotionally Based School Avoidance, we run multiple sessions of the same workshop, to enable as many parents and carers as possible to have access to the information and support. Parents need only book on to one workshop for each topic area that is available.
A timetable and topic list of the upcoming workshops can be found here.
Sharing information with parents and carers about these workshops will enable us to reach those families who can most benefit from this brief support offer. This can help parents know what to expect from the offer, including any pre-workshop tasks or information that is shared with them after registering for a place on a workshop.
It may be helpful to discuss with parents what any barriers to participation might be, so that they can problem-solve and plan ahead to gain maximum benefit from these offers.
Sharing information with parents and carers about these workshops will enable us to reach those families who can most benefit from this brief support offer. This can help parents know what to expect from the offer, including any pre-workshop tasks or information that is shared with them after registering for a place on a workshop.
It may be helpful to discuss with parents what any barriers to participation might be, so that they can problem-solve and plan ahead to gain maximum benefit from these offers.
Family Therapeutic Support
Sometimes it can be helpful for families to meet together, with parents and children accessing support jointly. Our Family Systemic approach focuses on understanding problems and solutions within the context of family relationships. We recognize that each family member has their own strengths and challenges, and how we cope with challenges within our families affects everyone.
In our family service, we bring together as many family members as feels helpful. This could be children and parents together; it might include aunts or uncles, grandparents or siblings. Some families may be offered some one-to-one sessions, to provide space for individual conversations, before coming back together again for family sessions.
Our family service can also support parents in thinking about the family, even if children do not feel interested or able to engage in the family therapeutic support. Our Systemic Family Practitioner will discuss with each family in an initial meeting, to find out who should attend sessions and how to make the most of the time together.
The goal of Family Therapeutic Support is to help families understand each other’s perspectives. We might explore patterns in communication, relationship or interactions within the family setting. We use a strengths-based and non-blaming approach to help families build and maintain positive connection as a means to problem-solving and improving wellbeing.
Family therapeutic support can feel like a different experience for many families. Providing information to families about what the offer is, and what they can expect from the sessions, will help them to benefit and engage more in the support. Parents can read more about our Family Therapeutic Support service here. Children and parents can watch this video to hear more about what to expect and how they can benefit from this service.
When you are referring a family to our service who may be suited to this type of support, you can help our initial assessment process by including as much relevant information about the family and context as you are able to. This will help us to ensure that families are provided with the most suited support offer for their unique needs and circumstances.
Family therapeutic support can feel like a different experience for many families. Providing information to families about what the offer is, and what they can expect from the sessions, will help them to benefit and engage more in the support. Parents can read more about our Family Therapeutic Support service here. Children and parents can watch this video to hear more about what to expect and how they can benefit from this service.
When you are referring a family to our service who may be suited to this type of support, you can help our initial assessment process by including as much relevant information about the family and context as you are able to. This will help us to ensure that families are provided with the most suited support offer for their unique needs and circumstances.
Individual Therapy (Ages 11-17)
Individual therapy for young people offers a supportive, one‑to‑one space where young people can talk openly, build coping skills, and make sense of what they’re experiencing. Sessions focus on helping young people manage stress, understand emotions, strengthen relationships, and feel more confident navigating daily life.
- A safe, confidential space — A calm, judgment‑free environment where they can speak honestly.
- Practical tools and strategies — Skills for managing anxiety, mood, conflict, and overwhelm.
- Support with real‑life challenges — School pressure, friendships, family dynamics, identity questions, and more.
- Collaboration with caregivers — Involvement when helpful, while respecting the young person’s privacy.
- Purpose of Therapy
- Reduce emotional distress
- Improve day‑to‑day functioning
- Build confidence and self‑understanding