Ripple

Creating Waves of Wellness

Introducing Ripple: an exciting new youth mental health service commissioned by the London Borough of Waltham Forest and delivered by Groundwork London. Launched in 2024, Ripple is here to help young people aged 5 – 17 and their families.  

We’re all about giving young people the tools they need to handle their emotions and navigate life’s up’s and downs with confidence. We all feel down, scared or anxious at times, but if your feelings are stopping you from enjoying life the way that you want to, it might be time to seek some help.  

 We’re running groups for young people just like you, who might be finding themselves getting a little stuck. Maybe you’re finding it hard to get to school in the mornings, feeling stressed about exams or friendships, or noticing that you just don’t seem to enjoy things as much as you used to. You are not alone, and these feelings are very common, but you don’t have to work through them by yourself. If you feel like it might be time to get some support, contact us using the referral form at the bottom of the page, or ask your parent, teacher, or a friendly adult to support you to do so! 

 

Disclaimer: We are a new service, and currently our offer is limited to CBT programmes aimed at 11 – 14 year olds and 15 – 17 year olds who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety. In the near future we will offer a wider range of services, including 1:1 therapeutic support, CBT based groups for parents of 5 – 11 year olds, single session psychoeducation workshops and more 

Our Groups  

Our group sessions last for 8 weeks and take place in various places across Waltham Forest. Currently we are running groups after school in Waltham Forest, and Leyton (See Timetable). Our groups are CBT  based and focus on us working together to figure out the right path forwards for you. We know the thought of working in a group can be scary, but we will move at your pace, and importantly it’s up to you how much or how little you share. In our experience it’s a really good opportunity for you to build your confidence and to use the skills you’re learning in the group!
 

For more information please see our  Information Sheet  for parents & professionals.

What is CBT?

CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. It’s a type of therapy that helps you understand how thoughts, feelings, and actions are connected. In group CBT sessions, trained therapists work with young people to teach them skills to manage their emotions and behaviours better. By learning to identify and change unhelpful thought patterns, you can feel more confident and cope with challenges more effectively.

Group therapy for young people is just as effective, and often more effective than traditional 1:1 therapy, this makes loads of sense to us because working together, we have the ability to work to each other’s strengths, and share the strategies that work with each other! 

 

Who is eligible for our groups? 

 

We have two groups running at the moment, both of them are targeting young people who are experiencing difficulties with anxiety* [What is Anxiety thought bubble] Our first group for 11 – 14 year olds starts in Waltham Forest on the 6th of June. Our group for 15 – 17 year olds starts on the 4th of June.  

To come to our group you need to be: Living in Waltham Forest and/or registered to a Waltham Forest GP (Doctor), and/or enrolled at a Waltham Forest School. You also need to not have seen a mental health professional like a CAMHs therapist, for at least three months. Why? We think that support from therapy can take some time to sink in, and we ask that you wait at least three months from your last session, so that you can see the changes you have made! 

 

Our Referral Form  

Below is a link to our referral form. It asks for information about where you live, how to contact you, and information about why you think coming to a group might be helpful to you. We ask these questions so that we can best support you, but you might need some help from a parent/guardian or helpful adult like a teacher to complete it. If you are under 16 will would like you to talk to your parent/carer/guardian first and make sure they are know you are referring yourself to the group. 

 

If you are a professional referring on behalf of a young person, please complete your details too so that we can contact you to discuss the referral. It’s really useful for us to have as much information as possible so that we can tailor the support to the young person. This might include how long the challenges have been present, and how they are affecting the young person. 

Referral Form

What is Anxiety? 

You’ve seen meerkats on TV, right? Or maybe at the zoo? There’s always one meerkat on the lookout, keeping an eye out for predators. Now imagine there’s a meerkat living in your brain, this meerkat is always on alert looking for signs of danger to keep you safe. When something we find scary happens, like starting a new school, or maybe falling out with a friend, this meerkat sounds the alarm. We react to this by shutting things down to keep us safe, maybe we try and stay at home, we stop talking to our friends, or we feel confused and unwell.

Sometimes even after the scary thing has passed, our meerkat stays feeling nervous, worried or anxious. Constantly expecting something else to happen and keeping the rest of our brain on shutdown. This ongoing feeling of worry is what we call anxiety.  

Sometimes anxiety is super helpful, and it helps protect us from danger. But sometimes our sense of anxiety is activated at unhelpful times, and it can stop us from doing the things we want or need to do, like going to school, socialising with our friends, or playing sports. 

 Just like that meerkat may need some time and support to calm down and feel safe again, sometimes we need to put some strategies in place to help us calm down and feel safe. So that our sense of danger is only activated when it is helpful. Our groups are designed to help you make better sense of when our meerkat should be on high alert, and how to keep them feeling calm when they needn’t be. 

Our Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information, or to discuss a referral to the project, please contact: 

 

Ripple@groundwork.org.uk