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Independent Therapy for Parents under Assessment
Commissioned by Residential Family Centres and Local Authorities
Dedicated therapeutic provision for adult parents placed in Family Assessment Centres or undertaking a Community Assessment.
RFC Therapy works alongside family assessment but is not part of the assessment.
Who This Is For
Commissioners
OFSTED-registered Residential Family Centres, Family Assessment Centres and Placing Authority commissioners who require experienced therapeutic input for parents under assessment including community assessment.
RFC Therapy supports parental wellbeing using Therapeutic Counselling and NICE approved Cognitive Behavioural Therapy practice while remaining clearly separate from assessment activity and outcomes.
Staff Teams
Professionals working within OFSTED-registered Residential Family Centre and Family Assessment Centre settings who hold responsibility for assessment and daily support.
RFC Therapy recognises the pressure within these environments with frontline experience.
Reflective and wellbeing-focused input is offered in a way that supports staff sustainability without adding to performance strain.
RFC Therapy is intended for commissioning officers and senior decision-makers in Ofsted-registered Residential Family Centres, Family Assessment Centres, and Placing Authorities who want access to independent therapeutic provision for parents, with indirect benefit to staff teams.
The work sits alongside safeguarding and assessment processes without becoming part of them. Delivery reflects the realities of Residential Family Centre settings and the responsibilities parents carry during assessment.
How It Fits Within RFC Frameworks
1
Alongside Safeguarding
This provision runs alongside your existing safeguarding arrangements, with clear boundaries agreed from the outset. Confidentiality is respected and information is shared only where safety requires it. Safeguarding decisions remain with you and the placing authority.
The therapeutic role supports emotional containment without taking on statutory responsibility.
2
Complementing Assessment
Therapy does not replace assessment activity and does not contribute to assessment conclusions.
It is not used to evidence change or capacity. The work remains focused on supporting parents emotionally while you retain full clarity over assessment roles and outcomes.
You gain additional therapeutic capacity without blurring responsibilities.
3
Supporting Reporting
Where it is appropriate and where a parent gives clear consent, limited factual information can be shared. This may include confirmation that sessions took place. Therapeutic opinion or judgement is not provided.
Ethical, Independent and Regulator-Conscious
Ethical Independence
RFC Therapy works independently of assessment outcomes.
Therapeutic work is clearly bounded, with a defined separation between support and evaluation. The focus remains on providing emotional containment for parents without contributing to assessment conclusions or decision-making.
Regulatory Awareness
RFC Therapy works with an awareness of the regulatory context in which Residential Family Centres and Family Assessment Centres operate.
Practice is informed by an understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and inspection expectations, while recognising that statutory accountability and regulatory oversight sit with the centre and placing authority.
The therapeutic role is designed to complement this environment without taking on regulatory functions.
Flexible Delivery
RFC Therapy adapts delivery to the operational realities of Residential Family Centre and Family Assessment Centre settings.
Sessions are arranged with awareness of placement structure, assessment timescales, and practical constraints. Flexibility is offered without compromising ethical boundaries or role clarity.
RFC Therapy Founder
Chris Brotherton
MNCPS (Acc) | Addiction Professionals Advanced Practitioner Member (AP APM)
I work as an independent therapist supporting parents during Residential Family Centre assessment, during community-based assessment and following assessment from both environments if wrap around care is required.
My practice is person led and adapts to the individual and the context they are in. I draw primarily on person-centred principles with cognitive behavioural methods used where they are helpful and appropriate and always with informed consent in a way those I work with can grasp.
I bring experience from working within a long-established Residential Family Centre organisation, where my role developed from various frontline and commercially valuable roles to designing and delivering structured relapse prevention support for parents affected by substance use as a qualified counsellor. The depth of my experience informs how I work alongside assessment settings while maintaining clear professional boundaries.
I am fully insured and work within regular clinical supervision. I maintain ongoing professional development and practise in line with the ethical frameworks of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society and Addiction Professionals.
Services

Therapeutic support is offered specifically within Residential Family Centres, Family Assessment Centres, and community-based assessment settings. Provision is designed to fit alongside assessment activity while remaining clearly separate from it.
Support can be commissioned by Residential Family Centres as an added provision for parents under assessment, or directly by Local Authorities for parents assessed in the community.
All sessions are time-limited and delivered with an understanding of the pressures and constraints within assessment environments.
Single-Session Therapy (SST)
SST offers a focused therapeutic conversation for parents during placement-based or community assessment. Each conversation is shaped around what the parent wants to address at that time.
SST does not mean one session only. It means approaching each meeting as meaningful in its own right without assuming there will be another, it focuses on understanding one problem and identifies a way forward.
This intervention can also be useful for professionals who are seeking space to resolve a specific concern at work, without entering into ongoing therapeutic work.
Duration: Up to 50 minutes
Delivery: Microsoft Teams (Laptop/iPad) or WhatsApp (iOS or Android)
Relapse Prevention
This support is available for parents experiencing ongoing difficulties related to historic and existing drug and alcohol use with a focus on achieving positive behavioural change.
Work is structured and tailored to the individual. Sessions draw on NICE approved CBT and therapeutic counselling practice with a focus on increasing insight, stability through harm reduction and personal responsibility.
This provision is designed to sit alongside assessment without influencing assessment outcomes and was successfully piloted in a Sefton based OFSTED-registered RFC alongside other therapeutic interventions since 2023.
Duration: Up to 50 minutes
Delivery: Microsoft Teams (via Laptop/iPad) or WhatsApp (iOS or Android)
Pluralistic Counselling
Pluralistic counselling offers parents space to reflect on their experiences before and during assessment, and on the emotional impact these experiences may have on them.
The work is led by what the parent wants from therapy at that point in time. Sessions are collaborative and responsive to the individual and the context they are in.
For some parents, this may involve person-centred work that allows for relational depth and a greater understanding of their lived experience. For others, it may be helpful to draw on NICE approved CBT approaches to think about future concerns, patterns of thinking, or decisions they are facing.
Any methods used are discussed openly and agreed together. There is no assumption about what a parent should work on or how that work should look.
This option may suit parents who want a contained therapeutic space that respects their autonomy and responds flexibly to their needs during assessment or afterwards.
Duration: Up to 50 minutes
Delivery: Microsoft Teams (via Laptop/iPad) or WhatsApp (iOS or Android)
Get in Touch
For commissioning enquiries or initial discussions about therapeutic provision for parents during Residential Family Centre assessment, community-based assessment, or following assessment in the community, you are welcome to get in touch.
I am happy to speak with commissioning officers and senior decision-makers who are exploring external therapeutic support for parents, or reflective input for staff teams working within family assessment settings or Local Authority.
All enquiries are treated confidentially. Initial conversations are offered without obligation and provide space to discuss whether this service is a good fit for your setting and requirements.
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Mettle Counselling and Psychotherapy operates as a sole trader in England and Wales.
Registered Member of the National Counsellors and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and Addiction Professionals
Membership IDs: NCS23-04052 & 7270
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