What People Say About Us

The feedback we get from the community and people using our services shows that our work is making a difference for children and their families in New Zealand.

Comments from callers using the Helpline

“Thank you so much for being a wonderful listening ear to me. Thank you for accepting us for who we are, helping us and encouraging us to grow”

“Thank you. I was in an overwhelmed state, now I feel able to cope”

“Thank you so much, you have been so helpful. It’s just like having a friend over to talk to!”

“I know I can’t do anything about the situation, but I’m just feeling so overwhelmed and need to talk”

Comments from parents attending our Parenting Courses

“All the topics were really important and new knowledge for me”

“It’s wonderful that this group exists and is affordable. One of the greatest things for me was the impact the group made on my son’s father’s parenting. I loved it, being in a small group and everyone feeling safe to share”.

“What we found from the course that was REALLY helpful was just the knowledge and experience of the counsellors. Particularly the knowledge about neuroscience and the adolescent brain. It helped us understand what.. you know, why they make these irrational decisions that can be very dangerous. So, we found that VERY valuable.”

“In particular for my husband, the strategy that Kate and Rob came up with, he’s not the type of guy that’ll just take on other people’s advice and try it out but he felt comfortable enough with them and trusted them enough to give that particular strategy a go, which really helped.”

“But I think that Parent Help was a key part for my husband and I sorting through it. It was really helpful that it hardly cost anything. That was a big help. It took away obstacles. My husband and I ended up one-on-one with the counsellors, which were just perfect. We were SO lucky. To have this one-on-one time on this subject with the counsellors. That was what really helped us.”

“These two particular counsellors in Parent Help…and we had about 8 sessions…we knew that we had all of this ahead of us. I don’t know if we would have sorted it out if we would have had to go anywhere else, if we had to go private. I don’t think we would have.”

“I think it helped. It has really helped the relationship with my children…it think probably the biggest thing I took out was understanding more about how teenagers work  and how their brain work and that it is still developing. Their lack of empathy and increased risk taking. More of an understanding of how they work and where they are as far as their physically brain is concerned. That has probably been the biggest thing that came from the course. “

The course was really valuable and I think the way the course was structured. It was half a learning experience and it was half a counselling experience where we came along and could feel free to talk about not just issues what we might have had with our daughter but also the surrounding feelings we had with respect to ourselves.”

 Comments from our Telephone Support Workers

“I have been with Parent Help for almost two years as a Telephone Support Worker . I had always wanted to volunteer but found that as a parent of two young children I needed flexibility in how and when I could volunteer. Parent Help allows me to volunteer as much as I can and when I can. The best bit about this is that I don’t even have to leave the house to do it!

The training that I was given has made me feel really prepared for the variety of calls that I take. Learning more about child development, legislation, and role playing tricky calls were just some of the features of training. The calls are varied and I have truly learnt that parenting doesn’t stop when children become adults. I enjoy connecting with other parents and knowing I can make a difference in those crisis moments that we all face as parents. I feel that this opportunity has also helped me to grow as a parent and has positively impacted on my interactions with my children.

Once a month I go into the office with the other TSWs for a supervision meeting where we talk over any issues and give each other support. I love being a volunteer for Parent Help and would love to see the team grow bigger.”

Comments from counselling clients

“THANK YOU so much for your counselling sessions, they have helped us tremendously. It is so nice to have a happy xx back. We are stoked that it happened in a shorter period of time than we expected”

Comments from the community

“The work that Parent Help do is often unmatched, and unrecognised, given the high achievement rate that they have. Police Youth Aid regard Parent Help as a highly important organisation who are worthy of any funding.” – Retired Youth Aid Officer, Wellington Central Police.

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