What is Relationship Services?
Relationship Services is a non-government, not-for-profit agency which provides skilled counselling and education services throughout New Zealand. Their particular field of expertise is relationships, but they work with all kinds of people, both in and out of relationships.
What do Relationship Services do?
Relationship Services offer a range of services including personal counselling, couples counselling, marriage guidance counseling, clinical supervision and support, plus a range of education programmes like life skills, parenting, and stopping violence courses.
The life skills courses offered by Relationship Services are facilitated around specific topics, and include relationship-building skills for young people, anger management and conflict resolution, adjusting to life in a new country, parenting and step parenting, becoming partners, living alone and self esteem.
Any of these life skills sessions can be done as a one-on-one with a counsellor, or during couples or family counselling sessions. They are also offered as public courses when and where there is enough interest.
Relationship Services also delivers a Parenting Apart programme, which is a parenting course for parents who are separating. The course addresses how separation affects children, how to reduce and manage conflict, a variety of living arrangements that work for different families, communication skills for a separated family, relevant legal processes and support services in your local community.
Parenting Apart is a small group course and usually runs for 4 hours, often in two separate sessions. Partners from separating couples participate in different courses so they can each ask their own questions.
Relationship Services offers two types of Stopping Violence programmes, and cater for both people affected by the violent behaviour, and the people who behave violently.
If you are a victim of a violent relationship, the Stopping Violence Programme can help you recover from your experiences, work out how to keep yourself and your children safe, build self esteem and create a life free from violence.
If you are trapped in a cycle of violent or abusive behaviour, the Stopping Violence Programme can help you understand more about the effect violence is having in your life and in the lives of people you love, learn to recognise the build up to violent episodes so you can change what you do before it's too late, work out how to keep yourself and people you love safe, learn safe ways to deal with anger and conflict, build respect for yourself and for others, and create a life free from violence.
How is it funded?
Relationship Services rely on donations, grants, bequests and sponsorship to fund their services. Philanthropic organisations around the country help fund specific projects as well as more general running costs. Some of the specific projects include counselling for low-income clients who cannot afford to pay full fee, and programmes to support fathers as parents.
How can I get their help?
Relationship Services are listed under ‘R’ in the White Pages of your phone book, or you can call 0800 RELATE (0800 735 283).
How much does it cost?
Standard charges for counselling through Relationship Services are between $60 and $85 per appointment, however if you have a community services card these rates are usually lowered to between $45 and $50. A lower rate may also be offered if there are children involved, or children are affected by the issues you want to bring to counselling.
If you are on a low income, or financial pressures make counselling difficult to afford, then talk to the Relationship Services Administrator. Some couples may also be eligible for free counselling sessions through the family court. To find out if you are eligible contact your local family court or download a ‘Request for Counselling’ form from their website www.courts.govt.nz/family
Link to Relationship Services website
www.relate.org.nz
This website talks about the services offered by Relationship Services, how to get in touch with them, and provides contact information for emergency counselling. It also has a range of articles which are like ‘tip sheets’ for dealing with some common issues in relationships.