Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the answers to our frequently asked questions…
What does ‘CAPA’ First Response mean?
Child or Adolescent to Parent Abuse – although we try not to use ‘abuse’ too much. Which we explain in more detail here. We offer a ‘first response’ service to families who are experiencing this behaviour from a child towards a parent or carer in their family.
Capa First Response is an online platform for both families & Professionals – supporting those impacted by a child using harmful and/or aggressive behaviours towards a parent or caregiver.
Where are you based?
We offer our services virtually, so we can support you wherever you are in the world. Although we are based in the UK we can offer virtual support worldwide as well as attend training and conferences across the globe.
What does it cost to access your services?
We offer Free or low-cost sessions, – to ensure everyone can access our services. All our family services are offered on a ‘pay what you can’ basis, and if a family cannot afford to pay we can still help them thanks to funding primarily from The National Lottery Community Fund.
Our professional services are charged at a nominal rate
How do I book a session with Capa First Response?
Please email us at info@CapaFirstResponse.org with a short summary of what your family is experiencing and we will be in touch. Usually we respond within 3 working days with advice on next steps and current waiting times.
Are sessions on line? What platform do you use?
We can be flexible to meet your needs. We primarily use Zoom for video calls, however we also can use whatsapp video call, or even teams, as well as calling you on the phone. We want to make it as easy for you and your family as possible!
How many sessions will I need? How often will they be?
All our work is bespoke and tailored to meet your families needs and circumstances. We work collaboratively with families to assess how many sessions are needed – some families have 2-3 sessions others have more. It really is about looking at what works and how we engage with the WHOLE family.
How long will I have to wait to get support from Capa First Response?
Sadly demand for our services outweighs our capacity, meaning our waiting lists can feel really long. When you are in crisis and reach out to get help the last thing you need is to be told you have to wait for support. We try our very best to offer families an appointment as soon as we can. As of Nov 23 if you were to request support now we would try to offer you an appointment in approx 3 months. This is why we are looking to offer families other ways to feel supported until they can speak with a practitioner.
This includes creating podcasts and online downloadable resources so you can understand why this is happening and try solutions immediately.
Do you talk to my child/the whole family?
Yes – we offer support for the whole family.
We believe in order to create healthier relationships between a parent and a child we need to offer support to the WHOLE family. Thai can include siblings, the child using aggressive or violent behaviours, extended family, neighbours anyone you feel support you and you family and you would like included in the support
How do I know I am going to speak with someone qualified to help me?
All the practitioners that work at Capa have knowledge and experience of supporting families. For some practitioners this is from years of experience and working with hundreds of families and holding relevant qualifications for others it is lived experience alongside professional experience and knowledge.
Each practitioner has been hand picked to work with us at Capa, we know how they work and understand their methods. Each practitioner brings a different strength and understanding to the work enabling us to allocate families to a practitioner’s strength.
We are very excited to have one of our practitioners training to become our neurodiverse lead, with so many more families identifying this issue with their child we want to ensure we can give families the best possible resources to support them
I am a professional who works with a family, can I refer them to you for support?
Yes, we accept referrals from any professional working with a family as well as direct referral from family members. We want to collaborate and work with asa many people as we can as we believe that the more knowledge we have as a professional the more support we can offer to families
Do you offer training for people who work with families, like social workers etc?
Yes we do,]! You can find out about our online training sessions here, as well as see information about bespoke training we can provide which is tailored to your organisation’s specific needs.
We are also producing an online training offering for those who cannot attend our live virtual training Keep an eye out on our webpage for more information about how you can access this.
Can I fundraise or donate to help Capa First Response?
We would love to be the recipient of any fundraising or donation you’d like to make. We rely on grants and donations to continue to offer free or low cost services to families. You can donate here at Givey, and help to spread the word about us with some posters on this page.
Or you can swim the equivalent of the channel, walk from John o’groats to Lands end or hold a coffee morning every penny helps us continue to offer much needed support at a time when families need it most.
It costs us £60 to provide a 60 minute session to a family – that’s £1 for every minute we talk to them, this hour can make a huge difference for a family.
“The advice you provided has been amazing! The violence has reduced, it has been life changing., We cant thank you enough”
I contacted you in feb and you were a saviour when I needed to nip my daughters behaviour in the bud before it got worse . I’ve become a member of a dv survivor steering group and I wanted to check It would be ok to mention the service you gave and how helpful it was? I wanted say thankyou and how much u have helped me and how understanding and non judgemental you was. Just those 3 sessions helped me put strong boundaries In place and the importance of consequences lol. And it’s still working lol. And she is back in school.
Thankyou for your support – my daughters behaviour is so different in the space of a few weeks she is pleasant, I am able to eat again, the house is just calmer. I am excited to spend some time with her. Her brother said, its so nice to see you calm and eating again mummy.
It had been a hard decision to reach out for help and speak about my son’s behaviour. However, we had come to a point where we realised we needed help to manage this. Filling in the form was probably the hardest thing to do. Not knowing what to expect I had prepared a few questions and points I wanted to discuss. Jane was very friendly, approachable and supportive. The most valuable aspect was that I felt understood – someone ‘got’ what we were going through, without being judgemental. Jane offered constructive ideas of how to manage the difficult situations, as well as some valuable and understanding insight into the possible reasons for my child’s behaviour. If anyone is going through something similar, don’t hesitate to get in touch with CAPA – I really feel they know what they are talking about.
The advice you provided has been amazing! The violence has reduced massively. The carpet 10 minutes has been a miracle, L is now asking to do it every night and we regularly go over the 10 mins as it’s been hilarious and fun.
I was desperate to be able to thank you again.
The advice has been amazing, thankyou. I had some really insightful and emotional conversations with my daughter, the violence has stopped and although we have a long way to go, I feel hopeful.
Thank you so much again for talking with me on Friday. All three sessions with you were absolutely amazing and better than any of the private therapy sessions I had before! Your compassionate approach to family conflicts, where everyone’s feelings are validated for what they are, will always guide me in the right direction.
My sons mother has just felt blamed for how our son is behaving, for the first time I have had strategies and they have made a huge difference to our lives. Since putting into place what we spoke about the violence has all but stopped, his behaviour at school has noticeably calmed down and now his teachers are saying what a delight he is. I spoke to Social services and they are not longer holding a meeting to put him on the child protection register. I can’t thankyou enough and I feel like my son and I are having fun together, belly laughing and connecting.