Clover House Therapy - The Complementary Therapy Centre for Children

Looking at the huge smile on Ashleigh Seward's face it seems impossible to imagine she ever suffered anxiety so severe she couldn't eat.But until she attended her first session at Clover House her mother Shelly was terribly worried about her daughter's behaviour.

Ashleigh, 11, admits she was unhappy before she started the sessions and was a huge "worrier", but now she has learnt techniques from the therapists at the Saltford centre she knows how to deal with her concerns and is a happy little girl again.

Clover House uses a combination of three therapies - aromatherapy, neuro-linguistic programming (which involves using imagery to combat anxieties) and nutrition.

Massage and, most simply, love are two other elements of the system that are encouraged to help families.

The programme has had a 97 per cent success rate in treating youngsters aged three to 18 with behavioural, emotional and physical problems, ranging from ADHD to bed-wetting.

Over three sessions, lasting about a couple of hours each, parents and children learn various techniques.

Many of the families who visit Clover House are desperate for a solution to the problems their children are showing and may have tried many other routes.

Uniquely, the therapists treat the child rather than the specific problem.

For Ashleigh, the symptoms started with what Shelly now refers to as an eating disorder.

"Ashleigh had never been a brilliant breakfast eater but she started becoming really fussy with food," she said.

"She started getting pains after eating and got to the stage where it put her off eating. There was then a stage where she fainted completely around meal times and would have panic attacks."

Ashleigh also became sensitive about her school friends and was having trouble sleeping.

"She was very anxious and it got to the stage where she started worrying about something happening to me.

"I was getting incredibly worried about Ashleigh when someone mentioned Clover House to me."

Shelly and Ashley's dad split up when she was two and a half and another relationship she had broke up after seven years.

"It was around that time we moved out of our house and into my parents' and I realised the effects on her were perhaps more than I realised.

"I thought she was coping with the whole thing quite well, but things happened around that time that made me realise she needed help."

Clover House is like someone's living room. There are huge sofas, photographs on the wall and a box of toys in the corner. It is a relaxing environment quite different from the sterile rooms in a hospital.

The staff are friendly and welcoming and put families at ease - something they credit for their success.

Shelly said: "The first time we came along was lovely.

"We sat down on the sofa, very relaxed. It's very homely, with a lovely atmosphere.

"The balance of all three therapies really gave an all-round holistic approach.

"What was really good was that Ashleigh was ready to be helped and felt comfortable."

With nutrition the therapist looked at brain foods. Ashleigh was encouraged to eat things to boost her energy, and was told the importance of certain food types.

A combination of aromatherapy oils were suggested to help Ashleigh sleep and the imagery, which she now uses for herself, involved visualising problems in such a way they were small enough to deal with or not even worry about.

One of the techniques Ashleigh learnt was to visualise a car wash to encourage good thoughts that washed over.

Shelly said: "We did absolutely everything we were recommended to and it wasn't long before we could see a difference

"Massage was really good for us and I'll still give Ashleigh a foot or back massage now to send her off to sleep."

Ashleigh said: "I really, really felt different when it finished, I feel much happier.

"Before I was feeling unhappy and was really worried about everything but after coming here I felt good again."

Clover House started in 1996 when Jill Gill and a fellow therapist realised there was scope to offer help to problems in childhood.

Jill said: "We realised most problems amount from childhood, so why not treat a child when they have a problem?

"The three therapies gave a real success rate. Each therapy is valuable in its own right, but it's the fusion of therapies that helps us produce such consistent and rapid results."

Essentially the therapists provide the techniques that then achieve results when families use them.

They provide a home from home for families so the children feel comfortable.

"Some therapists think this is why it works.

"The children can go outside in the summer and play with cats and the dog and we allow them just to be.

"We also make sure they speak for themselves."

To learn more about Clover House attend, one of their free open evenings on the first Wednesday of each month or visit the website. To attend, or for more information, email info@cloverhouse.org contact 01225 344047 or visit www.cloverhouse.org .