Free 12-Week Programme Launches To Help Islanders Build Confidence And Connections

A new free 12-week programme aimed at helping Isle of Wight adults build confidence, strengthen relationships and develop practical skills for everyday life is being launched.

Preziosa Therapia is preparing to launch Restore™, which will be funded by Isle of Wight Council Adult Community Learning and delivered in small groups.

Created by therapist and Preziosa Therapia founder Louise Rippon, the programme will explore areas including managing stress and overwhelm, emotional regulation, communication, relationships, boundaries, conflict, problem solving, self-advocacy and organisation.

Organisers say Restore™ is not a therapy group, but a structured adult learning programme combining psychoeducation with practical activities and opportunities to develop skills which can be used in everyday life.

The programme has been designed around the idea that there can be several steps between somebody struggling and feeling ready to make bigger changes in their life.

Louise said: “There can be a huge gap between somebody struggling and somebody feeling ready to take their next step. Restore was created for that gap.

“Within my counselling experiences I see how interconnected things are. How we manage stress affects how we communicate. How we communicate affects our relationships. How supported and connected we feel can affect our confidence and our ability to cope with everything else life asks of us.

“Restore gives people the opportunity to understand some of those patterns without asking them to disclose their personal experiences.

“We can learn about ourselves while also thinking about how we respond to the people around us, whether that’s our children, our partner, a colleague or somebody else in our lives.”

Restore™ will also focus on building connections between participants and helping people recognise that many of the challenges they experience are shared by others.

Daytime, evening and Saturday groups are planned in an effort to make the programme accessible to more Island adults, alongside a planned men-only evening group.

Louise added: “For one person, their next step might eventually be education or employment. For somebody else, it might be setting a boundary, repairing a relationship, making a phone call they have been avoiding, asking for help or simply feeling less overwhelmed by everyday life.

“Those might look like small steps from the outside, but they can be incredibly important ones.”

The launch comes ahead of an expansion for Preziosa Therapia, which will bring additional space in Newport into use in October.

The organisation says the new facility will increase its capacity to provide groups, workshops, adult learning and community projects alongside its existing counselling services.

Louise said the ambition is to use the additional space to develop further funded and free opportunities for Islanders through partnerships and future funding.

The expanded facility is due to be officially opened in October by the High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, Nigel Hartley MBE.

Places on the free 12-week Restore™ programme will be limited, with Island residents currently being invited to register their interest.