Make use of the services on offer at the Family Life Centre in Parkwood

The Family Life Centre in Parkwood, which thrives on creating healthy families, is celebrating their 70th anniversary this year.

The non-profit organisation began as a divorce and marriage bureau in 1949 and has evolved through contributions from the leading minds in psychology to become a multi-faceted organisation, catering for every aspect of family life.

Marketing manager at the centre, Bernadette Williams said, “Healthy families are essential and families need support. There is so much violence, uninvolved fathers and single parent households in our country. We are the resource for families.”

The organisation which is an umbrella body of the Family and Marriage Society of South Africa seeks to promote and maintain mutually satisfying relationships for individuals, families, marriages and communities through a variety of services.

Family Life Centre’s professional counsellors discuss a variety of issues from grief counselling to couples counselling and trauma counselling. They also offer a marriage preparation programme seeking to begin a dialogue between the couple before they begin married life. The team can also be found at schools educating children about sex and relationships, bullying, peer pressure, sexual abuse and a variety of other issues. They also offer divorce and family mediation which provides legal and counselling services to protect the family and provide conflict mediation. The organisation also offers basic counselling training to health professionals, human resource managers, social workers, educators and psychologists so they can serve their communities.

The main office in Parkwood is funded through consultation fees for the various services and support from the department of social development. The Parkwood office, in turn, supports various other offices in under-resourced areas including Lenasia, Diepsloot, Soweto, Westbury and Alexandra.

“The local community needs to know that we are here for them and we are not less qualified than private counsellors. If people want to help clean up society, we are the broom.”

Williams encouraged the community to make use of the range of services and skills training on offer and donate to keep the organisation on its feet.

For more information, email Bernadette on marketing@familylife.co.za

Related articles:

Family Life Centre in Parkwood celebrates a successful year of helping others