_edited_edited.png)
Personalised mentorship is for children and teens, built around a trusted relationship, practical skill-building and real support for the parents or caregivers alongside them.
Your child gains an awesome adult who brings compassionate and experienced support for the challenges they are facing, as well as emotional, social and life skills they can use beyond our sessions.
You, the parent or caregiver, gain personalised guidance, a clearer sense of what your child needs, and practical support in knowing what to do next.
When you know your child needs support, but you're not sure where, who, or what will truly help
You know your child. You can feel when something is weighing on them, even when they cannot explain it, don't want to talk about it, or seem to only express it through their behaviour instead.
Perhaps emotions are becoming bigger and harder to recover from. Or friendships, school, anxiety, confidence or change are taking up more space. Maybe you keep having the same conversations, but nothing seems to land (or your child simply does not want to hear it from you!)
That does not mean you are failing them. And it does not mean your child is difficult, broken or a problem to solve.
Sometimes a child needs another safe, steady adult outside the family, someone they can connect with, think out loud with and practise new skills with. And sometimes a parent needs another person in their corner too.
What Mentorship provides
A trusted relationship for your child. Clear, personalised support for you.
My Mentorship supports the child and the adults around them, because children do not develop emotional steadiness, confidence and self-understanding in isolation.
For your child
-
A trusted adult outside the family who gets to know them as a whole person.
-
A warm, engaging space where they can talk without feeling judged, tested or lectured.
-
Language to understand and communicate what is happening in their thoughts, emotions and body.
-
Practical tools for navigating overwhelm, anxiety, frustration and big feelings.
-
Support with friendships, confidence, self-advocacy, decision-making and change.
-
Opportunities to practise skills through real situations (we don't focus on theory.. how boring!)
-
A growing sense that they are capable of understanding and supporting themselves.
For you (the parent / guardian / caregiver)
-
A trusted person who understands your child and the wider family context.
-
Greater clarity about recurring patterns, pressure points and what your child may be communicating.
-
Practical guidance tailored to the situations you are actually dealing with at home.
-
Language and tools that help you support your child without adding more pressure.
-
Space to think through difficult moments and decide what to try next.
-
Support in feeling steadier and more confident when things are hard.
-
The relief of not having to carry every question or work it all out alone.
My Approach
We do not try to 'fix' the behaviour
Big reactions, withdrawal, anxiety, frustration or conflict are often signs that a child is carrying more than they currently know how to understand, express or manage.
Behaviour gives us information. It can point towards overwhelm, uncertainty, sensory load, fear, disconnection, unmet needs or skills that are still developing. Looking beneath the behaviour helps us respond to the child rather than only trying to stop what we can see on the surface.
But understanding is not the finish line.
Together, we turn insight into language, ways forward and practical skills your child can use at home, at school and in their relationships, with support for you in helping those skills become part of everyday life.
Over time, your child builds the capacity to recognise what is happening, recover more easily and use what they are learning when life is actually hard.
Some of what we build together draws on breathing, movement and mindfulness, informed by my training as a qualified yoga teacher for both children and adults.
My support can help with
-
Emotional overwhelm, rapid escalation and difficulty recovering after big feelings
-
Anxiety, worry, avoidance or shutting down
-
ADHD and neurodivergent experiences, approached from an affirming rather than deficit-based perspective
-
Friendship stress, exclusion, conflict and changing social dynamics
-
Anger, frustration and finding safer ways to express what is happening
-
Confidence, identity, self-esteem and fear of getting things wrong
-
School pressure, transitions, travel and other significant changes
-
Communication, self-advocacy, independence and everyday decision-making
Your child does not need a diagnosis or a crisis for mentorship to be valuable. The starting point is simply what they, and your family, are navigating right now.
The Child Relationship
Connection first. Skills that grow from there.
Your child does not need one more adult giving them a lecture, analysing every response or telling them what they should already know.
Every call is intentionally curated for your child, but I do not force children through a rigid curriculum. I get to know the child in front of me: their interests, humour, energy, strengths, sensitivities and the things happening in their real life.
Depending on the child and the day, calls may include:
-
Natural conversation and space to talk things through
-
Stories, metaphors and child-friendly explanations
-
Games, role-play, creative activities and movement
-
Visual tools and personalised resources
-
Real friendship, school or family scenarios
-
Practising words, choices and strategies they can use outside the session
Children are invited in rather than expected to perform. This is why sessions can feel safe, useful and genuinely enjoyable, and why children look forward to showing up.
Parent Support
You are the expert of your child. You bring the history, daily context and deep knowledge of your child.
I bring another perspective, an outside relationship with your child, and practical experience in emotional and social skill-building.
Together, we look for patterns, make sense of difficult moments and decide where support can be most useful. Sometimes that means helping you understand why an approach is already working. Sometimes it means offering a new perspective, a practical tool or a different way into a recurring challenge.
My aim is not to give you more information or a longer list of things to carry. It is to help you feel clearer, better supported and more able to meet your child where they are.
I believe that meaningful change becomes more possible when both the child and the adults supporting them feel understood and equipped.
“Whenever I speak to you or ask you something, what I get back, I'm just like, 'She's nailed it. She's absolutely nailed it.' Obviously for me, it's wonderful having you just to have that extra person.”
Lucy, daughter age 10
Hello! I'm Lara
Children have always been at the centre of my world.
Long before I became an educator, I was the person who naturally found her way into children’s games and conversations. You know that person at a gathering who ends up playing in the garden with the children instead of chatting to the adults? That’s me, and it always has been.
That connection led me to become a qualified school teacher and yoga teacher for both children and adults. Over the past decade, I’ve built my life’s work around it - working with children in classrooms, art rooms, yoga classes, workshops and long-term mentorship.
My work is relationship-first, nervous-system-informed and grounded in practical skill-building. I use creativity, play, movement, mindfulness, breath-work and conversation to meet children where they are and help them understand themselves, regulate emotions, navigate everyday challenges and practise skills they can genuinely use in their lives.
When a child is having a difficult time, I look beyond the behaviour to understand what is making the present situation hard and identify the capacities, skills or support they may need.
Within Family Mentorship, I become a trusted adult outside the family; someone who takes the time to earn your child’s trust, understand their world, recognise their strengths and remain firmly in their corner as they grow.
While my relationship with your child sits at the heart of the mentorship, you are supported too. I work in thoughtful partnership with you, sharing what I’m noticing, helping you understand the capacities and skills your child is developing, and offering practical ways to support them between sessions. You know your child and your family best; my role is to bring another trusted perspective and help you feel more informed, supported and steady as you navigate things together.
There is warmth, playfulness and plenty of room for fun in this work. There is laughter, curiosity and the occasional unexpected tangent. As trust develops, children often participate, reflect and experiment more freely.
The relationship isn’t separate from the work. It’s what makes the work possible.
Who this is for
For families looking for a trusted relationship, not a quick behaviour fix
My mentorship is designed for children and teens around the ages of 7 to 15. These ages are guidelines rather than rigid cut-offs; fit depends more on the child’s needs, readiness and ability to engage online.
This may be a strong fit if:
-
You can see that your child is struggling emotionally, socially or with a period of change, even if they cannot fully explain why
-
Your child may benefit from a trusted adult outside the family who can build a relationship with them over time
-
You want your child to build emotional, communication and real-life skills, not only have somewhere to vent
-
You want practical guidance grounded in a genuine understanding of your child, rather than generic advice that could apply to any family
-
You want to be supported and included without taking over your child’s mentorship space
-
You are open to an ongoing, relational process rather than expecting everything to change after one conversation
This may not be the right fit if:
-
The only goal is immediate compliance or stopping a behaviour without exploring what the child may need
-
You are looking for a once-off intervention or a rigid programme with the same script for every child
-
Your child currently needs urgent, crisis-based, diagnostic or clinical mental-health support
-
The mentorship relationship is being used as a punishment or something the child is being forced to attend
This is mentorship, not therapy. I will always be honest if I believe your child’s needs fall outside my scope or require a different form of support. Where appropriate, mentorship may sit alongside therapeutic or other professional care when each person’s role is clear.
How Mentorship works
Personalised support, with enough structure to create momentum and enough flexibility for real life
1. Start with a free Connection Call. We begin with a 30-minute conversation about what has been happening for your child and your family, what you are hoping for, and whether this feels like the right kind of support.
2. Map the starting point together. I use the context you have shared to identify the most useful initial areas of focus. The mentorship is entirely personalised to your child's circumstances and needs.
3. Your child receives nine individual sessions. Child sessions take place online and generally run for 45 minutes to one hour, depending on the child, their age, their energy and what the session needs.
4. The nine sessions are used flexibly across twelve weeks. Many families settle into a weekly rhythm, but the twelve-week container allows for school activities, travel, illness and the reality of family life as well as time to pause for integration of skills learned. Sessions may follow a three-weeks-on, one-week-off rhythm or roll more flexibly around your schedule.
5. You receive monthly parent support. Three one-hour parent alignment and strategy calls are available across the twelve weeks, generally as monthly check-ins. There is no obligation to use every call if direct WhatsApp support feels more useful or accessible.
6. Support continues between sessions. You have ongoing WhatsApp access throughout the mentorship for relevant updates, questions and guidance. Messages are responded to within 24-48 hours, as set out in the mentorship agreement.
7. Resources are created around your child. Where useful, I provide personalised visuals, reflections, prompts or practical resources that help your child and family reinforce the work outside our sessions.
8. We review the journey and decide what comes next. Towards the end of the initial twelve weeks, we reflect on what has shifted, where my support has added value and where it can continue to do so, if you choose to continue.
9. Session times and the overall rhythm are created around your family as far as possible. The aim is consistency without forcing the mentorship into a schedule that ignores the reality of your child’s life.
What other families have said
Lucy
(daughter, 10)
“Your voice note has definitely given me a bit of clarity in my brain. It's like doing what I'm doing, but instead of her getting defensive, we need her to actually see how it benefits her.”
Abbi
(son, 7)
“You are the only person he's ready to talk to where I don't have to insist with him. For homework, we almost always get into a fight.”
Ndivhu
(cousins - girl 12 & boy 13)
“Thank you, I enjoy these poster summaries. This is great even for us as adults. The children reflected to us what they've been exploring in the sessions, and they seem to be enjoying and grasping it. ”
Amanda,
(girl, 9)
“We must renew for another 12 months because you are her pillar.”
Investment
My rates are not priced session per session. They reflect a reserved place within a deliberately small practice, preparation and research specific to your child, ongoing parent support and strategic guidance, and the flexibility to keep adapting as your family's needs change.
Prices are shown and invoiced in South African Rands (ZAR).
Initial 12-Week Mentorship: R36,000
A note on financial accessibility: A limited number of supported-rate places are be available to families where cost would otherwise prevent access. Equitable access matters to me, and cost shouldn't be the reason a family who needs this support can't reach it. A limited number of supported-rate places are held for families where the standard rate would otherwise be out of reach. There's no formal application, just raise it during your Connection Call, and we'll have an honest conversation about what's possible.
The Initial 12-week Mentorship Container Includes:
-
9 online child mentorship calls (45 - 60 minutes)
-
This flexible structure allows for illness, travel and schedule clashes.
-
-
3 parent alignment and strategy calls available across the twelve weeks (1-hour)
-
Ongoing parent WhatsApp support, with responses within 36 hours
-
Personalised preparation for each child session
-
Relevant reflections, visuals and practical resources where useful
Renewed Containers
Once the initial 12-week container is complete, you have a choice of renewing for a 3, 6 or 12 month container:
-
3 months at R12,000/month,
-
6 months at R10,500/month,
-
12 months at R9,000/month.
Continued mentorship remains personalised around your child and family. The exact session rhythm and support structure are agreed together before renewal so that the next container reflects what is genuinely needed.
Next Steps
Book a free 30-minute Connection Call where I can understand what’s going on for your child and your family, and we can see whether this kind of support is the right fit. No pressure. No over-explaining. Just clarity.
FAQs
Is this therapy or counselling?
No. My Mentorship is a relational, educational and skill-building form of support. It does not diagnose or treat mental-health conditions and is not a replacement for clinical care. I will always be honest if I believe another form of support is needed.
Can mentorship work alongside therapy or other professional support?
Where appropriate, yes. Mentorship can complement other support when the roles are clear and the different professionals are not working at cross-purposes. We can discuss your child's existing support during the Connection Call.
Does my child need a diagnosis?
No. Children do not need a diagnosis for mentorship to be valuable. I work with the child's lived experience, strengths, needs and current challenges rather than requiring a label.
Are the ages of 7–15 strict?
No. They are guidelines. The more important questions are whether the child's needs fit the mentorship space, whether they can engage online and whether I feel I am the right person to support them.
How long are sessions?
Child sessions generally run for 45 minutes to one hour, depending on the child and the session. Parent strategy calls are one hour.
How are sessions scheduled?
All sessions take place online. Times and the overall rhythm are arranged to suit your family as far as possible. The nine child sessions are available across twelve weeks so there is room for illness, school activities, travel and other schedule changes.
Do I have to attend all three parent calls?
No. The monthly calls are available for deeper alignment and strategy, but there is no obligation to use every call. Some parents prefer to use ongoing WhatsApp support instead or combine the two.
What does WhatsApp support include?
WhatsApp can be used for relevant updates, questions, reflections and practical guidance between sessions. Messages are responded to within 36 hours, in line with the mentorship agreement. WhatsApp support is not an emergency or crisis-response service.
What if my child is unsure about joining?
That is understandable. Children are not expected to arrive ready to share everything or immediately trust a new adult. The relationship is built gradually, and sessions are shaped around their interests, pace and personality. We can talk about readiness and how to introduce the mentorship during the Connection Call.
What will be shared with me as the parent?
Your child needs room to build a trusting relationship, and you need enough context to support them well. At the beginning, we agree how communication between us will work. Parent guidance focuses on relevant themes, skills, patterns and practical support without turning the child's session into a report on everything they have said.
