The Solihull Approach Model

The Solihull Approach has a long history of transforming lives by strengthening relationships and emotional wellbeing. Developed by Dr Hazel Douglas MBE and a team of NHS practitioners in Solihull’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), the model was born from a need to bridge psychological theory with everyday practice, creating a practical, compassionate framework for supporting families and professionals.

A model rooted in the NHS

The Solihull Approach was created within the NHS, and its foundations remain firmly grounded in public health values. It integrates key psychological and psychoanalytic theories — containment, reciprocity and behaviour — into a simple yet powerful model that supports emotional development and relational health. Its core principles are:

Understanding behaviour as communication.
Understanding relationships as the foundation for development.
Promoting emotional containment.
Fostering reflective practice.
Building resilience through connection

This model has been independently reviewed, widely researched, and consistently praised by practitioners across health, education, and social care sectors. It’s used in over 10 countries, with licensed centres in Australia, India, Iceland, Malaysia, and China.

Would you like to learn more about your child’s development while building your confidence as a parent?

Togetherness has developed online programmes/ pathways which help parents and carers learn about big feelings, brain development, behaviour, and how relationships can care for wellbeing.

These are based on the Solihull model and are built on years of expertise, research and real-world experience. Parents have found these programmes/pathways helpful. They are available in a variety of languages and can be accessed anytime and anywhere at your own pace. The pathways available cover every stage of your parenting journey: from pregnancy and infancy through the school years and into adolescence.

They include:
• Antenatal and postnatal learning for the foundations of emotional health
• Children's early development and behaviour
• Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
• Adolescence and young people's mental health
• Adult emotional health including trauma

So how can you access the pathways?

Access for parents, carers, and grandparents is available through the Togetherness Ireland website: –www.togetherness.co.uk/ireland. Once on the website you can browse the pathways to find the most helpful one for you. You will be asked to enter the access code and set up an account to start learning. The access code for Ireland is HIBERNIA.

Filling out feedback questions will help us learn if these are worthwhile for parents

When you follow a pathway, you will be asked some questions about your experience of using it. We want to make sure these programmes/pathways are useful to parents especially as we know how busy you are and how precious your time is. We encourage you to fill out feedback questions you are asked so we gather as much data as possible on whether they are helping families.