Years of Service
Community Locations
Families Supported
Who We Are
Founded in 1949, the Family Life Centre exists because strong families are the foundation of a healthy society. We provide professional, compassionate mental health services to individuals, families, and communities, especially the most vulnerable.
Our Services
Counselling Services
The Family Life Centre offers professional counselling services to individuals, couples, families, and groups in a confidential, safe, and supportive environment. Our trained counsellors encourage clients to share their stories openly and to explore their concerns, emotions, and experiences without judgment.
Our counselling services address a wide range of personal, relational, and emotional challenges, including trauma and grief, marriage and couples counselling, pre-marital counselling, anger management, substance abuse, parenting skills, domestic violence and gender-based violence, adolescent counselling, and behaviour modification. Through compassionate engagement and evidence-based approaches, we support clients in building resilience, strengthening relationships, and navigating life’s difficulties with dignity and hope.
Life Skills Programmes, Support Groups, Training Programmes and Talks
The Family Life Centre offers a variety of life skills programmes, support groups, training sessions, and educational talks designed to empower individuals, families, and communities. These programmes focus on personal growth, emotional wellbeing, and the development of healthy relationships.
Topics covered include stress management, effective communication, conflict resolution, developing assertiveness, managing trauma, emotional intelligence, women empowerment, building healthy families, effective parenting skills, marriage preparation and enrichment, divorce support, post-trauma support groups, and personal growth and development. Our programmes are delivered in an interactive and supportive manner, equipping participants with practical tools to navigate personal and relational challenges more effectively.
HIV/AIDS Programme
The Family Life Centre is deeply committed to addressing the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic through comprehensive support, education, and community engagement. Our HIV/AIDS Programme provides individual counselling, support groups for people living with HIV, and support services for affected families and friends.
In addition, we offer training for educators and lay counsellors, and conduct ongoing awareness and prevention drives within the community. The programme also collaborates with the WITS Research Centre to address the specific needs of sex workers. Through a holistic and compassionate approach, we aim to reduce stigma, strengthen coping mechanisms, and promote healthier, more informed communities.
Employee Wellness Programme (Employee Support Services)
The Employee Wellness Programme, established in 1988, is a specialised division of the Family Life Centre that supports employees and their families through preventative, therapeutic, and empowerment services. The programme is built on long-standing, trusted relationships with a wide range of organisations across South Africa.
Employee Support Services are defined as structured manpower management systems designed to assist employees with personal challenges that may affect, or have the potential to affect, job performance. Research shows that emotional distress significantly impacts workplace productivity, absenteeism, and safety. Our programme recognises the interconnectedness of family life, personal wellbeing, and the workplace.
Purpose of the Programme
Providing preventative and therapeutic services
Developing and delivering empowerment programmes
Providing mediation services to affected parties
Facilitating healthy work environments
Our Approach
We operate on the understanding that a healthy society depends on healthy families, and that difficulties experienced at home affect the workplace — and vice versa. Employees have the right to confidential, accessible services delivered by skilled professionals.
What We Offer
Professional, quality services based on over 70 years of experience
Multi-lingual, multi-cultural professional staff
Access to a national network of 27 affiliated organisations
A wide range of workplace and personal support services
Credibility within both community and business environments
Workplace Counselling
Counselling is available to individuals, couples, and families through self-referral, management referral, or colleague referral. Services include trauma and grief debriefing, change management workshops, mediation, and employee–employer negotiations.
Work-Related Programmes
These include preparation for retrenchment, coping with retrenchment, change management, conflict management, mediation of work relationships, staff restructuring support, personal and professional development, business and financial management, budgeting and saving, and staff wellness initiatives.
Education for Living Programme
The Education for Living Programme is designed to equip young people with the knowledge, skills, and values needed to make healthy choices and build positive relationships with themselves, their families, their peers, and others. The programme is delivered through interactive workshops that include group discussions, role plays, visual tools, and age-appropriate learning activities.
Who Should Attend
Courses are offered to learners from Grades 1 to 12 and are delivered in schools by highly trained facilitators. From Grade 8 onwards, learners actively participate in shaping course content to ensure relevance and engagement.
Programme Content by Grade
Grades 1–4: Child safety workshops using puppets, stories, songs, and videos, covering feelings, stranger danger, personal boundaries, bullying, and safety planning.
Grade 5: Preparation for puberty, friendships, peer pressure, bullying, self-esteem, values, and life skills.
Grades 6–7: Physical and emotional changes during puberty, reproduction, menstruation, conception, healthy sexuality, STDs (including HIV/AIDS), communication, peer relationships, and family dynamics.
Grades 8–10: Topics include stress, depression, peer pressure, substance abuse, eating disorders, healthy sexuality, emotional intelligence, confidence building, conflict management, and value formation.
Parental Involvement
Parents are actively involved through information sessions, workshops, and talks addressing parenting skills, adolescent discipline, communication, bullying, emotional intelligence, and recognising potential problem areas.
Role of the Educator
Family Life Centre educators provide structured, interactive, and engaging sessions in a safe, non-judgmental environment. They respect cultural diversity and family values while supporting learners through their developmental stages.
Support Services
The programme also offers customised workshops, peer counselling training, divorce management support, trauma and grief management, stress management for teachers and learners, and tailored interventions for schools with specific needs.
Divorce and Family Mediation Services
The Divorce and Family Mediation Department, established in 1984, assists families in resolving disputes amicably through mediation rather than litigation. Mediation is a structured negotiation process facilitated by trained, neutral mediators, helping couples make informed decisions regarding custody, access, maintenance, and the division of assets.
At Family Life Centre, mediation is conducted by co-mediation teams consisting of a legally trained mediator and a social worker, counsellor, or psychologist. The process encourages cooperation, reduces conflict, saves time and costs, and prioritises the best interests of children.
Mediation is confidential and ethically conducted, with agreements recorded in a Memorandum of Understanding, which can later be converted into a legally binding Agreement of Settlement.
The service also includes the “Children Are For Keeps” parenting plan, which supports parents in making informed decisions about their children’s wellbeing, living arrangements, education, healthcare, and emotional development.
Community Outreach Programmes
Family Life Centre’s community outreach initiatives bring preventative, educational, and support services directly into communities. Staff and volunteers work with children, youth, and adults to promote emotional, social, and psychological wellbeing.
Through interactive processes and ongoing information drives, we aim to empower communities with knowledge, skills, and resources that foster healthy relationships and personal development.
Employee Support Services are defined as structured manpower management systems designed to assist employees with personal challenges that may affect, or have the potential to affect, job performance. Research shows that emotional distress significantly impacts workplace productivity, absenteeism, and safety. Our programme recognises the interconnectedness of family life, personal wellbeing, and the workplace.
Purpose of the Programme
Providing preventative and therapeutic services
Developing and delivering empowerment programmes
Providing mediation services to affected parties
Facilitating healthy work environments
Our Approach
We operate on the understanding that a healthy society depends on healthy families, and that difficulties experienced at home affect the workplace — and vice versa. Employees have the right to confidential, accessible services delivered by skilled professionals.
What We Offer
Professional, quality services based on over 70 years of experience
Multi-lingual, multi-cultural professional staff
Access to a national network of 27 affiliated organisations
A wide range of workplace and personal support services
Credibility within both community and business environments
Workplace Counselling
Counselling is available to individuals, couples, and families through self-referral, management referral, or colleague referral. Services include trauma and grief debriefing, change management workshops, mediation, and employee–employer negotiations.
Work-Related Programmes
These include preparation for retrenchment, coping with retrenchment, change management, conflict management, mediation of work relationships, staff restructuring support, personal and professional development, business and financial management, budgeting and saving, and staff wellness initiatives.
Training and Development
The Family Life Centre offers professional training and development programmes for educators, health professionals, human resource managers, tertiary students, clergy, and lay counsellors. Courses range from basic to advanced counselling training and are delivered either in person or online.
Training programmes include adolescent counselling, anger management, trauma containment, grief counselling, couple counselling, emotional intelligence, stress management, and Prepare/Enrich relationship training. Courses can be tailored to meet the specific needs of organisations, schools, faith-based institutions, and corporate environments.
Through high-quality, practical training, we equip participants with the skills, knowledge, and self-awareness required to support others effectively and ethically.
We Work With
Education for Living Programme
Empowering young people to make healthy choices and build strong relationships.
Help Us Strengthen Families
Your support enables access to mental health services for those who need it most.