A new free 12-week adult learning programme is being launched on the Isle of Wight to help residents build confidence, strengthen relationships and develop practical skills for everyday life.
Restore, created by Preziosa Therapia founder and therapist Louise Rippon, is being funded by Isle of Wight Council Adult Community Learning.
The programme has been developed from Louise’s professional experience working with adults, children and families across counselling, wellbeing and community settings.
Across 12 weekly sessions, participants will explore how to manage stress and overwhelm, patterns of thinking and behaviour, emotional regulation, communication, conflict and repair, and relationships and boundaries.
Sessions will also cover problem-solving, self-advocacy, organisation and practical stability.
Organisers say building connections with others will form a key part of the programme, including looking at how people communicate and what happens when emotions become heightened.
Participants will also consider how their own experiences and patterns can influence the way they respond to children, partners, colleagues, friends and others.
Restore is not a therapy group, but a structured adult learning programme combining psychoeducation, practical activities and opportunities to learn and practise skills which can be used in everyday life.
Louise Rippon, founder of Preziosa Therapia, has 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.
“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 programme will be delivered in small groups, with daytime, evening and Saturday options being offered alongside a planned men-only evening group.
Places will be limited, and Isle of Wight residents are currently being invited to register their interest. Details of how to register have not been provided.
The launch comes ahead of an expansion for Preziosa Therapia, which is set to bring additional space in Newport into use in October 2026.
The extra space will increase capacity for groups, workshops, adult learning and community projects alongside the organisation’s existing counselling provision.
Louise added:
“Restore is one programme, but for me it is also part of something much bigger.
“Bringing our additional space online in October means we will have the physical capacity to do more. I hope that, through partnerships, collaboration and future funding, we can continue developing projects that respond to what people on the Island actually need and, with cost being such a huge barrier, most importantly, I will endeavour to make as many of those opportunities as possible free to access.
“We hear regularly from our community that they are not able to access the support they need to thrive; this space will go a little towards bridging that gap, and my mission is to do everything I can to provide much-needed services to empower people to grow.”
The expanded Preziosa Therapia space is due to be officially opened in October by the High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, Nigel Hartley MBE.
You can register your interest here.
