School Counselling Service

• Click here if you go to a school
• Click here if you are a parent
• Click here if you are school staff

Children and young people

Questions you may have about the School Counselling Service, or counselling generally:

What is counselling?
Counselling is all about you having some time and space away from teachers, parents and other children, without being told by someone what you should do or think or feel. You can express yourself in whatever way you feel comfortable, about anything that may be on your mind. Not everyone finds it easy to talk about how they feel, so you may prefer to draw pictures or play with puppets or plasticene. It may be that you have experienced something inside or outside of school that you would like to work out in your head or talk about. You may be feeling sad or confused, or may have feelings that you do not really know what to call.

Is counselling a punishment or a reward?
Counselling is neither a punishment nor a reward. It is all about helping you to feel the best that you can, and get the most that you can out of school and life in general. All people deserve to spend some special time thinking about themselves and their life, but some people need to do this more than others - it is a fact of life and depends on factors such as your personality, what has happened to you, and so on.

Who has counselling?
All different kinds of people have counselling. There is so much for us to deal with in life, and things can seem especially difficult when we are young. There are many changes, such as starting a new school, or making new friends (and sometimes falling out with old ones). Some people may have had some difficult experiences at home or at school, and others may have lost someone close to them. Growing up itself is not easy, with all the physical and emotional changes that that brings. And taking into account how different our personalities are - it is no wonder that sometimes a bit of time and space to catch up with things can be helpful!

Why am I having counselling?
It is common to think that it is only people who have some kind of "problem" who have counselling, but this is not the case. If you have been told that you are going to meet a counsellor, then this means that someone who knows you - a teacher or family member - thinks that you may benefit from having some time and space to work out your feelings. And really, that is all that it means. Usually your counsellor will not know why this might be - and you may not know why either. But you will have time to work out together if and how counselling might help you.

Do I have a say in it?
Of course you do. Even though it may feel as though it has been organised around you, when it comes down to it, it is up to you. You will be encouraged to attend your counselling sessions, but it is not like lessons at school - you do not have to attend. It will always be up to you. It is impossible to force someone to have counselling - you can force someone to physically be at the session, but nothing can happen unless you want it to. And you will have no pressure from the counsellor; after all, they are only there to help you.

When and where will I see my counsellor?
You will have sessions with your counsellor in school and in school time, which means that you will miss all or part of a lesson. Usually counsellors can be flexible so that you will not miss your favourite subject. You will arrange a time with them that suits you both, and this time will remain the same for as long as you decide to spend time together.

Who else will know that I am going for counselling?
Some adults at school and your parents will know that you are having counselling. As you are under 18 years old, your parents will be asked to sign a consent form to allow you to have counselling. It is also possible that some others at school will see you going for your sessions, but neither your counsellor nor teachers will talk to other children about it.

Will the counsellor speak to my parents or teachers about what I do or talk about in my counselling sessions?
Your counsellor will be asked to provide some information to teachers at your school, but this will only be whether you attended your session and whether the sessions are helpful to you or not. There will be no contact between your counsellor and your parents. What actually happens in your sessions - what is talked about, pictures you may draw and so on - is kept completely between you and your counsellor. The only time that this is not the case is if the counsellor feels that you or someone else is in some kind of danger; your counsellor will then talk to you about what needs to be done to keep everyone safe.

Who can I talk to if I would like some more information about counselling?
You can send an email to info@conscire.com, and a school counsellor, like me, will send you a reply answering your questions.

Parents

Are you concerned about your child's emotional well-being? Have they had a traumatic experience and could do with some extra emotional support? Have they started to behave in a way that you are having difficulty understanding and controlling? Are you worried about what will happen if they carry on as they are?

If any of the above are true, speak to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) or head teacher at your child's school about what extra support your child may be able to access.

The school may have a School Counselling Service in place that your child can be referred to. If there is, and you give your consent for your child to be referred to it, they will see a counsellor at a set time each week, to work on issues that they are struggling to deal with. It does not have to be anything that you, or your child, can put a finger on - they may just be feeling a bit low and struggling with things in general. During counselling, your child will be encouraged to express any difficult feelings they are experiencing, either through talking, or drawing, painting, role play, puppetry - whichever way they feel most comfortable expressing themselves.

Counselling works through a special kind of relationship that is built up between the client and counsellor. This relationship is characterised by the counsellor meeting with the client at their level, and seeing the world through their eyes. In order to enable a child to allow someone to share their viewpoint, at the heart of the relationship is trust. An agreement is made right at the beginning that the counsellor will keep everything from within the sessions confidential, unless they suspect that anyone is in any kind of danger. As a consequence of this, the counsellor does not discuss with parents or teachers the content of the sessions. This is not done to exclude anyone from the process of counselling, but to enable the process of counselling.

School Staff

Experiences at school, as well as troubling issues arising outside of school, can all be brought into the classroom and may impact on the mental health and emotional well being of young people.

Research has found that in any school of 1,000 pupils there are likely to be:

• 50 young people with a depressive illness
• 100 who are suffering significant distress
• 10 - 20 young people with obsessive-compulsive disorders
• 5 - 10 girls with eating disorders

Our school counselling service provides both 1:1 counselling and personal development group sessions for children. Research has shown that such activities have a desirable outcome in that they provide opportunities for children to develop:

• self-awareness
• self-regulation
• motivation
• empathy
• social skills

The service functions on a system which combines self-referral and school referral. Programmes adhere to the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy but are customised to suit the unique requirements of each setting.

If you think that a school counselling service would benefit your school, speak to your SENCO or head teacher; or for more information contact Anne at the Conscire office on anne@conscire.com, or telephone 01375 381336.