Counselling for children and young people
I am very passionate about children and young people’s well being. Therefore I have worked to combine my skills as a primary school teacher and a qualified counsellor.
A wealth of evidence points to a significant need for early mental health support:
Quote from Place 2 be website
- One in ten children aged between 5 and 16 years (three in every classroom) has a mental health problem, and many continue to have these problems into adulthood.
- Over half of all mental ill health starts before the age of 14 years, and 75% has developed by the age of 18.
- Among teenagers, rates of depression and anxiety have increased by 70% in the past 25 years.
Quote from Place 2 be website
Common problems that children and young people encounter include family and relationship difficulties, issues regarding loneliness and anxiety, body image, problems associated with low self esteem and bullying, self harm, exam stress, sense of belonging, abuse, addiction, distress through bereavement or loss, depression and difficulty with decision making.
Children communicate in many different ways, they may say one thing and mean something totally different. For you, the parents/ carers, it may feel like you have lost the person they used to be. Your feelings and theirs can get very entangled. This can be scary and daunting. I am committed to take time and care to work with your young person in a trusting, private and safe space. Counselling may help a young person make sense of their feelings, behaviours and thoughts. Like adults, young people just want to be listened to, have someone just take them seriously. As parents, that can sometimes be difficult. By building a relationship with someone who is impartial in the decision’s they make, can be of enormous help.
Like adults every young person/ child is different and unique. I very much believe in building a warm, encouraging, trusting relationship. Our work together may take on a variety of forms, as children can’t always find the words they need. I am passionate about sand tray work, creative interventions such art, song or craft. Sometimes it can be as simple as modelling a piece of plasticine in our hands, which unlocks painful feelings and thoughts. Having the pressure of not needing to have a conversation makes our words flow easier. My role is to help find a way of communicating which suits the individual.
I also work with parents, either as a couple or individually. Parenting is hard! I am a mum of 3 children, and am learning all the time. Parenting brings challenges, rewards and feelings of inadequacy, guilt and every other emotion in between. During our sessions, it can be helpful just to have the freedom to say anything without fear of judgement or guilt. These sessions like, my other counselling sessions are led by you. So please feel free to refer to the other sections of my website.
Sessions usually begin with me meeting the parent/ carer to hear from you, a little about the issues your child or young person is experiencing. There maybe exceptions to this, as it may not be appropriate to the counsellor/ young person’s relationship for us to speak first.
Some issue that young people/children may experience
Do you recognise any of these, would you or your young person like support for any of these issues?
- Feelings
- Managing behaviour
- Bullying
- Acceptance/ belonging
- Differences
- Self esteem
- Social skills
- Friendships
- Grief
- Relationships
- Divorce
- Loneliness
- Bereavement
- Carers
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Illness
- Body image
Some of the techniques I use
- Sand tray work
- Clay, plasticine modelling
- Talking stories
- Art and craft
- Button work
The benefits of counselling
The benefits of counselling for young people and children can be that it can:
- promote emotional and social well-being
- build self-esteem and confidence
- explore difficult feelings in a safe space
- encourage self-expression
- improve communication and relationships
- encourage greater social awareness
- develop boundaries
- relationships and trust
- explore body awareness and personal space