Life Story Training
The Valley Trust is committed to encouraging continued professional development for the Counsellors who deliver our service. We recently hosted a day of Life Story Training with over two thirds of our Counsellors in attendance. We were delighted to welcome Sharon Tilling from The Rainbow Practice Ltd who delivered an excellent session which proved to be really hands-on and informative for our Counsellors. Life story work has evolved over the last 40 years. It originally began as a way of helping children in the care system to develop a sense of identity and continuity. Life story work takes many formats from books, to later life letters and memory boxes. Life story work is an innovative and exciting way for children, parents, carers, and their social workers, to look at the child’s history through a therapeutic lens. It can be an important way of helping a child to integrate their past into the present, in order to help them to move into the future.
The Valley Trust Welcomes New Counsellor
We are delighted to introduce Dee Cameron, who will be delivering our Counselling Service at The Ashcombe School in Dorking. Dee has lots of experience of working therapeutically with young people, whilst working for Youth Counselling Services (NHS), Dee was responsible for the management and implementation of Peer Support in schools across Surrey and actively involved in the promotion of emotional literacy and well-being.
Dee also has her own private practice, and is a counsellor for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Government Plans for Mental Health Support in Schools
Children and young people in England are to be able to access mental health support at school or college under government plans to improve services. The proposals include introducing a four-week waiting time for youngsters needing specialist support and new mental health support teams in schools. It is hoped around one in four schools in England will have this provision in place by 2022. Campaigners say it was welcome, but overdue and “only a start”. The issue of young people’s mental health has long been of concern, with parents, charities and healthcare professionals warning that families are not getting the support they need. According to new NHS figures, around one in 10 girls aged 16 or 17 were referred to specialist mental health services in England last year.
Source: BBC News