Child Counselling and Mental Health

Recently the media have seized upon the lack of mental health provision with numerous statistics such as 1 in 10 school children needing help and “celebrities” from Prince Harry to Aaron Lennon having undertaken or in need of professional counselling.  Media exposure has also awakened politicians to the plight with promises from all the leaders including Theresa May that this problem must and will be addressed.

Theresa May announced earlier in the year that secondary schools will be given training over the next three years to help identify mental health problems in pupils, however MPs have expressed fears that plans to train teachers will be inadequate without more resources for onward referrals given budget cuts across schools and local authorities.  Barbara Keeley, the shadow mental health minister, said the issue of mental health among young people required more than just “teacher training, a review and a green paper”, and questioned why the training was being applied just to secondary schools when many pupils develop mental health problems before they turn 14.  A better commitment would be to fund a counsellor in every school, Keeley said, adding that teachers needed to be supported to both identify and respond to issues.

Third of Children’s Mental Health Services
may be facing downsizing or closure

Initial findings of a joint survey of over 3,000 NHS Counsellors, Psychotherapists and Psychoanalysts have been released by four of the UK’s leading Counselling Associations.

  • 84% of NHS Counsellors say children now need to have more severe levels of illness in order to get help
  • 67% say waiting times have got longer over the last 5 years
  • 76% say the number of posts is inadequate to meet client’s needs
  • 33% say their service is facing downsizing or closure

Early intervention is particularly important for children and young people, for whom mental illness can have profound, long-term consequencesValley Trust can help your school provide professional counselling to children who need it most.

Valley Trust welcomes new Counsellors

Marian Holmes
Marian has worked with children and young people in various capacities for most of her life.  With an MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents, she has already gained experience of counselling in schools through previous volunteer work.  Prior to training in this field, Marian worked for 19 years as a school teacher with Nursery – Year 8 children and a tutor to young people up to the age of 16, many of whom were “school refusers”, “Looked After Children” or refugees.

Debbie Langdon
Having worked within the Police Service for 30 years, dealing with people from all backgrounds and cultures, Debbie has extensive experience in human behaviour and the motivation behind it.  Debbie has now been using her Integrative Relational Counselling degree within School and Youth settings alongside running her own private practice.