Young people, like adults, can find their behaviour and ability to concentrate is compromised when they’re trying to deal with difficult issues. Many don’t have someone who will take the time to listen, or find it too difficult to share how they feel with parents, teachers or even friends.

With our qualified, school-based counsellors, young people are given the time to express their concerns within the boundaries of a safe, caring, non-judgmental relationship.

82% of children and young people interviewed felt that counselling services should be available to them. Over three quarters of these children and young people thought that counselling should be based within a school. - "What do they know?" The Children's Right Alliance for England (CRAE)

How can the Talk Well Counselling in Schools Service support schools with Ofsted Inspections?

Talk Well can significantly help to meet the needs of vulnerable pupils and has a proven track record of seeing improvements in students’ general wellbeing, school attendance, re-engagement with school life and peer relationships.

School management have reported perceived improvements in attainment, attendance and behaviour of young people who have accessed school-based counselling services. - Pybis et al., 2012.

At Talk Well, we believe that working with young people is a specialist field and we are careful to select counsellors who are highly experienced in this area.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our staff, their ongoing professional development, regular supervision and commitment to care for young people.

Talk Well is an organisational member of The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). We ensure that all therapeutic staff:

• Are fully qualified to at least Counselling Diploma level (a minimum of 450 hours taught contact hours).
• Have a relevant enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check updated on a regular basis.
• Receive regular supervision with a qualified clinical supervisor
• Receive regular ongoing training.
• Are registered members of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or equivalent.
• Work to the BACP Ethical Framework.

We hold relevant professional indemnity and public liability insurance for the counselling services we provide.

“I just wanna urge anyone who feels they need to talk to someone to do so. The guys at Talk Well are fantastic and believe me I’d be loads more messed up if it wasn’t for their support. Take that first step. Even though it’s hard it’s worth it.” - Student aged 17 who came for counselling

Counselling can be used very effectively as an early intervention strategy to prevent the deterioration of a child or young person’s emotional health and wellbeing. It can enhance a pupil’s self-esteem and enable them to cope more effectively within a school setting, both socially and academically.

Counselling can be helpful for children and young people who are experiencing a variety of issues:

“Before counselling I was depressed and constantly upset, and had bad voices that made it hard for me to concentrate at school and I stopped going out with friends. Since the counselling I have learnt ways to distract myself from the voices so that I can concentrate better at school, I have also started to go out with friends.” - 16 year old student after eight sessions of School based Counselling

Our counsellors work alongside the young person to build a positive, honest and safe relationship. Having earned the respect and trust of the young person, the counsellor is ideally placed to encourage young people to discover techniques that will enhance and strengthen their decision-making and self-help abilities. Young people learn to build positive relationships, standing them in good stead for the future.

Our overall aim is to assist young people to reach their full personal potential.

The benefits of providing Counselling for pupils:

• Improved self-esteem
• Reducing the risk of exclusion
• Improvements in behaviour
• Improvements in attendance
• Improved peer relationships
• Better attainment /achievement

“Without Talk Well the issues I faced would have got worse. I would have gone deeper into depression” - Thomas aged 16

• Short term crisis intervention support – for critical incidents
• Psycho-educational workshop programmes:
• De-stress for children and young people
• De-stress awareness for teaching staff
• Self-Harm awareness for staff and parents.
• INSET training for staff – Basic Counselling Skills etc.
• Provision of supervision for school pastoral support staff
• Family Counselling

“To know the problems many youngsters in our care face, and to witness their ongoing progress in school, is a testimony to the fact we have had the right support, at the right time, from Talk Well” - Department Head, Glos. Secondary School

• Over twenty years of experience in delivering counselling in school settings.
• Links with universal, targeted and specialist services to provide a seamless pathway of support where appropriate i.e. CYPS (Children and Young Peoples’ Service); Eating Disorder Service; GRIP (Gloucestershire Recovery in Psychosis.)
• Annual or Short Term contracts to allow consistency / flexibility of provision.
• Ability to respond quickly in a crisis.
• Established policies and procedures for implementing service provision and maintaining quality assurance.

In order for an effective, quality assured counselling service to be established the following needs to have been identified within a school before work can begin:

• Accommodation for the counsellor: A fit for purpose room for delivering the counselling needs to be available e.g. one that is the same each week, comfortable and private but not isolated.
• A referral process: Schools need to consider if a child or young person will refer themselves to the Counsellor or if referrals will be managed through someone in the school e.g. Head Teacher or SENCO. We can advise on setting this up.
• Referral criteria: When a referral process is put in place it is helpful to consider the criteria that will be used to identify pupils who are most in need of Counselling. It is also helpful to have this in writing.
• A named Child Protection Liaison Officer: This is vital in ensuring any disclosures arising from the work are taken forward in line with Safeguarding and Child Protection policy and procedures. This relationship will also be used to feedback any non-confidential strategies that may support the school in working with the child/young person e.g. child/young person needs ‘time out’ after counselling.
• A process for gaining Parental Consent (Primary Schools): A range of options exist that we can advise on e.g. sending an ‘opt out’ letter to all parents before work begins. Counselling works best when it is supported by a parent / carer and as such counsellors working within Primary Schools will offer to meet with Parents before the work begins.

Talk Well counselling is beneficial for children, young people and families experiencing a variety of issues. However, it is not appropriate for:

• Children and young people who do not want to, or do not understand, why they are attending. All therapeutic work is dependent on a child or young person engaging with the process and it is important that the child or young person understands why they are being referred for counselling, and that they are willing to participate.
• Children and young people who need a specialist mental health assessment or diagnosis. Talk Well counsellors are not qualified to carry out mental health assessments, make a diagnosis or prescribe treatment. If during the course of counselling, specialist mental health needs are identified, counsellors are able to support schools in accessing specialist services, as and when appropriate.
  Where a school identifies a pupil or family who will not engage with specialist mental health services, where appropriate, counsellors will work in partnership with CYPS (Children and Young People’s service) to ensure that an intervention is delivered to support the child or young person’s emotional and mental health and wellbeing.
• Children and young people receiving therapy from another service. The Talk Well Counselling in Schools Service will not usually work with a child or young person who is receiving any therapeutic intervention from another service. This is an ethical decision taken to prevent any confusion for a child or young person, and avoid any possible ‘contamination’ of work. On occasion, as part of a therapeutic package being offered by CYPS, we may work alongside one another to support a child or young person and their family, but this work would be delivered within clear boundaries.

“Although Kyle is quite a complex young man because of his issues and difficulties the counselling helped him a great deal, he is now more settled in class, willing to speak up, has better friendships and seems more confident and happier in himself. I rate the service given by Talk Well as 9/10!”- Gloucestershire School Teacher

Within the boundaries of confidentiality, our counsellors will look to share strategies and information that does not compromise the integrity of the work that is being carried out.

If the counsellor believes it would be beneficial, they may work with a child or young person to empower them to share information with their family or with the school themselves, rather than speaking on their behalf.

The Talk Well Counselling in Schools Service recognises how frustrating confidentiality can be for schools and our counsellors are encouraged to work confidentially, but not in isolation.

At the beginning of any work, a contract is set up between the therapist and the child or young person, explaining the boundaries of confidentiality. It makes clear that if a child or young person is considered to be at risk of significant harm from others, or to themselves, as a result of information that is disclosed, the counsellor will need to share this with the Designated Child Protection lead in the school to help keep them as safe as possible.

The counsellor would look to obtain the child or young person’s permission to share information. Any decision that is taken by the counsellor with regards to breaking confidentiality will be done in the best interests of the child or young person.

If your school commissions the Talk Well Counselling in Schools Service, you are paying for counsellors to deliver face-to-face counselling each week.

This means that counsellors are unable to attend CAF (Common Assessment Framework) and TAC (Team Around the Child) meetings in person, unless the time reserved for the child or young person is used instead.

However, a short report can be submitted, which will be agreed with the child or young person, to help feed into the process.

If a counsellor is unwell, we ask them to make up the session they have missed at an alternative time. We do recognise though that this is not always possible.

Schools who commission our service can choose either an annual or short-term contract. Whilst we do not work for less than one term with a child or young person (unless they choose to end the work), we recognise it can be difficult to anticipate the level of need within a school each year. Contracts can be increased or decreased to meet demand, provided there is sufficient capacity within the service.

No. For most young people in secondary school, counselling can be undertaken without parental consent, providing the young person is “Gillick competent” (see below quote). In primary schools, parents are asked to give written consent to the work.

“As a general principle it is legal and acceptable for a young person to ask for confidential counselling without parental consent providing they are of sufficient understanding and intelligence.” - Gillick v West Norfolk AHA, House of Lords 1985