Overview of Service
The-Exchange is now providing counselling and emotional and psychological support in all secondary schools within East Ayrshire. This service provides a private space where children and young people can talk about things which are troubling them. Talking things over with a professional can help children to find better ways to cope with difficulties. The-Exchange will provide nominated counsellors with their main remit dedicated to providing one-to-one counselling, working collaboratively with parents/carers, central and school staff, building capacity with schools and keeping all informed about the service.
What is Counselling?
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) definition of counselling is:
‘Counselling takes place when a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore a difficulty the client is having, distress they may have experienced or perhaps their dissatisfaction with life, or loss of a sense of direction and purpose.’
By listening attentively and patiently the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client’s point of view and can help them to see things more clearly, possibly from a different perspective. Although the counsellor will not tell the client directly what to do, there are elements of psychoeducation which can help empower the client. Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change, or of reducing confusion.
In the counselling sessions, the client can explore various aspects of their life and talk about their feelings openly in a neutral environment often not possible with family or friends. Bottled-up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment can become very intense and counselling offers an opportunity to explore them, with the possibility of making them easier to understand. The counsellor will encourage the expression of feelings and as a result of their training will be able to accept and reflect the client’s problems without becoming burdened by them.
There are many ways of working or ‘modalities’ in counselling and psychotherapy. Therapists may be trained in one approach or use techniques from different methods if they think these would help a client but in all cases there will be a focus on developing resilience resources.
BACP make it clear that counselling should always be at the request of the client. This is equally true for school counselling services and the child or young person must agree that counselling would be a good option for them before referrals are made. It is important to note that children and young people cannot be ‘sent to counselling.’ Accessing counselling services must be the decision of the child or young person and their parents where appropriate.
The-Exchange will work collaboratively with school staff to complement existing provisions and create a shared psychological wellbeing agenda.
Where does counselling fit in with the continuum of other MH and wellbeing supports
Counselling is only one of a range of supports available within schools to support children and young people’s emotional and mental health needs. Some of the supports may include regular check-ins with a trusted adult, a peer mentor/befriender, targeted group such as Seasons for Growth, access to the school nursing service or support from 3rd sector agencies. Educational Psychologists can support schools in identifying the right type of support through Team Around the Child meetings.
Although counselling can have a positive effect on improving emotional and mental health it is rarely the ‘only solution’, the agenda of psychological wellbeing is broad and evidence indicates that the contribution of others (such as; having access to emotional wellbeing expertise within a school context) is critical to the ongoing healthy emotional development of young people. Counselling will target those who require additional input but this will be within the context of whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing.
It is therefore important to ensure that when considering whether counselling is to be offered to a child or young person that a range of alternative universal and targeted supports have already been offered.
Inclusion Criteria
There are a range of reasons why pupils may be considered for requesting assistance from the counselling service. They may be experiencing emotional distress which has persisted over time or have experienced a traumatic event or crisis with recognised consequences. Some examples could be:
- Breakdown of relationship/s
- Depression
- Panic Attacks/anxiety
- Self-harm
- Anger/frustration
- Body image/self-esteem
- Abuse
- Suicidal thoughts
- Health problems
- Sexuality/Gender Identity
- Bullying
- Mental health issues
- Trauma
- Bereavement
Requesting Assistance from the Counselling Service
Once a member of school staff is clear that a Request for Assistance is appropriate, then they need to contact the young person’s Named Person or Lead Professional who has the responsibility for making contact with the counselling service.
For further information on how to request assistance from the School Counselling Service, please refer to the 2024 Secondary School Counselling Guidance which is also available on the East Ayrshire School Counselling Glow tile.
You can also refer to our quick guide Secondary Checklist
This video explains some of the work The-Exchange do in Secondary schools.
Tracking and Monitoring System
The T&M system is now being used for all counselling requests and we ask that any teacher making a request to the Exchange also updates the T&M system. This is crucial to ensure we can monitor the impact and effectiveness of the service and is used to influence service direction and improvements.
The East Ayrshire School Counselling Service – T&M System document should be read and followed by all school counselling coordinators and be shared with any other members of school staff making a request to the service.
Communication with CAMHS
It is important that we work effectively with other services and that young people receive the right support, at the right time for them. To ensure this happens, we have produced a document that explains what School staff should do if they are considering requesting assistance from the School Counselling Service where the young is engaged with CAMHS. If the Young Person is currently receiving support from CAMHS for mental health and wellbeing, a request CANNOT be put into the School Counselling Service however where they are on a waiting list or being assessed we recommend contacting CAMHS. Please see the document below for further information.
East Ayrshire School Counselling Service CAMHS procedure
Good Practice Guide for Secondary Schools
Good Practice Guide for Secondary Schools -2
School Counselling in East Ayrshire Secondary schools has been provided by Exchange Wellbeing since January 2021. As the service has developed, it has been crucial for school counselling leads to meet up with each other to discuss challenges they have faced and share solutions and good practice with each other. The “Good Practice Guide” is intended to be used either by current school counselling leads to help them improve practice within their own schools, or as a reference guide for any new staff that take on the role.
The document provides some practical suggestions for counselling leads and guidance staff on how to effectively set up and support a counselling service within their establishment. All examples of good practice have come from Schools in East Ayrshire through discussions, observation and focus groups with School Counselling leads.
The guidance will provide:
- Practical suggestions for how to effectively support and develop School Counselling within your own establishment
- Examples of resources schools can use to support the implementation of School Counselling within your own establishment
This guidance should be used in conjunction with the “East Ayrshire Counselling & Wellbeing Supports for Children and Young People – Guidelines to support Effective Implementation in Secondary Schools” document, which can be found in the School Counselling Coordinators team or on the Glow tile.
