Counselling and Arts Therapy
Schools are able to invest in further specialist counselling and therapy to develop their in school offer in collaboration with the MAST service.
Counselling
Counselling offers young people a confidential space to explore feelings and experiences and gain a better understanding of themselves. It can also help a young person to make changes. The relationship established with the counsellor is important in establishing trust, respect and empathy. Within this relationship it becomes safe to share difficult memories or experiences and to accept challenges around behaviour and choices.
In this context feelings of fear, pain, self-doubt, loss, anger and confusion can be encountered in a way not possible by other professionals from a non-therapeutic background. Other professionals may share an understanding of the child’s view point but do not work directly on this emotional and psychological level to effect change.
Counsellors in school are also able to use their understanding of a young person to inform school-based approaches. They can also meet with parents to increase their understanding of their child and help answer questions or ease anxieties regarding their child’s emotional well-being and behaviour.
Counselling can be of benefit for pupils who:
- have a dramatic drop in their standard of work
- have low self-esteem
- have school refusal difficulties
- bully others, or are a victim of bullying behaviour
- are known to be sexually, physically or emotionally abused
- have difficulties due to family breakdown
- have peer group difficulties
- self harm
- misuse alcohol and drugs
- have been bereaved, suffered loss or separation or experienced trauma in their lives
- are subdued or over-excited, have marked mood swings, or behave out of character
Counselling can be delivered through half or full days. It is generally possible to see five children in a school day. Counsellors also offer ‘drop-in’ sessions and group work where appropriate. They are also part of our ‘critical incident’ response, offering support to schools following traumatic events affecting the whole school community.
Counselling is not time-limited but is responsive to need. The length of an intervention can vary considerably and is negotiated between the counsellors, young people and school-based staff. They work only with parental consent except in exceptional cases when they follow Gillick competency principles in line with the BACP code of ethics. All our counsellors are qualified to diploma level and are accredited, or working towards accreditation with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). They all receive regular clinical supervision and are professionally insured.
Arts Therapy
For children, drama and art therapy offer a play-based model of exploration. This can be non-verbal and is particularly helpful for children whose abstract and cognitive abilities are not yet fully developed or who have not internalised a sense of right and wrong. It is also appropriate to exploring highly charged and traumatic incidents which cannot be addressed directly, but the effect of which is impacting on behaviour and emotional well-being.
Through play, intervention can be both child-centred and non-threatening. Feelings of fear, pain, self-doubt, loss, anger and confusion can be encountered in a way not possible by other professionals from a non-therapeutic background. Other professionals may share and understanding of the child’s point but do not work directly on this emotional and psychological level to effect change.
Therapy is used in school to address emotional distress, often expressed as behavioural difficulties. This can include:
- Aggression
- Withdrawal
- Lack of motivation
- Low self-esteem
- Poor resilience
- Attachment and social difficulties
Therapists can also work with children who may have been traumatised by:
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol misuse in the family
- Physical and sexual abuse
- Bereavement and loss
- Parental ill health, physical and mental
Therapy offers a unique approach to determining the voice of the child or family. This understanding can then be used, not only to make progress for the individual child, but also to inform discussion and action planning. It can also be used, through consultation, to effect changes in the classroom and family.
Arts Therapy is often highly effective when children feel powerless in the face of their own emotions or experiences in their family or school life. By allowing them to determine both the nature, pace and outcomes of the work it intrinsically increases the child’s sense of self-efficacy which is acknowledged as a key component of resilience.
Therapy can be delivered through half or full days. It is generally possible to see five children in a school day. Therapists also offer group work where appropriate. The therapy is not time-limited but is responsive to need. Length of an intervention can vary considerably and is negotiated between the therapists, young people and school-based staff.
Paula Davies
Psychotherapist and Therapist/Counsellor Manager
Guy Rapson
Drama Therapist
Helen van Deijl
Volunteer Counsellor
Justin Ranger
Drama Therapist
Kathy Taylor
Counsellor
Martin Huggins
Counsellor
Sally Chugg
Family Learning Mentor/Counsellor
Suzi Norris
Art Psychotherapist
Your questions around our services
How do I access the support of a MAST Therapist or Counsellor?
A school can access therapeutic support from a counsellor via a MAST request. A parent/carer or child can speak to a SENCO/headteacher in school if they feel that their child might benefit from this intervention. The intervention could be group or individually based. The school might also raise a need for this service with the parent/carer. If applicable a request for involvement form will be filled in by all parties. The request will go to the MAST Wednesday morning panel and a therapist/counsellor will be allocated if appropriate.
A school can buy in a counsellor/therapist to work in their school for half or a full day a week. In this situation the process is like above, in terms of the conversations between home and school. Here, the school may also consult with the school-based counsellor/therapist for advice on application. A request for involvement for counselling/therapy will be completed and assessed by the school-based counsellor/therapist to take forward.
What might involvement with a Therapist or Counsellor look like?
Initially the therapist/counsellor will contact home and school to discuss the request of involvement. Then they will begin a further assessment process with the child. This might be for the first 3 sessions. This will be to be sure that this is the right intervention for the child, that they are able to engage, and if so, how the work may move forward. The process will be reviewed every 6 to 8 weeks with all engaged parties.
How quickly would a Therapist or Counsellor become involved with a child?
Schools and home will be contacted within the same week that the request for involvement has been assessed in the MAST Wednesday panel. The work will begin at a time agreed by all parties as soon as the practicalities, for example, room bookings etc are put in place.
In school-based therapy and counselling the work will begin as soon as there is a space and all initial conversations with schools and home have taken place.
How do I access your support?
You will need to talk with your child's school to consider if a MAST request would be possible and helpful.
What might involvement with a member of your multi-agency support team, MAST, look like?
Your first meeting with a professional from MAST might be to discuss your concerns, possibly with school staff present. You might also meet a MAST professional in a meeting with others involved, where your child's needs are being discussed and a plan of support is being put together.
How quickly would a member of MAST become involved with a child?
Following a request for MAST to be involved (made by the school SENCo in collaboration with parents/carers), a quick response to school within a week will be sent and soon after this a key worker from MAST will be allocated and make contact with you and school to assess needs and plan an appropriate multi-agency response as required.
Do we have to review risk assessments annually?
It is at your discretion to decide when a review is deemed necessary, but risk assessments are a working document and, as your activities, staff or other experiences change, this information should be recorded and updated. As a guide, it is recommended that risk assessments be reviewed on an annual basis.
What PLP's values mean for schools
Our MAST team are always ready to answer the call and step up when schools and their pupils need us.
Providing appropriate, non-judgemental support for pupils, families and school staff is at the heart of what we do.
We always reflect on our performance and are prepared to explore new ideas and approaches to help people.
Our success lies in the positive collaborations we nurture between diverse specialists and school professionals.
We'd love to support you
Please reach out to our friendly team at our office using the details below.