Helping it Work in Schools
As a Counsellor working predominantly in secondary schools, I notice a slightly higher level of non-attendance to sessions compared to primary school. Maybe due to the autonomy that older students have around attendance when feeling unwell and definitely the increased importance of exams and schoolwork that they feel unable to miss. Although I felt that this was impacting on the value and support offered to the schools that I was working in, it was a few months later when a conversation with a colleague around this subject first prompted my interest in single-session therapy, (SST), when he mentioned that he had started to offer this to utilise absence time.
What is SST?
A one-off hour for the young person to work on whatever is most difficult for them at the time. Areas that I have found to particularly benefit have been:
- Bereavement
- Stress and anxiety
- Phobias
- Relationship or friendship problems
However - surprisingly to me - even areas that might benefit from longer term therapy can still be addressed, as just having a space to talk can be helpful. Different models of counselling can be incorporated, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Transactional Analysis, (TA), and Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT).
Whatever, the content, I have found that having a specific area of focus is usually more productive for the students that I work with. Some therapists work with more than one problem as they believe that it might identify a linking theme, however, I have found that this usually increases the risk of failing to help the client with either their nominated problem or the additional ones.
Who is a suitable candidate for single session therapy?
In principle, anyone, including children and young people can benefit from this. However, in my experience SST works best with secondary age students, often in year ten or above, who are usually more able to engage with the process, not least as it is unlikely that the issue will be solved in one session, so the young person needs to be able to process the content of the session and continue to problem solve using the tools, techniques and strategies discussed and explored.
How can we increase the chances of a successful outcome?
Some of the key things I have discovered are:
- Ensure the young person wants to be there. This may sound obvious, but often school staff who are desperate for the young person to get help can put pressure on them to attend. This is unlikely to help a positive engagement.
- Agree on a specific area of focus and make sure that it is realistic, then explore this with the young person. It is important to manage their expectations as it is unlikely that their problem will be fully resolved by the end of the session.
- Take into account that a more directive approach might be necessary.
- Check what (if any) previous interventions or strategies have been helpful or unhelpful. These can then be built on or discarded.
- Develop a solution. This might include one or more of the following:
- Reframing the problem so that it can be seen in a different light.
- A change in attitude. Helping them to develop a more flexible or less extreme response to the issue.
- A behavioural change. Finding a way of inviting a different response from the young person, or a way in which they can receive a different response from another.
- A change in their relationship with the problem, perhaps helping them to accept and normalise it.
- Changing the situation. Often by recognising that the outcome they desire might never materialise and that acceptance of a more radical change might be necessary.
- Plan how the above might be implemented, including strategies to support this.
How can schools support the process?
Counsellors and therapists making staff aware of the service, and also its limitations is key here. By liaising with Heads of Year, staff can then identify and add any potential students to a list, ideally checking that the student would like this intervention and encouraging them to think of an area they might like to focus on. In addition, asking the person who oversees regular appointments to check the register at the start of each counselling day ensures that if anyone is absent a suitable single session can be arranged from the list.
Fast forward two and a half years and SST appears to be working well. In this time, I have undertaken more than sixty single sessions with young people in one secondary school. That’s the equivalent of twelve days work that would have been lost for that school and hopefully and importantly over sixty young people who have directly benefited.
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