Counselling Service

From the first Teens and Toddler's project that we ran in Greenwich in 2001, it became clear that there would need to be some sort of counselling provision for the participants. Many of the young people we work with have challenges both at home and school, and have often developed unhelpful, self-destructive coping strategies in response to their circumstances. Many identify as being 'problem kids' and their participation in Teens & Toddlers may be one of the few opportunities where they can begin to form a more positive experience of themselves.

The style of learning in Teens & Toddlers is quite experiential, and at times challenging for the adolescents. The curriculum they follow provides much stimulating material regarding the most effective ways to build self-esteem in children, and some of the impact that different parental discipline and communication styles can have on the emotional, psychological and physiological development of children. As you can imagine, this can bring up personal material for the young people, and in addition, learning to relate to their toddler can challenge them in their capacity to play, to form attachments and to face their fears of rejection or failure.

The Clinical Service is therefore an important part of COUI's activities. It offers PLACEMENTS to qualified counsellors, and to students of counselling and psychotherapy who are wishing to gain experience of working with young people. One counsellor is allocated to each project, joining a staff team of facilitator and assistant, responsible for approximately 7 or 8 young people. The projects usually run for 20 weeks, meeting once a week from 1pm until 3.45pm. The counsellor is an integral part of the group from the start, and offers one to one sessions during 'toddler time'.

These placements offer a unique opportunity to engage with young people both in a group and individual setting, providing insight into how they engage with each other as well as during counselling sessions.

Fortnightly group supervision is provided throughout the project, with the aim of supporting counsellors in peer groups where everyone can learn from each other. There is also a weekly de-brief between facilitator, assistant and counsellor at the end of each Teens & Toddlers session. An initial training orientation is provided to examine the developmental issues teenager's face, the structure and logistics of Teens & Toddlers, and child protection issues.

In addition to placements within the Teens & Toddler's projects we also work with a small number of schools, and once a counsellor has completed a placement within a project, they can move into a yearly commitment within a school counselling service if they wish, depending on availability of spaces.

Many counsellors go on to train as facilitators, eventually running their own Teens & Toddler's projects. COUI is a rapidly expanding charity and there are many opportunities for closer involvement in a variety of different roles.

The Clinical Service is run by Stacey Millichamp, Director of Clinical Services, and Kamali Allnutt, Manager of Clinical Services. Stacey Millichamp has been involved with COUI from its inception, facilitating the first Teens & Toddlers project alongside Diana Whitmore, she is also a trainer and supervisor on the MA in Psychotherapy for the Psychosynthesis and Education Trust, and runs a private psychotherapy and supervision practice. Kamali Allnutt has been a facilitator running Teens & Toddlers programmes since 2002, is a qualified counsellor and as well as working as Clinical Services Manager and group facilitator she works as a counsellor at the American Intercontinental University.

School Counselling Service

COUI will recruit, orientate, manage and supervise the counsellors placed in the school. We would generally recommend two counsellors are placed per school, each offering a day of five or six counselling sessions.

Counselling sessions usually lasts for one period so as not to disrupt classes, and the counsellors will work with each child to ensure that they rotate their session times in order to minimise disruption to any particular subject.

A counsellor will be responsible for liaising with the school around student referrals, and any child protection issues that might emerge. COUI are keen to promote good communication between counsellors and school staff so that there is a mutually beneficial information sharing loop that increases understanding of a particular child's circumstances and needs.

COUI will provide Enhanced Criminal Record Bureau checks for each counsellor.

Some of the issues that the young people have been supported through include:

• Bullying
• Conflicts at home
• Being young carers at home
• Depression
• Self-harm
• Eating disorders
• Aggressive behaviour at school
• Excluding themselves from school
• Poor performance at school
• Low self-image and life goals
• Anger management
• Cultural challenges and inability to integrate successfully
• Struggles with abuse and neglect
• Inability to communicate
• Struggles with sexual identity

Parental Involvement

COUI will negotiate with each school in what way client and parental consent is gained.

Should a parent wish to be involved in their child's counselling, they are welcome to meet with the counsellor to discuss their child's situation (taking in to account the client-counsellor confidentiality agreement), occasionally it may be beneficial for the counsellor to offer a session with child and parent where communication problems would benefit from a mediating intervention.

Potential numbers of young people served

Two counsellors, offering two days of counselling would provide up to 200 sessions of counselling per academic year.

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