Durham Schools Counselling Service provides qualified and specialist counselling support to pupils attending the contracting school or cluster of schools. Our evidence-based support promotes positive mental health and has a measurable impact on outcomes for children and young people. Our work aims to improve the wellbeing, resilience, and inclusion of socially and emotionally vulnerable young people and to help develop the capacity of staff within schools to identify and meet the needs of vulnerable young people Service delivery is bespoke and can be delivered flexibly, tailored to each schools setting and need. We work closely with schools to develop safe and effective systems for service delivery that are sensitive to individual contexts and offer a range of models of delivery.
We offer
- counselling, psychotherapy, art psychotherapy, play therapy and other creative therapies
- training and staff support
- clinical supervision
- regular reports and feedback on work undertaken, including quantitative and qualitative evaluations that include the views of children and young people
Our team
- consists of qualified and experienced counsellors who are registered with the appropriate professional bodies and work within their ethical framework (BACP, UKCP, PTUK, HCPC)
- is trained to respond safely and appropriately to safeguarding concerns
- receives regular clinical supervision, line management, CPD and appraisals to support safe and effective practice
- is part of a multi-disciplinary team and works collaboratively with other SEND teams
- can offer specialist advice and guidance in several areas including bereavement, trauma and self-harm
- is connected to a broader framework of support and systems within the LA and region, and can support you with liaising with them to ensure the right support is in place
- works closely with partners in health, social care, and other organisations in order to support holistic understanding of children and young people that can really make a difference
- can offer additional, free support through our trainee counsellor programme to schools buying in through a full day SLA