Counselling offers your child an opportunity to discover more about themselves and their inner strengths, and it can help to make sense of what is happening to them.  It helps them move on from their issues, building confidence and self-esteem, which increases mental well-being and resilience.

Counselling is a talking therapy that can help with different kinds of personal problems and emotions that they are finding difficult to manage. Our counsellors work with a wide range of concerns including, anxiety, depression, bereavement, loneliness, self-esteem, difficulties with relationships, eating problems, self-injury and negative thoughts.

It is based on building a trusting relationship between the counsellor and young person to enable them to talk about their experiences and feelings and try to make sense of them. Counselling can also allow people to express difficult feelings and learn how to manage them in a helpful and positive way. It can help to explore feelings with someone who is not emotionally involved in their lives. Counsellors are trained to listen thoughtfully and carefully to people’s problems without judging or criticising. They do not give advice but support their clients to make positive decisions for themselves by building on the resources that they already have.

All of the counsellors working with children and young people for Beacon Counselling are fully qualified to diploma level and some are working towards, or have already achieved, accreditation with the BACP. All counsellors are carefully selected and work within a network of support and supervision. All counsellors have an enhanced DBS check. Beacon Counselling subscribes to the British Associate for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) ethical framework for the counselling professions.

It is helpful for a young person to feel free to talk about experiences that may be troubling or confusing for them. It is also helpful if, as a parent or carer, you are able to support and approve of their talking to the counsellor. It is normal to feel concerned about what they may want to talk about in their counselling. It is good for you to know that the ethical framework that counsellors work within underlines the importance of confidentiality in counselling. The counsellor may however need to break confidentiality if the child or young person tells them something that mean they, or someone else is at risk of harm.

The counsellor is not there to judge you or anyone else in your family unit. Their sole purpose is to help your young person to manage whatever it is that troubles them, and resolve issues and difficulties in a constructive way.

The counselling relationship is very private and personal and each young person will respond differently to it. Some may wish to talk to you about their sessions, whilst others may wish to keep the content to themselves. It is helpful for you to respect the needs of your child. Sometimes children and young people may seem more upset after their counselling session. This may be because they have been talking about painful feelings. Showing sensitivity to their distress whilst also respecting their right to privacy can be difficult but very supportive. Sometimes a reassurance that you are there to talk if they would like to also works well.

We aim to offer an initial assessment session as soon as possible after you register their details, in order to find out if our service is the most suitable place for them to receive support. It is useful to be aware, that at times, our service is in high demand and we may have a waiting list. You may also need to wait longer if your availability is limited. If the young person wants to start counselling, and we feel that we are an appropriate service to work with them, then counselling will begin at the same day and time from the following week. Most counsellors will start with an agreement to see clients for six sessions with a review in the fifth session. Additional sessions may then follow if required. Counselling will continue until the client and counsellor feel that it is right to end, although most of our work rarely extends further than twelve sessions.

You may be invited to join your child and their counsellor at the beginning of the assessment session, dependent on the age of your child. Where the counsellor has deemed it appropriate you may also be invited to join part of the review or ending sessions.

Beacon can offer counselling sessions remotely. These take place either by telephone or video link.

For the counselling sessions to be effective, we would ask that the child has a safe, quiet and undisturbed space to have their appointment. The sessions last up to 50 minutes.

Your child needs to make sure the device they are using for the session is charged and that they are prepared by sitting somewhere comfortable and quiet. If they are using a video link, they may also feel more comfortable in an area with a plain background, with no windows or identifiable photographs in view.

Please try to make sure your child feels safe to make the call without being overheard or interrupted as trust needs to be established and this would be compromised if they felt anyone else was able to hear them.