Psychotherapy Services for Schools

I have extensive experience of providing psychotherapy in schools and working with children at risk of exclusion.

Often using an evidence based psychodynamic approach can enable parents, carers and school staff to approach a problem in a different and helpful way, resulting in children staying in school, managing their behaviour, making progress and realising opportunities.

Services to school require an initial consultation to think together about what might be helpful in the child or young person’s unique circumstances. Following this consultation, the types of services I might offer are:

Staff supervision

Regular sessions to enable staff working with emotionally demanding children or young people to reflect on their interactions and the difficult feelings which may arise. This can provide staff with the tools to provide a more thoughtful response to children and can help to mitigate stress related illness and burnout.

Work discussion groups

Regular meetings with small (up to 6) groups of staff where a particular incident or situation can be looked at and thought about. This can enable staff to practice reflexively and to learn from difficult situations and successful interventions, in a contained and non-judgmental environment.

Family work

I can work with parents and/or carers to enable them to understand and better support their child or young person.

Individual psychotherapy

Regular weekly sessions working with a child or young person. Depending on age and developmental stage the sessions can be play based or more focused on talking. The child or young person’s unique circumstances will determine whether a time-limited or open-ended intervention is required. This work is best supported with termly reviews with the school and parents or carers.

Group work

Regular sessions with small groups (up to 6) of children or young people. This can be helpful for more focused work, for example to support a bereavement or a shared difficulty such as anxiety. Group work will usually be time-limited, with a set number of sessions agreed at the outset.