An exploration of an integrated counselling and coaching approach with distressed young people

Abstract

This mixed methods study explored the effectiveness and experience of an integrated counselling and coaching approach with young people. An effectiveness study allocated 80 young people aged between 13 and 25 years from four Youth Information Advice and Counselling Services centres in England to two groups: an integrated counselling and coaching group, based on the Personal Consultancy (PC) model, and a humanistic counselling group. Self-report measures of distress were administered at baseline and endpoint. Findings of the quantitative analysis showed that although baseline distress levels between groups were equivalent, post-intervention levels were significantly lower in the integrated group. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of qualitative experiences from five young people from the integrated group explored possible reasons for these results. Five master themes emerged: making sense of past, present and/or future, developing a sense of agency, management of affect, enhancing interpersonal relationships and development of self. Findings indicated that young people responded well to the integrated treatment; attending to intra-psychic issues alongside their developmental challenges seemed to have a beneficial effect on their sense of agency in particular. In conclusion, PC may be an effective means of reducing distress in young people.

Keywords:

• counselling
• coaching
• personal consultancy
• psychological distress
• young people

Acknowledgements

The authors would also like to acknowledge and thank all the staff and service users involved at each of the agencies, Off The Record Youth Counselling Croydon, Isle of Wight Youth Trust, Interchange Sheffield Community Interest Company and No Limits (Southampton). Thanks to Carolyn Mumby and Barbara Rayment who made the implementation of this project possible.

Notes

1. Each centre was in membership with Youth Access, the national membership organisation for young people's YIACS. YIACS provide a holistic response to young people’s social, emotional and mental health needs through a range of services provided “under one roof”, including social welfare advice, advocacy, counselling, health clinics, community education and personal support (Youth Access, 2016).