‘If you don't want to tell anyone else you can tell her’: young people's views on school counselling

ABSTRACT

The aim of the research was to assess the views of young people about school counselling. In total, 415 pupils from five secondary schools took part in the survey. A smaller number of these pupils took part in focus groups (n=9) to explore their views in more depth. In general, the young people seemed to value having a school counsellor. Most were aware of the school counselling service, although a substantial number (21%) indicated a lack of awareness. For many who were aware, their knowledge of the service was limited. Just over one third of the pupils stated that they would go to see the school counsellor, and girls were more likely to state this than boys. The confidentiality of the service was perceived to be one of the benefits. However, this was also reported to be a hindering factor—the concern that it may not, in fact, be confidential. Two other main reasons for not accessing the service were the counsellor being a stranger and (for boys in particular) a concern about other people finding out (associated with the social stigma of going for counselling). Suggestions to improve the school counselling service included a room in a discrete location, better promotion of the service, more counsellors or a full-time counsellor, and ways to get to know the counsellor better. Those responsible for developing and managing school counselling services should consider these suggestions.

This research was funded by an NSPCC grant. We would like to thank the schools that were involved in our research, including the pupils that took part and the school staff and NSPCC Schools Teams who helped to arrange these activities. We are also grateful to Mary Baginsky for her support and advice and the helpful comments of two reviewers, one in particular, who made suggestions for the inclusion of additional literature.

Notes

1. The CORE System Group, the Psychological Therapies Research Centre, University of Leeds.

2. The pupil survey was also conducted in primary schools but the results are not reported here.

3. In one school only one class of year 7 pupils was surveyed.

4. The schools where all five year groups were surveyed.

5. Many children wrote two ‘things’ in the space provided, some children mentioned three and only a few children wrote four or more ‘things’. Hence, only the first three responses were coded.

6. Other research with adults suggests that while females prefer female ‘helpers’, males show no preference. See Dancey et al. (1992).

7. In the Good Practice Guidance for Counselling in Schools (BAPC, 2001).

8. Available on the BACP website.