Psychological change in distressed young people who do not receive counselling: does improvement happen anyway?

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to explore self-healing processes in young people, and to develop an understanding of the effects of school-based counselling (SBC), by analysing changes in young people who did not receive this intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 young people on a waiting list for SBC. Participants experienced positive improvements in several domains, with change attributed mainly to their own actions, the support received from family and friends and the effects of the research. The results suggest that young people have a natural capacity to self-heal, and that some of the changes associated with SBC may be due to this self-righting process. Supporting this natural capacity may be an important element of therapeutic work with young people.

Keywords:

• school counselling
• adolescent psychotherapy
• placebo
• self-healing

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Rosemarie Lynass, Katherine McArthur, Kaye Richards, Nancy Rowland, Susan Pattison, Karen Cromarty and Olga Pykhtina