Users of secondary school-based counselling services and specialist CAMHS in Wales: A comparison study

Abstract

Background: The increasing prevalence of mental health issues in young people has contributed to a rise in the provision of school-based counselling services in the UK. Between 2008/09 and 2010/11, data were collected from users of secondary school-based counselling services in Wales. Aims: To identify the characteristics of users of school-based counselling services in Wales – including demographics, referral pathways, presenting issues, and predominant issues – and how they compare to users of specialist CAMHS in Wales and Welsh secondary school pupils in general. Method: Data were collected on 10,687 episodes of counselling. School counsellors completed a client record sheet after each counselling episode and submitted these to their Local Authority. Collated results were then compared to matched data from Welsh specialist CAMHS and Welsh secondary schools data. Results/findings: A typical user of a secondary school-based counselling service in Wales was female, of white ethnicity, and from the ‘middle’ school years. There was a marked under-representation of users from BME backgrounds. Users were most often referred by school staff, and the most common presenting issues were family-related, anger, and behaviour-related. Conclusions: There was a higher proportion of females accessing school-based counselling services than males. This was in direct contrast to data from specialist CAMHS and possible explanations for this are discussed. The under-representation of BME populations suggested that there were some equality issues associated with accessing these services. Implications for practice: Future research should explore equality issues associated with young people from BME backgrounds accessing intervention services.

Keywords:

• demographics
• school-based counselling
• specialist CAMHS
• Wales

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Charlie Jackson

Charlie Jackson is Research Officer at the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). She has a background in quantitative research and has previously worked with both adults and children with learning disabilities and mental health disorders.

Joanne Pybis

Joanne Pybis is Research Facilitator at BACP. She sits on the steering group for a School-based Counselling Practice Research Network (SCoPReNet) and was involved in the evaluation of the school-based counselling strategy in Wales.

Mick Cooper

Mick Cooper is Professor of Counselling at the University of Strathclyde and a HPC-registered Counselling Psychologist. His principal area of research interest is school-based humanistic counselling and he has written a range of texts on person-centred, existential and pluralistic approaches to therapy including Essential Research Findings in Counselling and Psychotherapy (Sage, 2008).

Andy Hill

Andy Hill is Head of Research at BACP. He is a BACP accredited counsellor and he currently works as a part-time counsellor in primary care. Andy was previously Senior Lecturer in Counselling at the University of Salford.

Karen Cromarty

Karen Cromarty is the BACP Lead Senior Advisor for Children and Young People. She has a wealth of experience in schools’ counselling and works at all levels within BACP to inform and advise individuals and departments on the current position and future direction of children and young people's counselling. Karen also works nationally, building and consolidating professional relationships with other stakeholders who have experience and relevance to the profession.

Jack Rogers

Jack Rogers was previously Research Officer at BACP but has since left the profession. He has a background in Social Psychology and helped to set up SCoPReNet.