Mentoring and Counselling in educational settings are specialist activities and offer an effective source of support for students, enabling them to function better both in and outside of their school, college or university, enhancing their resilience and giving them resources to manage future difficulties.
Based in the West Midlands and serving Birmingham and the Black Country, counselling through Mindful Life aims to provide a service for students experiencing emotional distress and/or behavioural problems as a result of social and peer pressure, family tensions, bereavement, difficulties with normal developmental issues and other similar issues which often result in under performance and achievement.
The Department for Education states that “while mental health issues are relatively common, with up to 10% of 5 to 15 year old pupils experiencing them, children and young people do not always get the help that they need as quickly as they should.
Issues such as anxiety, low mood, depression, conduct and eating disorders can impact significantly on their happiness and future life chances.”
Bereavement, loss, family and peer relationship difficulties, anxiety, depression and bullying are some of the major issues that can lead to deterioration in a student’s behaviour, attainment and mental health.
The effect of emotional upset experienced by children and young people often result in a change in their behaviour. When emotional distress is ignored, tension can build up and students become disaffected, ‘opting out’ by disengaging, or even truanting.
Others may act out their feelings in a disruptive way with an escalation of incidents resulting in exclusions. In such cases counselling can be an effective source of support for these students, enabling them to function effectively and help them engage purposefully in education and the life of their educational establishment.
Quiet children who do not ‘act out’ their feelings can also be suffering and counselling is a good means of meeting their needs helping them to counteract depression and low self-esteem.
All our practitioners are DBS checked and have a proven track record while working in primary, secondary schools and further education. They are all members and listed on the register of practitioners that is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under its Accredited Registers programme.
Our work with children and young people is age appropriate taking into consideration their stage in life and the developmental processes involved.
Our children and young people counsellors have an extensive knowledge base regarding the nature of childhood and adolescent development and the counselling approach specifically parallels the young person’s developmental stage. Younger children are encouraged to express themselves in a non-verbal way using a range of art, stories and creative methods.
We offer a bespoke service such as one-to-one counselling, mentoring or through our tailor-made workshops. These can range from anger management, self-esteem, coping with exam stress, transition groups to wellbeing ambassador training for staff and students. We have a successful model for setting up a peer mentoring scheme with anti-bullying strategies.
Our therapists have a wide range of expertise regarding outcome measures, effectiveness and evaluating presenting issues that are detailed in comprehensive reports. They have experience that encompass crisis management skills, work with LAC and social services, liaising and working collaboratively with CAMHs, GPs and outside agencies where necessary.
Mindful Life Counselling has supported several of our pupils with a whole range of SEMH needs. Their child-centred approach to counselling through play and creativity has enabled some of our younger children to flourish in managing their feelings and emotions.
Their counsellors link closely with parents, SLT and learning mentors to discuss the holistic picture of a child’s needs prior to starting the counselling sessions. This approach to counselling has meant that we have supported many vulnerable children with early intervention to support their emotional well-being
We realise how daunting it can be making that first contact and how important it is to find the right person to work with. We are here to help and support you through the process.
First of all, we can help by offering you an initial contact method that you are most comfortable with:
07443 532165 and we can start the process by text
