1. Counselling skills

Welcome
Goals for counselling children
The difference between counselling children and adults.
Listening skills. Being non judgemental. Probing. Helping children to speak about feelings.
Questions
Challenging the client
Body language
Behavioural modification. Can you change a client’s mind? Giving advice. Imposing your opinion. The need for the client to arrive at their own decision.

2 The counselling relationship

The therapeutic relationship. Building a working alliance .
Being culturally responsive
How it feels to be a child
Understanding and working with children 4-11
Understanding and working with adolescents.
Youth culture and alienation.
Working with challenging behaviour
Gaining informed consent. Parental consent.
Confidentiality with a young person.

3. Theories of how children develop

Human growth and development – Attachment (ANT) theory. Secure and insecure attachment. The role of love in growth and development of identity.
Maternal deprivation.
Theories of self. Rogers.
True and false self. Winnicott.
Child psychosocial development – Erikson
Role models
Transactional analysis
The future role of neuroscience in counselling

4. Ethical, legal and professional issues

Child protection. Boundaries. Inappropriate relationships. Transference. Countertransference.
Ethical considerations and the law. Children Act 1999. Police clearance.
Supervision and self supervision
Keeping a log, journal.
Endings. Terminating the counselling. Grounded endings.
Working with peers, other professionals and groups
Research – evidence based practice issues.
Contexts where counselling is delivered: school counselling, community counselling.

5. Methods, Solutions and Tools

Cognitive-behavioural counselling theory. Cognitive re-structuring. Skill building interventions
The Systemic approach
Narrative approaches
Solution focussed (SF) brief therapy with children and young people. Berg, de Shazer.

6. Specific youth concerns. How to help them.

Psychopathology
Family problems: parents and siblings. Sibling rivalry.
Divorce
Adolescent development. Puberty. Body image.
Gender orientation. Homosexuality. Sexual abuse.
Mental health issues.
Autism, Asperger’s, Dyslexia and other learning difficulties.
The bereaved child and grief.

7. Other youth issues

Phobias.
School phobia. Classroom issues.
Bedwetting
Depression
Anxiety disorders
Eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa.
Self-harm
Behaviour issues. ADHD
Aggression and anger
Bullying. The bully.
Vocational issues
Problematic peer relationships
Counselling abused young people
Psychopharmacology

8. Counselling Tools

Play therapy. Axline.
Art therapy
Dance therapy
Story telling. Metaphor.
Sandtray. Dora Kalff .
Drama therapy.
Life Story books : Life story and context of a child

9. Working in child counselling

Not everyone who studies child counselling works specifically as a child counsellor. They might be a teacher, teaching assistant, social worker, police officer, or probation officer.

Or you might work in a charity, either as a volunteer or paid professional. Equally you might be a clerical or admin person in health or education.

Many professions require their staff to have an insight into the problems that affect children and adolescents. And child protection has risen in importance in recent years.

• Working full time as a counsellor or as part of another job
• Child counselling in voluntary and charity work
• Child counselling in education
• Child counselling in healthcare and social service
• Child counselling in private practice
• Using your skills in other areas such as police, prison or as a parent.
Getting a DBS

10 Next Steps