"Guilt vs Shame"

Infographic From NICABM 17-03-21

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"Identifying Positive Childhood Experiences"

From KidsXpress Facebook Page 17-03-21

"We talk a lot about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) – with good reason – but recent research found that there are 7 Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) which act to counter traumatic experiences and have been linked to good mental health and resilience in adulthood."

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"The Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness Trial of Humanistic Counselling in Schools (ETHOS)"

Background

"In England, approximately one in seven young people meet criteria for a ‘mental disorder’, with prevalence rates rising over the past two decades. Schools, as recognised by the UK government, may provide an ideal environment to try and address this problem. They provide young people with unparalleled access to services; alleviating barriers such as time, location, and cost."

"One of the most common forms of school-based mental health intervention is counselling. School-based counselling is well established in over 60 countries around the globe, and mandatory in at least 40, including Wales. In England, approximately 60% of secondary schools provide some form of on-site counselling, with approximately 70,000–90,000 young people attending it every year in the UK."

"School counselling in the UK most commonly takes a humanistic (aka ‘person-centred’) form. Here, counsellors provide clients with an empathic, non-judgmental, and supportive relationship to find their own answers to their problems. This form of counselling is not targeted towards specific mental health ‘disorders’ (for instance, depression), but adopts a more general orientation. This may make it particularly appropriate as a ‘first line’ intervention within a school context, where a diverse array of mental health challenges may exist (for instance, bereavement, bullying, and problems with parents/carers)."

"But does this form of school counselling actually help? Data from four small trials have provided some initial indications of effects; and qualitative research suggests that clients, parents/carers, and teachers all tend to perceive it positively. What is missing, however, is a large-scale, robust evaluation of this intervention, which looks at a range of mental health and educational outcomes, follow-up effects, and economic costs; as well as the experiences and perceptions of clients, parents/carers, and teachers."

"In 2016, a team led by the University of Roehampton was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to conduct such a study, with collaborators at the universities of Manchester and Sheffield; the London School of Economics; Metanoia Institute (London); the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy; and the National Children’s Bureau."

Summary

"Our findings suggest that, on average, school-based humanistic counselling can help young people, with effects that persist for at least three months after the end of counselling. The counselling was most effective in helping young people improve their self-esteem and achieve personal goals; least effective at reducing mental health symptoms. In addition, it showed not effect on educational outcomes or reducing other service costs. Such averages, however, can mask differences in the way that young people responded to the counselling: around two-thirds seem to have found it wholly or mostly helpful, another 30% or so found it helped a bit; and then approximately 5% really did not like it. Although there is no clear evidence on who it was most helpful for, our interview data suggests that if young people were wanting—and motivated—to get things off their chests, learn about themselves, and/or find different ways of relating and coping, the counselling may have been most likely to of benefit. On the other hand, if the young people found it difficult to open up, felt uncomfortable talking to others, and/or wanted direct guidance and advice, then this intervention did not seem to be most suited."

"Finding effective ways of addressing mental health problems in young people remains a priority for policy makers and fund holders. Our study shows that school-based humanistic counselling is a viable option, but it is not a ‘magic bullet’. Rather, it is likely to help some young people some of the time, and should be offered to young people as one out of a range of possible interventions. What is most important now is to carry out equally rigorous evaluations of alternative programmes in the UK; and to develop some understanding of which interventions are most likely to be helpful for who."

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" ‘Generation COVID’? The socio-economic factotrs impacting young people’s mental health in the pandemic"

 The link between mental health and its social determinants is well documented: unequal societies experience worse mental health outcomes. As such, the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the young – from mass job and income losses, to being trapped in abusive households, and paying rent for university accommodation they can’t use – has serious implications for wellbeing of 16-25s, whose mental health and emotional needs were already increasing before Covid-19.

"This is especially concerning for young people who faced multiple disadvantages. The same young people who have been hardest hit by the pandemic – including young women, people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and young people living in poverty – already experienced the worst mental health prior to the crisis"

"Our briefing shows that hundreds of thousands of children and young people still go without the devices or internet needed to access education and essential services – and that this, along with school closures and reduced teaching hours, is exacerbating existing educational inequalities. It shares findings from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which predict that levels of destitution in the UK will approximately double due to the pandemic, and from Turn2Us which shows millions more people are resorting to debt and a near doubling of 18-25-year-olds reporting they are frequently running out of money since before Covid-19. It highlights the pandemic’s devastating impact on 16-25-year-olds’ employment and earnings – especially on those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and disabled communities women, the self-employed and those who grew up in a poor family. It outlines the impact the past year has had on an already precarious housing market, and reports of increasing numbers of young people being trapped in abusive, unsafe homes."

"Knowing this, it comes as no surprise that young people’s mental health needs have grown in the past year. More young people are experiencing poor mental health – including relating to anxiety, depression, self-harm, eating disorders and suicidal ideation – and more severely than before Covid-19."

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"Can brain scans help reduce the guilt and shame associated with adolescent self-harm?"

 From The Mental Elf 02-03-21

"Deliberate self-harm amongst young people is a rapidly growing phenomena with as many as 45% of adolescents thought to have tried it at some point (Nock, 2010; Muehlenkamp et al., 2012). For the most part, self-harm is a form of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), that is, a deliberate act of harm without the intention of dying (Nock 2010; Brent et al. 2013).  Whilst self-harm may not start with suicidal intentions, it is recognised to be a significant risk factor for future attempts (Asarnow et al. 2011; Chesin et al. 2017).  Understanding more about connections in the parts of the brain active or underactive in self-harm, may help in developing targeted therapies thus preventing decline into suicidal behaviours. It may also help challenge the stigma around NSSI being a form of attention-seeking behaviour (Burke et al. 2019; Favazza, 1998; Gratz, 2006)."

"It has long been understood that NSSI is a dysfunctional coping strategy to help regulate emotional distress (Klonsky et al. 2011; Nock 2010). But why and how does the act of doing something that seemingly goes against nature, help with emotion regulation? The answer lies within activation of the amygdala (Plener et al. 2012), the brain’s emotion control centre; physiological research demonstrates high levels of activity in this region in young people who self-harm (Nock & Mendes 2008)."

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