Friday 18 October 2019

OCTIA 2019 – Were You There?

Unfortunately, I could not make the time to travel to Manchester but, as delegates can attend OCTIA online, I chose to do just that …. And felt that I got my online fee’s worth.
On the OCTIA website the day promised …
“The 2019 conference theme is focused towards those online counsellors, therapists and health care professionals who are engaging with their clients and service users using the full range of online platforms and media. There'll be the opportunity to share how we care for our clients, but how we care for ourselves and each other as fellow professionals. We are stronger together!” https://www.octia.co.uk/
Working as a therapist or supervisor in the online world can sometimes feel isolating, bewildering and frustrating. These are negatives amongst the many benefits. The passion emanating from  today’s speakers was strong. Where organisations are often struggling to maintain a steady flow of funding, it was clear from today that everyone present had a deeply held belief in the difference that online therapy can make to clients of all ages. I felt that we are finally entering a time where online therapy  does not need to feel “second best” to face to face therapy. Instead it is well recognised that some very vulnerable clients would not access counselling face to face.
There was an interesting discussion around qualifications for working online. The age-old questions of “are they necessary?” As always, my thoughts turned to “we can never know what we do not know”. I might be biased as I have tutored in online counselling and supervision over the years, but I still remember just how much I did not know when I trained. Those moments of “OMG … !” Todays speakers clearly agreed with the need for appropriate training and good support.
A discussion around providing online therapy from volunteer counsellors was summarised well by Catherine Betley who believes strongly that no counsellor should be asked to work voluntarily. The attributes that they bring need to be respected. I agree and wonder whether the world of online therapy has many therapists passionate about the benefits of online therapy and would even work voluntarily to make it accessible. I know that this is why I worked voluntarily for an online organisation in the past.
My sense is that conferences like OCTIA will help ensure that ethical and safe online practice for the sake of clients will always be the standard at a time when online therapy can still be heard of as “the stepping-stone into face to face therapy”. Putting clients first, we need to stamp this out as being inaccurate and disrespectful of online therapy at a time when online therapists can often be faced with having to make a decision to hold the emotional needs of a very complex client . The passion of many online therapists comes from their desire to meet the needs of clients where they can be best met – whether that is sitting in their bed struck with grief or too full of shame and guilt to sit with a therapist, directly, face to face.  I can’t remember who said this today, but it is  “horses for courses”. The choice of face to face or online therapy can only continue to benefit clients.
Thank you to the OCTIA team – see you next year.
Jan Stiff
CYP Director ACTO

Monday 30 September 2019

"How do children’s helplines measure their effectiveness?" Last updated: 17 Sep 2019


"Key finding 
Children’s helplines can improve children’s wellbeing, confidence and ability to cope with their current situation, as well as reduce anxiety and distress."

"Additional findings
Children’s helplines are an established component of child protection systems. Positive outcomes for children and young people occur as a result of helpline counselling itself or as a result of support from external agencies brought about by helpline referrals.
The evidence base for children’s helplines provides a rich understanding of children’s concerns and issues.
An increasing number of helplines provide an online service, which can have distinct benefits associated with accessibility, reach and anonymity."

Link Last accessed 30-09-19

Tuesday 3 September 2019

EBPU Key Findings: 2019

“An overview of the Evidence Based Practice Unit's key research findings in child mental health.
The findings are categorised into EBPU's four focus areas:

  1. Risk: What is the range of contexts and conditions that put a child or young person at risk of mental health issues?
  2. Resilience: What enables some children to cope better than others in difficult circumstances?
  3. Change: What influences change in children's mental health and wellbeing over time?
  4. Choice: How can children and families be supported to be an active part of decision making?” Last accessed 03-09-19

Link

Monday 2 September 2019

Children’s wellbeing. Source: The Children’s Society

"The Children’s Society has published its annual Good childhood report looking at the wellbeing of children in the UK. Findings, based on surveys of children of different ages across Great Britain, include: children’s happiness with life as a whole decreased from 8.03 on a 0-10 scale in 2015/16 to 7.89 in 2016/7; children experiencing multiple disadvantages had a lower mean satisfaction with life than those experiencing one; and it seems that living with intermittent poverty is associated with lower life satisfaction than living in persistent poverty."

Link

Monday 19 August 2019

Online safety


The BBC reports that the government is considering giving powers to fine video-sharing apps and websites to Ofcom the UK's media regulator. The proposal would see Ofcom able to impose multi-million pound fines if it judges the platforms have failed to prevent children and young people seeing pornography, violence and other harmful material. According to the report Ofcom would take charge of the matter from 19 September 2020.

Link accessed 19-08-19


Thursday 15 August 2019

"Counseling With Guided Use of a Mobile Well-Being App for Students Experiencing Anxiety or Depression: Clinical Outcomes of a Feasibility Trial Embedded in a Student Counseling Service"

Background: Anxiety and depression continue to be prominent experiences of students approaching their university counseling service. These services face unique challenges to ensure that they continue to offer quality support with fewer resources to a growing student population. The convenience and availability of mobile phone apps offer innovative solutions to address therapeutic challenges and expand the reach of traditional support.

"This blended approach in our study was shown to be acceptable and feasible and showed potential to maintain clinical improvement on anxiety following the completion of brief counseling"

Link 15-08-19

Tuesday 6 August 2019

"Young, British and Depressed: we need way more TV like this"





Pressurised GPs often prescribe antidepressants to young people in the interim. Many may find the medication helpful. However, as one GP interviewed said, it is “far from ideal” – and this echoes the majority view.

Of 1,000 UK GPs surveyed in the show, 86% agreed that the prescribing of antidepressants has increased due to problems accessing specialist services. Only 1% feel this is the best treatment for depression. In fact, only one type of antidepressant has been shown to be effective and recommended as a treatment for depression in children and adolescents. Dr James Davies, a psychotherapist and mental health researcher, explained how withdrawing from antidepressants can often take longer than the seven days stated in clinical guidelines. A young man spoke of his months-long experience of “brain zaps”. The guidelines are currently being updated

Link to Guardian article 06-08-19

Monday 15 July 2019

"Save the Children's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Policy Position"


This policy position sets out principles for Save the Children's advocacy as it relates to the spectrum of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE). It aims to better protect the rights of children who are seen as not conforming to conventional norms relating to SOGIE. The SOGIE policy and Gender Equality Policy are mutually supportive—the SOGIE policy provides additional guidance for staff implementing the movement-wide Gender Equality Policy.

Article


Link

Monday 1 July 2019

"Relationships, health and sex education statutory guidance: CASPAR briefing"

Last updated: 28 Jun 2019
Summary of key points

Our briefing sets out a summary of the key points covered in the guidance, including
  • developing a policy
  • content of relationships education, sex education and health education in primary and secondary schools
  • parents' rights to withdraw
  • whole school approach
  • safeguarding
  • information for parents.

The DfE recognises the need for teachers in to be trained to deliver high quality Relationships Education, RSE and Health Education, and is committed to supporting state funded schools to deliver teaching around these subjects in a coordinated and coherent way across the curriculum (DfE, 2019b).

Link

Saturday 29 June 2019

"Best practice for supporting bereaved children who have SEND"



"Sarah Helton, a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teacher from South Somerset, travelled to Denmark, Norway and the USA to investigate best practice in supporting bereaved children who have SEND."

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust - accessed 29-06-19

For full report - 

Monday 10 June 2019

Gender and sexual identity - NSPCC


"Childline carried out 6,014 counselling sessions with children and young people about issues relating to gender and sexuality last year - on average 16 a day1.
Childline figures from the past 12 months show:
  • 12 to 15-year-olds were the most common age group to contact Childline about gender and sexual identity
  • 409 of the counselling sessions were with 11-year-olds or younger
  • an approximately 80% increase in the number of views of its gender identity webpage in the last year2."
Link accessed 10-06-19

How can you help us?

Wednesday 5 June 2019

"Integrated counselling and coaching with young people"

From  
BACP Children, Young People and Families, March 2019


"Young people seeking help for emotional difficulties may also have to deal with a variety of interrelated issues. These challenges may include, for example, developing career plans, fostering greater autonomy and independence, building new relationships,  and managing pressures from peers and from institutions.  The challenge for counsellors and psychotherapists, then,  is how best to help young people to address together their psychological difficulties, as well as these social and developmental aspects. While counselling for young people has been useful, clients have fed back their preference  for more proactive and goal-focused approaches."



Link

Monday 25 March 2019

Primary AGENDA - Wales


“A resource for practitioners who want to empower children (age 7-11) to make positive relationships matter in their schools and communities"

"An online guide with equality, inclusivity, children’s rights and social justice at its heart”

Link - Accessed 25-03-19


Monday 4 March 2019

Multi-agency working


“Multi-agency working is key to effective safeguarding and child protection (Sidebotham et al, 2016).
Children and their families will access a range of services throughout a child's life. It's vital that practitioners work together to gain a full overview
of a child's situation and have a co-ordinated approach to support.
Case reviews in each of the UK nations emphasise the importance of information sharing and collaboration between agencies so that professionals can fully understand any risks a child may be exposed to and take appropriate action to keep them safe.
We’ve pulled together learning for best practice about multi-agency working from analyses of case reviews across the UK and Ofsted’s analysis of joint targeted area inspection (JTAI) reports in England. See the references tab for details of these reports.”




NSPCC Learning accessed 04.03.19
Link

Sunday 3 March 2019

""Permission to share? Young people struggle to resolve “consent confusion” online""

In an increasingly digitised world, with young people sharing a variety of content every day, 65% say they would feel disconnected from the world if they couldn’t be online. Helping them to make sense of their daily lives and wider society, 70% of young people say being online helps them understand what’s happening in the world and 60% only know about certain issues or news because of the internet.

Crucially, young people are using the internet as a safe space to understand and navigate topics they’re nervous to ask about, with 67% saying it’s easier to learn about them online. Encouragingly, the internet has helped almost half (46%) through a difficult time.
With technology enabling us to connect and learn faster than ever, 48% of young people say being online makes them feel like their voices and actions matter. Maximising on the collective power of the internet, 42% have been inspired to take positive action by sharing support for a campaign, social movement or petition.


However, the myriad of ways in which young people connect online means they must also navigate the complexities of asking for and giving permission before sharing. Young people have a strong sense of right and wrong online, with an overwhelming 84% believing everyone has a responsibility to respect others. However, in practice almost half (48%) admit their peers don’t always think before they post. 36% of young people are sharing screenshots of other peoples’ photos, comments or messages at least weekly.

(Adapted from Safer Internet Day Press Release 2019 05 February 2019
Link

Sunday 24 February 2019

On My Mind


"On My Mind aims to empower young people to make informed choices about the mental health support they want, the treatments they receive and the outcomes they desire.
It contains information, advice and resources to help young people support their own mental health, including signposting to sources of support in times of crisis and tools to help young people manage their own wellbeing. 
The free digital resources are designed for use by children and young people between the ages of 10 – 25. These may be young people who are thinking about looking for support, who may be receiving or waiting to receive support or for those the traditional offer does not appeal to or has not worked for and who want help and information about self-managing their own mental health and wellbeing.
Co-produced with young people to help other young people"

Link

"National Lottery-funded HeadStart programme"


"These are the latest findings from a pioneering survey of over 30,000 young people (aged 11 to 14) collected as part the National Lottery-funded HeadStart programme by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and UCL’s Evidence Based Practice Unit.

The research highlights the link between mental health difficulties, lower academic attainment and persistent absence from school. It also finds that pupils excluded from school consistently have higher levels of behavioural problems, difficulties with peers and attention difficulties than their peers."

Link

Saturday 12 January 2019

Addiction Rooted In Childhood Trauma, Says Prominent Specialist By Rob Waters January 10, 2019



"All addictions — alcohol or drugs, sex addiction or internet addiction, gambling or shopping — are attempts to regulate our internal emotional states because we’re not comfortable, and the discomfort originates in childhood. For me, there’s no distinction except in degree between one addiction and another: same brain circuits, same emotional dynamics, same pain and same behaviors of furtiveness, denial and lying."

Link

Monday 7 January 2019

Mental health services: survey


"Stem4, a charity which works to prevent mental ill health in teenagers, has published results from a survey of 1,000 GP's across the UK about their views on children and young people accessing mental health services. Findings include: 99 per cent of GP's fear that young people may come to harm while waiting to access specialist mental health treatment; 90 per cent of GP's believe that mental health services for children and young people aged 11- to 18-years-old are inadequate; 88 per cent of GP's said that it was either impossible or very difficult for their patients to access treatment for anxiety"

From NSPCC CASPAR: current awareness service for practice, policy and research 07.01.19 
Link to PDF

Wednesday 2 January 2019

Suicide Facts and Myths



The Tavistock and Portman GIDS clinic states that amongst children referred to the clinic “suicide is extremely rare” (taken from the Tavistock evidence base page here).At a conference in Bristol in October 2017, Dr Polly Carmichael, Director and Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Tavistock, stated that the PACE survey is “deeply flawed” and that rates of self-harm, distress and suicidal ideation are similar to CAMHS figures overall. Dr Carmichael’s full talk is available on this page and we summed it up in this thread.Dr Carmichael expressed concerns about the use of suicide statistics in the discourse around gender dysphoric young people which is so negative and suggests a lack of agency and resilience.This is our position. Every suicide is a terrible tragedy and we must be extremely careful in any message we send to young people on this subject. The Samaritans guidance states that we should avoid speculation about any one ‘trigger’ for suicide and that we need to exercise caution in repeating suicide statistics. We would like to see this advice followed more carefully in the case of young people struggling with gender identity issues.


Link