Blending Child Counselling Skills Through Our Programmes

23 Jan 2021

Congratulations to Cathryn on her Level 3 Child Counselling Qualification

Cathryn’s child counselling journey…

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to help people through their struggles and challenging situations, which as we know we all have at one stage in our lives or another. 

In 1992 I became a Family Support Worker in the Family Office within the Army, it was my role to support the army families through testing times.  In 2008 I volunteered at HomeStart, a local community network of trained Volunteers and expert support helping families with young children through their challenging times.  Within my role as Choreographer of the Friends of the Art Theatre annual pantomime, I would often find myself identifying strengths to empower children and enhance their confidence for the stage. 

In my role of Head of School at Take Part I bring all of my experience, skills and training and embed child counselling beliefs and principals within the work I do here to support our families.  

Embedding child psychology and counselling skills within the Take Part ethos

Counselling is a talking therapy that allows a person to talk about their problems and feelings in a confidential and dependable environment. A person can become inspired and motivated to change their life situation for the better and to start creating an action plan. The main purpose is to make the person feel okay with where they are right now, and I feel this is something we blend through the activities we do at Take Part. 

Growth and Development

To help our pupils cope better with their emotions and feelings we feel that the Parent, Child, Teacher relationships at Take Part are paramount and we endeavour to reach out to both the child and parent to secure the trust within the relationship. A Teacher who expresses warmth and understanding and aims to maintain positive interactions with students positively effects a students development, and gives them many benefits that continue even outside of school. 

Conflict and Stress 

At Take Part we help children and young people find out what makes them tick.  We feel it is so important for a person to feel happy in their skin.  Happy people thrive and flourish!

  • Identity diffusion – where people are uncertain of their career paths or are unaware of the skills that they have and that they still try various identity masks in their relationships with others. 
  • Identity for closure – finding out who they really are.
  • Identity Moratorium – is a stage of active exploration that goes together with low commitment with any particular identity. 
  • Identity achievement – this occurs when the adolescent ha had adequate opportunity to explore n identity or even a few.

The right use of language can make pupils feel comfortable, motivate them to take action, and help them realise new and exciting possibilities. The way we speak to pupils at Take Part guides them towards lasting, positive change.

Psychological Issues

  • Grief and Bereavement – children of different ages experience grief and bereavement differently.  We can work with our families to help the child comprehend the situation. 
  • Dysfunctional Families – a condition where a family cannot function in a normal way, this can be very temporary or permanent. Parents can either under-function or over-function when it comes to the role of a parent. 
  • Bullying – Bullying can happen at any age, a repeated form of behaviour.  It is typically done to undermine someone based on their perceived weaknesses. 

Therapeutic Outcomes

At Take Part we often see a transformation in character when a pupil identifies their strengths and personality traits, this is when they feel empowered.  Our children and young people can use their newly-found skills to overcome challenges, growing and blooming in confidence as they develop through a state of transformation. 

If you are interested in speaking to Cathryn further about the Parent, Child, Teacher relationship we support at Take Part, please contact her directly at cathryn@wearetakepart.com.

At Take Part we encourage children and young people to connect with their feelings and emotions. I want to ensure that everyone has a safe space to have a voice and use it confidently.

Cathryn Yates, Head of School - New Mills