Counselling provides a safe space for a young person to talk about their life, their feelings and their current situation. It is a source of emotional support that provides them with the ability to talk to someone who is neutral and impartial.
The relationship with the counsellor is based on trust and the young person will decide what they want to talk about in the sessions. The counsellor’s role is to nurture and support their wellbeing whilst always thinking about their safety.
We provide up to 6 sessions of one-to-one counselling for young people with various issues which could include:
We receive referrals for young people from teachers, GPs, third sector organisations and other professional agencies. We want to ensure that we give you enough information about the service to help you decide whether a referral is appropriate for the young person.
We would recommend that a young person makes a self-referral to the service. It can be empowering for them, whilst giving them autonomy to remain in control of their choices. Throughout the high schools there are also Link Workers who can support young people to make a referral.
We find that children in Primary school (Year 6) or those not attending school may need advocacy and support when making a referral and this is when professional referrals are most useful. There are other reasons why you may need to make a referral to our service, and we would be happy to answer any of your questions.
As a professional referring a young person, you must obtain consent before submitting a referral form. Please contact us to discuss if this is an issue.
It is important to note that when a young person is engaged in, or being supported by, the following professionals: Primary Mental Health; Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS); or any other mental health organisation, a counselling intervention may not be appropriate. Please contact us to discuss the service if this is the case.
All our counsellors are qualified and experienced, and all referrals are screened to ensure that counselling is the most appropriate intervention for the young person.
However, there are times when we might recommend that a young person referred to us should be signposted to another organisation. If we receive a referral from you that we believe would benefit from signposting, we will contact you to discuss the best course of action.
Barnardo’s community and school based counselling offer an assessment and up to six sessions. This is designed to be a solution focussed, short term intervention. Complex circumstances where a young person has experienced significant trauma often requires more sessions. If this is the case, please talk to us before referring.
Support can be accessed in the following ways:
Young person – You can encourage the young person to complete a self-referral form or ask them to speak to their link worker at school to access a paper copy.
Parent/carer – You can complete an online referral form on their behalf. It is important that you speak to parent/carer to ensure that they have gained consent from the young person before making a referral.
Professionals – You can complete a referral form on the families’ behalf but the young person being referred will need to give consent for this referral to be made.
When you make an online referral to us, you will receive an email confirming that we have it safe in our inbox.
Occasionally, we may reach out to you as a professional to discuss the referral. However, in most cases we will discuss the referral directly with the young person.
You may wish to contact us to gain an update on the young person’s current situation however, we are unable to provide any information other than to confirm that the young person has engaged with us. The contents of the session will be confidential between the young person and the counsellor.
It is the young person’s choice as to whether they meet with a counsellor and attend counselling sessions. Young people have the autonomy to discuss the main issues that they are facing, and these may be different from those you have noted on the referral form.
Registered office: Tanners Lane, Barkingside IG6 1QG. VAT number 507477337. Barnardo’s is a charity (216250 / SC037605) and a company limited by guarantee. (61625 England – see the governing document).
What professionals say about our service?
It gave the pupils someone with an impartial opinion, whom they felt safe with.
The service has really helped young people in our school. Having that outlet to talk in confidence with somebody unconnected with home/school is massively helpful.
The reduction of worry/anxiety from this service has undoubtedly enabled the young people to be in a better position to study and learn.
The service is an important and highly valued resource for the development of our learners. Without such a support mechanism many of our students would be struggling to not only engage with school but also the challenges life throws at them in the community.