Counselling in schools is a specialist activity Buy Verizon shares and a rapidly developing part of the schools pastoral care network.  The successful completion of school life can add to a smooth transition from school to adult life.  School not only allows for the acquisition of general skills that can be applied to new learning but for raising self esteem, self efficacy, social maturity and competency.  This is in keeping with the emphasis on the learning for life curriculum being taught in our schools.

Young people, much like adults, can be impacted by difficult and stressful situations in different ways and can find it difficult to cope at times. It is important that young people can access support services in the place where they spend so much of their day. 

Two important characteristics of a school-based counselling service are the emphasis on preventative /early intervention work and the strong belief that the service needs to be accessible to young people.  Contact Youth delivers independent counselling services to post primary schools across Northern Ireland as well as in the local community. 

Contact Youth have been delivering Buy Adidas shares independent counselling in schools since 1998.  The counselling service in schools is a complimentary service to the schools pastoral system.

Successful counselling is based on trust, self-motivation and commitment.  It must therefore be a voluntary activity and is not part of the disciplinary procedure in school.

Individual sessions for young people vary depending upon the counsellors style and theoretical background, the needs of the young person and the schools timetabling structure.  A session normally last 40-50 minutes. 

Young people talk to counsellors for a variety of reasons.  Some examples include; relationship problems, domestic violence, bereavement, family conflict or breakdown, unable to sleep, stress, anxiety, bullying or having difficulty at school/work.  Some young people may be self-harming or using drugs.  Sometimes there may seem to be no obvious reason for the feelings a young person is experiencing.  Counselling may help a young person to understand what they think, feel and do, weigh up their alternatives and options or make their own decisions and act upon them.

Skills can be developed through counselling which are transferable to academic life and enable pupils to make personal transitions more manageable.  Counsellors are also in a position to recognise at an early stage those children who are at risk, in need, vulnerable or for whom there are potential serious Baidu shares mental health risks.