This form of counselling can be extremely empowering for a young person. They are provided with a safe space to explore their thoughts, feelings and experiences and be heard without judgement or direction. This often leads to the client realising the power they have within themselves to make changes for a more fulfilling and happier path forward. Typically, this intervention takes eight weeks.

The psychodynamic approach is derived from psychoanalysis and focuses on immediate problems to provide a quicker solution. It stresses the importance of the unconscious and past experience in shaping current behaviour. The therapist will aim to build an accepting and trusting relationship, encouraging the client to talk about their childhood relationships with parents and other significant people. Typically, this intervention takes eight weeks.

CBT-informed therapists work with clients to help them understand their thoughts, feelings and behaviours. With this understanding, they can help the client to make
changes to overcome:

• depression and low mood
• anxiety and worry
• phobia
• emotion-based school avoidance.

Our CBT-informed therapists hold therapeutic or practitioner qualifications and have enhanced their knowledge and skills through further training. In some cases, CBT-informed therapy involves parents, carers and schools. Typically, this intervention takes eight weeks.

High-Intensity CBT helps clients change unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviour. It supports an understanding of both physical and emotional responses. CBT focuses on current problems and practical solutions to help the client feel better in the present. CBT will help the client identify and challenge any negative thinking so they can deal with situations and behave in a more positive way, enhancing their enjoyment of life. High intensity CBT therapists are trained and qualified to use specific evidence-based models to treat mental health disorders such as:

• depression and low mood
• self-harm
• generalised anxiety
• stress
• specific phobias
• obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and intrusive thoughts
• health anxiety
• panic disorder
• social phobia
• separation anxiety
• emotion-based school avoidance

In some cases, high-intensity CBT will involve working with the parents, carers and schools. Typically, this intervention lasts eight to twelve weeks.

Low-intensity CBT practitioners are trained to help clients with low mood, anxiety, worry and phobia. They take a behavioural approach to helping the client understand the impact of their behaviours on their feelings and thoughts. Practitioners are trained in specific evidence-based interventions for the treatment of the early onset of depression and anxiety, working with either the young person or their parents or carers. They can also support parents or carers with managing their child’s behaviour or conduct. This intervention lasts six to eight weeks.

Compassion Focussed Therapy promotes mental and emotional healing by encouraging people in treatment to be compassionate toward themselves and other people. With further studies or training, already qualified CBT therapists may offer CFT in their practice to help and support individuals in treatment who wish to explore ways to relate to themselves and others with greater compassion. Typically, this intervention lasts eight weeks.

Integrative counselling looks at the whole person, considering their mental, physical and emotional needs. Therapists use techniques and tools to tailor an approach bespoke to the individual. An integrative counsellor aims to build a trusting and non-judgmental relationship that helps the client develop self-awareness. When the client understands the causes of their concerns or triggers for their behaviour, they can confidently set goals and develop new behaviours to improve their happiness. Typically, this intervention lasts eight weeks.

This type of therapy looks at the family system, and the relationships between people, rather than the individuals. It allows family members to express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely, helping them understand each other’s experiences and views, appreciate each other’s needs and build on their strengths. It can help with many issues that affect the family unit, helping people make useful changes in their relationships and their lives. Typically, this intervention lasts eight weeks.

IPT-A is an evidence-based, structured, time-limited approach focused on relationships. It can be useful for clients with depression and mood disorders, particularly around bereavement, conflict and life changes. The IPT-A therapist will help the client identify any patterns or problems in their relationships with other people so they can work out strategies for coping with these. Typically, this intervention lasts 12 to 16 weeks.

EMDR is an extremely effective treatment for children and adults who have had traumatic experiences. It is also helpful for a variety of emotional and behaviour problems in adults and children. This approach is effective in the treatment of past trauma, as sometimes the effect of a trauma can stay with us and affect our lives long after the event. Sometimes the traumas a client experiences are easy to see – death, or a road traffic accident, for example. But it is not always that easy. Sometimes trauma is experienced so early in life that the client does not remember, or they may have pushed traumatic experiences out of mind or ‘forgotten’ them. EMDR is an approach that seems to ‘unblock’ brain processing so traumatic memories can become ‘ordinary’ memories. We do not know precisely how this treatment works but it’s thought that the eye movements may help to process unconscious material. Typically, this intervention lasts eight to twelve weeks.

A brief psychological intervention in which parents and carers are supported in applying CBT principles in their child’s day-to-day life. It is aimed at parent and carers of primary age children, with early onset of anxiety or worry. It is a six-week course, delivered as a group or one-to-one with a parent or carer. According to new research (2020) this can lead to good outcomes for child anxiety disorders. Treatment consists of psychoeducation, identification and testing of anxious cognitions through graded exposure and problem-solving. Parent and carers complete various tasks between sessions, both independently and with their child.