Counselling is an important aspect of many people’s lives, for many years throughout their lives. It can be especially important for children, even having the ability to shape their future, their outlook on life and their thought processes for the better.
From young children to adolescents, there are many reasons why a child may benefit from counselling, along with many different approaches to take depending on their personal situation.
If you’re passionate about therapy and the thought of making a positive difference to young people’s lives, then keep reading as we discuss in more depth how counselling can achieve just that, along with the benefits it can offer and what makes a successful counsellor.
The Importance of Offering Child and Adolescent Counselling
There are various situations that may occur in a young person’s life whereby they’ll require both support and an outlet to discuss their emotions and feelings. These can range from difficult emotional and personal circumstances to those that are potentially more serious and even dangerous.
Here are just some examples of such situations:
Their parents are going through a divorce
A parent or sibling has passed away
They’re being bullied at school
They’re experiencing child neglect
Someone is mentally, physically or sexually abusing them
Whilst these issues may range in severity, they are all equally valid reasons for a young person to require therapy, as each situation can be challenging in its own right.
Scientifically speaking, the human brain doesn’t fully develop until your mid-to-late twenties, so expecting a child or even an adolescent to be able to independently navigate such strong emotions associated with difficult situations, or navigate mental health issues, is incredibly unfeasible.
With that said, suppressing and not confronting these feelings can worsen their mental health over time and may lead to various other issues. This is why counselling is absolutely imperative to offer to young people.
What Are the Benefits of Counselling for Young Individuals?
An Outlet to Discuss Feelings
Many young people may find that they don’t have an adult that they trust enough or feel comfortable talking to about their feelings or issues. In some cases, they may simply not feel confident enough to confide in an adult they know, even if they do trust and feel safe with them.
Being able to openly talk about your feelings, however, can not only be extremely cathartic, but actually an important way to destress and manage your emotions.
One of the great things about speaking with a therapist or a guidance counsellor is that they are individuals that aren’t involved in your personal life, which is why many young individuals feel much more comfortable opening up to them, as there isn’t necessarily that same level of fear of judgement, ignorance or dismissal that they may have with those who are involved in their personal life.
This is why counselling, for many young people, is a great outlet for them to discuss their troubles, thoughts and feelings out in the open.
Improved Confidence
One of the most common traits of people who seek or require support from a counsellor is a lack of self-esteem. This, in turn, can have a negative knock-on effect on their confidence in other ways, for example struggles with communication, independence and resilience.
Qualified counsellors are trained to talk young people through these feelings, offering new thought perspectives and management techniques that can channel the negative thought processes that cause these feelings in the first place.
With each session a young person attends, the more progress they make, allowing them to feel more confident in themselves and more prepared to cope with any challenging feelings in the future. This ultimately helps to build confidence in other areas of their lives, also.
Better Decision-Making Skills
When young people experience issues at home or in school, or are struggling with their mental health, this can often lead to them making some poor decisions that they may regret or may put them in a harmful situation.
For example, they may spend their time with people who are a negative influence on them, they may involve themselves in dangerous or disruptive behaviour as a way to channel any inner anger or they may even self-harm as a way of dealing with their emotions - none of which are favourable.
Whilst a counsellor will never tell a young person what to do or steer them down a certain path (although they may get involved if they believe a minor is in danger of hurting themselves or hurting or being hurt by others), they will encourage them to be open to and explore ideas and choices that perhaps they may not at first have thought about.
Reflection is a big thing in counselling, as is the autonomy to make your own choices. By teaching children that they have the power to think for themselves and make positive changes in their lives and their counselling journey - without any pressure or burden in doing so - then this can lead to better decision-making skills in the future.
Improved Health
Any kind of mental health struggle, whether stress, anxiety or depression, can have an adverse effect on someone’s health, which is even more concerning for children and adolescents - who are still growing and developing both mentally and physically.
One of the most common side effects of poor mental health, for example, is a lack of sleep - whether that be insomnia or poor, irregular sleeping patterns. Sleep is incredibly important to a child’s health and development, including their mental, physical, social and emotional development.
On top of that, a lack of sleep can lead to further effects on their health in other ways, such as negatively impacting both their metabolic and immune health.
Being able to reduce any stress, worries and anxieties through counselling, however, can help to improve a child’s sleep quality and thus their overall health, ensuring that their development isn’t impacted.
The Attributes of a Successful Counsellor
Empathetic
Empathy is an essential skill to being a successful and trusted counsellor. Counselling can be a daunting thing for many young people, so it’s important that they don’t feel judged or dismissed, but instead understood and validated.
By demonstrating compassion, attentiveness and dedication to wanting to help a young person on their counselling journey, this can help offer them that reassurance they may be seeking, allowing them to open up and discuss their situation and feelings with you in a safe environment.
Good Communicator
Communication is key during counselling. Considering that this may be something many of the children you counsel understandably struggle with, being a strong communicator is a responsibility that falls to you.
It’s important that you know how to confidently set boundaries, effectively communicate ideas and provide insightful guidance without showing any signs of hostility, harshness or criticism. As a confident and compassionate communicator, you should be able to create trusting (yet still professional) relationships with the young people you seek to help.
Patient
Patience is a critical trait for successful counsellors to have. As well as talking through any struggles, thoughts and difficult experiences (all of which can be naturally hard to open up about anyway), counselling may bring up traumatic memories and very strong emotions, which can understandably be difficult to process.
Every patient is different and you should always encourage children to progress through their sessions at whatever rate they’re comfortable with. Remember, they first need to feel that they can trust you before they open up to you (which can be especially hard for those who’ve had negative experiences after trusting adults in the past) and won’t necessarily be as articulate as an adult is able to be when communicating with you.
While the process may be long, you must be patient for their benefit.
Children’s Counsellor Training
If you feel passionate about helping to change young people’s lives for the better and want to become a successful counsellor who can do just that, then we can help you get there here at Key Counselling Training - a leading provider of counsellor qualifications in the UK.
Whether you’re just starting out on your journey to becoming a counsellor, are looking for diploma counselling courses or want to take continued professional development workshops, we’ve got the training course for you. We offer Level two to four counselling courses, along with advanced certificates and diplomas in specialised subjects.
To learn more about the courses we offer or discuss any queries regarding enrolment, then don’t hesitate to contact our helpful team today and we’ll be sure to be in touch.