Practice‐based evidence in school‐based counselling

Abstract

Aims: Counsellors are becoming commonplace within the support structures of secondary schools. To date, research findings from practice-based outcome studies suggest this is a positive move. There are, however, numerous limitations to this work, and this project aims to develop this existing body of literature. Method: Nine 13Á15 year olds attending counselling in six school-based services participated in the project Á one individual withdrew. A standardised self-report questionnaire (YP-CORE) was collected at four intervals: (1) the point of referral; (2) the onset of counselling; (3) the completion of counselling; and, (4) a two-month follow-up. The change indicated in each of these phases is examined and reported here. Additionally, YP-CORE was completed during each session. Findings: The YP-CORE indicates an improvement in the well-being of this small sample, while waiting for and attending therapy. Further examination of sessionby-session data also highlights how pre-and post-outcome data should not necessarily be viewed as linear in nature. Discussion: This is a small-scale investigation and further work is needed in this area. It does, however, raise a number of issues regarding the complexity inherent in conducting outcome research that warrant further investigation.

Examining the complexities of measuring effectiveness of online counselling for young people using routine evaluation data

“…It has been successfully used in youth therapy settings (for example, Cooper, 2009;Hanley et al, 2011) and emerged from the longer adult version of the measure. Presently, it is in the process of being further validated through the collection of normative data (Twigg et al, 2009).…”

“…It is possible to formulate 'neat' stories using psychometric measures to record levels of psychological distress. The aim of this research is to build on past studies (see Hanley et al, 2011) in examining the complexities of collating practice-based evidence. This gives rise to the question of what it is that meant by outcome.…”

School-based humanistic counseling for psychological distress in young people: Pilot randomized controlled trial

“…A meta-analysis by Cooper (2009) of 15 naturalistic cohort evaluations of mainly person-centered and humanistic schoolbased interventions found a mean pre-to postintervention ES (d) of 0.81, but lack of control data or auditing of practice makes such findings difficult to interpret. Indeed, one recent small-scale study found that, while young people in counseling showed reductions in psychological distress, equivalent change also occurred during the waiting period before counseling (Hanley, Sefi, & Lennie, 2011). However, meta-analyses of person-centered approaches in child and adolescent psychotherapy against control conditions have found ESs ranging from 0.15 to 0.93 (Hö lldampf, Behr, & Crawford, 2010), with a large-scale trial of supportive nondirective therapy finding equivalent outcomes to cognitive therapy in the treatment of adolescent depression at 2 years follow-up (Birmaher et al, 2000), though inferior outcomes at end of intervention (Brent et al, 1997).…”

“It's like a refuge”: Young people's relationships with school counsellors

“…Young people experience high rates of mental health problems (Patel, Flisher, Hetrick, & McGorry, ), but are typically reluctant to engage with counselling and retention rates for those who do attend counselling are notoriously low (Gulliver, Griffiths, & Christensen, ). Counselling offered in a school context can be an important way of reaching young people who are unlikely to seek help from other services (Hanley, Sefi, & Lennie, ; Harris, ; Rickwood, Deane, & Wilson, ). However, the extent to which young people will engage with any service seems to be influenced by their experience of the relationship with their counsellor (Atzil‐Slonim, Tishby, & Shefler, ; Berry & Greenwood, ; Duppong Hurley, Van Ryzin, Lambert, & Stevens, ; Fernandez, Krause, & Pérez, ).…”

“…Much of this literature draws from samples of young participants accessing therapy in more traditional mental health settings (Binder et al., ; Bury et al., ; Ness et al., ; Palmstierna & Werbart, ; Sagen, Hummelsund, & Binder, ). However, a growing body of research focuses specifically on young people who seek counselling within school‐based services (Hanley et al., ; Pearce et al., ). This research highlights the potential benefits of school counselling for mental health and academic achievement (McArthur, Cooper, & Berdondini, ; Rupani, Haughey, & Cooper, ).…”