School‐based humanistic counselling for psychological distress in young people: A practice research network to address the attrition problem

Abstract

Aims: School‐based humanistic counselling (SBHC) is a common psychological intervention for young people, particularly in the UK. However, studies have tended to suffer from high attrition rates, such that effects may have been over‐estimated. This paper describes a low budget ‘star topology’ practice research network (PRN) outcome evaluation of SBHC in a sample where attrition rates were minimised. Design: A practice‐based longitudinal study in a small PRN compared levels of psychological distress at first and last session from session‐by‐session data. Multilevel regression modelling was used to identify predictors of outcomes. Methods: Eight counsellors working across 11 schools agreed to use session‐by‐session self‐rating on the Young Person's CORE (YP‐CORE) yielding data from 256 young people aged 11 to 17. Predictors of outcomes were analysed using multilevel regression analysis. Results: Mean levels of distress on the YP‐CORE reduced from 18.29 (SD = 7.32) at baseline to 9.10 (SD = 6.19) at endpoint, giving a baseline to endpoint effect size of 1.26 (95% CI = 1.06–1.46). Lower levels of psychological distress at endpoint were associated with male clients, younger age groups, greater rates of attendance at counselling, and bereavement as a presenting problem. Conclusions: This ‘star topology’ PRN focused on a single study and demonstrated that such a system can provide relatively low cost, high quality data. The data showed that SBHC is associated with large reductions in psychological distress, and that this cannot be attributed to the high attrition rates of previous datasets.

Estimating effectiveness of school‐based counselling: Using data from controlled trials to predict improvement over non‐intervention change

“…We used data from a 2009–2010 practice‐based evaluation of school‐based counselling in Scotland (Cooper, McGinnis, & Carrick, ), which had obtained a relatively high completion rate: 97.3% of those who were eligible and consenting to participate in the evaluation. Data were available on 256 clients, of whom 153 (59.8%) were female and 103 (40.2%) were male.…”

Practice‐based research networks: Origins, overview, obstacles, and opportunities

“…Both capture the developmental culture of PbRNs, particularly as they become established. The third (McAleavey, Castonguay, & Xiao, 2014) and fourth (Cooper, McGinnis, & Carrick, 2014) articles are defined more by their shape with one being a single site and the other extending out to multiple sites. However, each model overlaps to a greater or lesser degree with other models.…”

“…The authors present the different stages in the development of a practice research network (PRN), and the lessons learned concerning its sustainability and growth. Centre model – Single site: McAleavey et al (2014) present work informed by the Penn PbRN tradition in which the research expertise derives and is based in a single centre. Their use of multilevel modelling reflects the natural hierarchy of data and the structure of patients nested within therapists. Star model – Multiple sites: Cooper et al (2014) report on work set within schools, another context within which there is natural nesting of data. Similarly, they use multilevel modelling to reflect the nested nature of the data.These models reflect a progression – hence the ordering in the special section – towards PbRN models that may complement trials methodology.…”

“…Star model – Multiple sites: Cooper et al (2014) report on work set within schools, another context within which there is natural nesting of data. Similarly, they use multilevel modelling to reflect the nested nature of the data.…”

An investigation of change: elementary students with an individual education program participating in a school‐based mental health counselling intervention

“…The humanistic components of facilitating emotional release was more effective than problem‐solving skills within the cognitive behavioural intervention with children diagnosed with learning disabilities. Furthermore, humanistic counselling aligns well with educational settings due to the flexibility of the approach, and SBHC is effective in reducing psychological distress and improving self‐esteem with children in three randomized controlled trials in the United Kingdom (Cooper, McGinnis and Carrick, ; Cooper, Rowland, McArthur, et al., ; McArthur, Cooper and Berdondini, ).…”