Young Minds prides itself on being different to your typical counselling service. Through years of working with young people, we have developed a variety of approaches that can be tailored to work with a young person’s individual needs and provide positive outcomes. Our passion is early intervention, which is why we have developed a mentor program to be effective with students from primary school age all the way through to university.
–Our Clients consider us different! I’m sure you have heard that before but we mean it! When creating Young Minds we researched styles that work for children and young people and researched questions such as;
- “Why are children and young people so scared of the word counsellor?”
- “Why do child counselling sessions take place in offices instead of in child friendly spaces?”
- “What can we do to get young people to want to see us instead of feeling forced?”
- “What does child and young person focused really mean?”
We don’t want to sit in our office and wait for clients to come to us. “Counselling” can be confronting for a young person and has a great deal of stigma attached. That is why we meet children, young people and their families in spaces that feel comfortable for them. This may include their home, the beach, a coffee shop, a basketball court, or an art facility – the options are endless.
– We don’t use one type of counselling technique! All young people are different so why use the same techniques? As we are privately run and do not have to follow a how, who, what, where, when and why, we have the flexibility to choose the style of counselling that best meets the needs of the child or young person. So instead of specialising in one, we choose the most relevant to that client in their current situation.
– Early intervention is key! Generally, many mainstream services that are offered to young people are reactive. The highest need is the highest priority, leaving others waiting for a service. The focus seems to be based on ‘fixing’ issues rather than preventing them. Why only speak to the victims of schoolyard bullying when you can also work with the bully to find out what may be causing this behaviour and prevent the issue happening in the first place? Current statistics are showing issues such as self-harm, eating disorders, bullying and suicidal thoughts are all occurring at a very young age and often aren’t being dealt with until that child reaches high school age. We believe we can make a difference before concerns escalate into significant issues.
We are passionate about doing things differently to try and make real changes in young peoples lives. Our aim is to support clients with an individualised approach, for a range of presenting issues and adopting a mentor style to build rapport.
