Very brief psychodynamic counselling with young people

Abstract

This paper attempts to re-create the flavour and the atmosphere that is evoked when counsellor and client meet with prior agreement to engage in a piece of very brief counselling work. The context is an informal self-referral service operating on the boundary of a large psychiatric clinic which specializes in psychoanalytic and systemic work.

The situation provides a transitional space for both counsellor and client to observe and to learn from their own responses to each other and in so doing to concentrate their minds on the essential core anxieties that the client is currently experiencing. In this way the area of difficulty can be named and become available for thought.     

Online counselling in secondary schools: would students seek help by this medium?

Students in secondary schools experience problems that can impact on their well-being and educational outcomes. Although face-to-face counselling is available in most Australian secondary schools, many students, particularly boys, do not seek appropriate help. Research suggests that online counselling can be effective and increase engagement. This study of 215 secondary school students sought to assess students' intention to use online counselling if it was made available in schools. The results found no gender difference in the likely intentions to seek online help though year level was significant and students experiencing psychological distress had a preference for online counselling. If students did use online counselling it was more likely they would discuss sensitive topics rather than for career issues. Implications for school counselling are discussed.     

“Making things better”: Personal construct counselling for young children

A personal construct counselling approach that we are using with young children is presented here, an approach based on the construct of “wellness”, a medium to promote the well-being of troubled children and their families. The case study we share with you shows a counselling intervention based on play, with experiments drawn from self-related construct systems of “making things better” rather than construct systems of “fixing things up”. We present a case study of a young girl grieving over the death of her father. Emphasis is placed on the relationship of trust between the child and the counsellor, to encourage experimentation with relationship experiences to help the child to reconstrue events outside the counselling context. Working hypotheses drawn from cognitive and emotional developmental research into young children are provided, and the subsequent investigations which guide our intervention. Suggestions for process and outcome research in this area are finally made.     

“Hello,can you hear me?”: Narratives of online mental health counselling among Filipino adults during the pandemic

Filipinos are often reluctant to seek professional mental health (MH) help. However, literature reveals that online counselling is preferable to face-to-face (F2F) MH services, with the pandemic possibly magnifying technology's anonymity and disinhibiting benefits. To further explore facilitators of online MH help-seeking, this study tapped into the lived stories of Filipino adults who experienced at least one counselling session from March 2020 to March 2022. Among 83 screened respondents, 11 semistructured interviews were transcribed and analysed following Crossley's (2000) method. Findings reveal an overarching online MH counselling narrative composed of three phases and their respective events: (a) Precounselling (Resiliency Narrative versus MH Awareness, Turning Point, and Linking versus Searching); (b) Counselling (Two-way Introduction, Unloading and Untangling, and Decision to Maintain or Terminate); and (c) Postcounselling (Relapse and Journey towards Growth and Advocacy). Three all-encompassing facilitators were embedded throughout the process: Autonomy, Financial Capability, and MH Institutions. Notably, participants attributed their MH help-seeking to autonomy, despite culture and stigma, because of enabling environments that entail heightened MH literacy, positive past experiences with professional MH help, social support and encouragement, and a sense of shared reality. Benefits unique to online counselling were also apparent among participants' narratives, including alleviating geographical boundaries and added financial and personal pressures. Overall, findings posit that Filipino adults consider online counselling as a preferable alternative to F2F counselling, thus necessitating further development and institutional support.