Sarah Howell

I work part-time and offer sessions at the beginning of the week. I also work in a high-school one day a week. 

I work with children and young people from 7 to 25. With primary school aged children I work with the child and with parents to help equip parents to support their child's mental health once they have completed counselling. This might take different forms: individual work with the child, sessions with parents and sessions with parent(s) and child. I sometimes ask children to practise techniques learned in sessions at home and ask parents to join in with these activities or support their child with them.

With young people of high-school age I work individually with the teenager to help them understand their individual needs and experiences and develop the belief and capacity to move forward with issues causing them difficulties. Wherever possible, and within the constraints of confidentiality, I also try and support parents to feel equipped to support their young person's mental health after counselling comes to an end. If teenagers give their consent, I have also completed sessions with parent(s) and teens together.

I respond to initial enquiries by arranging a telephone consultation with parents or with young people themselves if they are 18 or over.

During this phone call we discuss the parents concerns, history around these concerns and what support the child or young person might already have accessed. I also establish if the child or young person has expressed a wish to have counselling or someone outside of their family to talk to.

If I feel the referral is appropriate for my counselling service an initial face-to-face appointment will be arranged. If this is not the case, I will signpost parents to other agencies or organisations for support.

I work with children and young people (CYP) to build a relationship, get to know them and establish trust. Working together we explore what they want counselling sessions to help them with, or what they would like to be different or better as a result of coming to counselling. I am clear with CYP that counselling is not about me fixing people, but about us working together towards identified goals or to explore difficulties and try to identify effective responses to them. I also aim to help children and young people develop their belief in themselves and their own ability to manage and respond to their feelings with greater confidence.

I am an integrative practitioner which allows me to use a range of different counselling modalities in my work with children, young people and parents/carers. These include person centred, cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic work and solution focused brief therapy. I also use different approaches including play, art, stories, games, mindfulness practises and psychoeducation to promote children's understanding, self-exploration and emotional wellbeing.

I work with a wide range of issues including: anxiety,  difficulties with self-esteem and self-confidence, eating related disorders, body dysmorphia, issues around feeling different whether this is because of gender identity, sexual orientation or neurodiversity, low mood and depression, friendship and relationship difficulties, loss due to parental separation, divorce or the loss of loved ones and pets. 

In my first session I usually start by seeing parent and child together to talk about what counselling can offer and to go through issues around confidentiality and safeguarding.

I give parents some reading material to look at about my service whilst I then meet with the child or young person to get to know them a little and talk about what they want sessions to help them with. I will often complete a Young Peoples CORE (YPCORE) assessment at this meeting. This a short mental health assessment for 11-18 year olds which helps identify some of the issues they might be struggling with.  

At this session I ask parents to complete an agreement which includes terms and conditions for payment, confidentiality and safeguarding, cancellations etc. 

If I am working with an older teenager or young adult the first session is about sharing information about my counselling service, getting to know the young person and exploring what has brought them to see me. I will complete a counselling agreement with a young person in the second session which allows them time to decide if they feel I am a good fit for them.