Children and Young People
Counsellors at the Centre offer the following services:
- Working with children and their parent(s)
- Working with young people with their parents or with parental consultation
- Working with young people independently of their parents
Therapy for younger children
‘Everyday language is not the natural language of feeling for children. Their natural language of feeling is that of image and metaphor as in stories and dreams’
Margot Sunderland
Therapeutic work with the child makes use of the medium of play and creative technique, and progress is regularly reviewed together with parent and child.
Therapy for Young People
'one of the inevitable struggles in adolescence is between a regressive pull back towards what is known, familiar and safe and a forward movement out into the world’ Frankel
Flexibility in approach for this age group is a primary consideration.
Counsellors are DBS checked and have safeguarding training.
Counsellors who offer this service
Katherine Lee
I have a background in social work with children and families. I have 30 years experience in working with young people across cultures in youth, education and therapeutic settings.
I have a training in Parent Education with Parentline Plus , and have run groups for parents in a variety of organisations.
I have worked as a school counsellor in primary and secondary schools , and supervise counsellors who work in schools.
I have a training from IATE (Institute for Arts and Therapy in Education) in using expressive mediums in therapy particularly with this age group.
Ann Edwards
Prior to my formal training as a counsellor I worked for la Leche League with mothers and babies as a as a breast feeding counsellor, which led to a growing interest in child development and the early parent child relationship.
I trained as a counsellor in 2001, completing a further training in counselling in educational settings in 2003.At this time I began work in a local secondary school, developing the service to what is now a full time counselling service employing 5 counsellors.
My continuing interest in working with children and young people has led to further trainings:a Playtherapy based training in counselling young people (PTUK) (2005),A Gestalt Approach to working with Children and Adolescents (Violet Oaklander Institute, California USA) (2006), Children Matter: training for Professionals working with Children and Young People (Playing Matters)(2008) , Clay therapy training (PTUK 2016)
I completed a supervision training in 2009, and supervise counsellors and play therapists. . In 2011, I completed an Advanced BASIC Ph training with Mooli Lahad.
I currently work as a Counselling Service Co-ordinator and school counsellor as well as seeing children and young people on a private basis.
Karen Carter
Before I started training and working as a counsellor I volunteered as a bereavement support coordinator for TAMBA doing telephone support work with families who had lost one or both twins. I decided I wanted to do more training after this and embarked on a contemporary psychodynamic counselling training course in 2009.
I am interested in how young people learn and develop and I wanted to combine that interest with my working life so I obtained a postgraduate diploma in working with adolescents in 2013.
I have worked for a number of years as a school counsellor for young people aged 13 to 18 and I have an adolescent private practice. I have experience of assessing young people and working with them on a variety of different issues including relationships, anger, bullying, anxiety, depression, identity, self-harm and autistic spectrum disorders.
I am passionate about working with this age group. I enjoy the energy they bring, and find the potential for change and development inspiring.
I work long term or short term depending on need.
I have availability on a Monday between 10am-4pm
Nicola Kumaran
Before training as a counsellor, I worked in education, with young people with learning difficulties and with young people who had been victims of crime. Across these roles I recognised the pressures young people face as they grow: bullying, exams and schoolwork, changes to family and friendships, illness and loss of people close to them. Often, they would be grappling with making sense of these experiences whilst also experiencing growth and adolescence, and the strong feelings and physical changes that go with these. I saw first-hand how difficulties with processing the arising emotions would invariably impact on their mental health, their family life, social life and in school.
In 2017 I embarked on a four-year route of psychotherapy training, specifically focusing on psychotherapy with children and young people, and qualified in 2021. A strong aspect of the training was the application of creative methods: using clay, puppets, painting, play and creating sand-tray worlds to facilitate communication, help explore underlying issues and together move towards an increased awareness of the young person’s emotional health.
I currently work in primary and secondary schools and in sixth form colleges, but also offer private counselling sessions at The Dunton Centre, with both daytime and evening appointments available.
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