Welcome to child advocacy services

There are thousands of children who are not accessing education or the support available, they are not accessing learning in school or going to school school full stop. This can be due to many different reasons and each has its own barriers to learning and the social aspects of school life. 

When a child accesses my counselling services we begin to  build a therapeutic relationship built on the foundations of trust and safety. Counselling sessions are confidential unless there is a safeguarding issue but in the context of advocacy I can discuss with the client appropriate support available, coping strategies and well-being support both in and out of school. With the clients consent I will liaise with parents/carers and/or other professionals to discuss issues I have been given consent to advocate for and hopefully come to a resolution that benefits the client and their family.

Through this advocacy service I hope to make school more manageable, make home and family dynamics less stressful and ultimately give an informed account of the child's well-being to those that can support them the most.

Just like safeguarding, I believe a child's well-being is everyone's responsibility and by being very clear about what your concerns are and what you feel your child is struggling with I can better support both the child and their families. Communication is key but so is maintaining the boundaries of confidentiality between myself and the client so that our sessions are a safe space. I may come back to you with information that your child wants you to know and also suggestions or ideas around how this can either be supported or resolved if that is possible.

During our initial contact and the first session contracting between myself, the client and a parent or carer we will discuss in detail the boundaries of confidentiality. This will include when confidentiality might be breached by myself and what would happen in that instance. During my sessions with the client I will require them to have access to a private space and our sessions will be confidential. The only time I will liase with anyone outside of the counselling room will be when I have been asked to advocate for the child and the child has agreed on what they would like me to do/say on their behalf.

As per my safeguarding policy I will report all safeguarding concerns to the relevant person or body and I will follow the BACP code of ethics and report all information required by law.