Counselling

[chocaholic2011]

anyone had any luck getting counselling for a troubled teen? Will the school be able to help? GP? Or will we need to find one privately? X

I'm in the same boat, so watching with interest.

I found one privately, but didn't try that hard to do it via GP. Took me several goes to find a counsellor the teen could actually talk to.

Purple do you mind me asking how much it costs privately?X

There are some voluntary sector children's support services that provide counselling too, choca. Roughly whereabouts are you?

IME it's hard to get counselling for a YP through the GP unless they have an existing mental health need and have been assessed by CAMHS.

The voluntary org near us that provides counselling used to be free to everyone, but now charges some families depending on need and income.

You might wait a while to go via the NHS, depends also how severe the problems are perceived to be. Some larger schools have counsellors, so definitely worth asking. There are some free online counselling services, this is often quite appealing to young people, and worth a try in the absence of anything else.

My dd is having bereavement counselling at the moment. It's private and costs £40 a session. She came recommended to us and I think if you are going to go private make sure the counsellor is experienced with teenagers.

I would go to your dr and school first and see if they can recommend anyone.

My DS was involved in a car crash (passenger), developing a serious weed habit, truanting from school, confused about his sexuality and we told him that if he wanted to stay in the family home he would have to see a counsellor. He only went if DH or I took him and eventually he cancelled. Shame, he could have benefitted from having an objective person to talk to but he had to go voluntarily. 2 years later and u still think it would do him good but he's an adult so we can't make him go.