School Counsellors Working with Young People and Staff: A Whole-School Approach

About the Book

What is it like to work as a counsellor in schools? What relationship might a counsellor have with staff? How can a counsellor become a positive, integral part of school life?

In this book, Nick Luxmoore shows how school counsellors can make a positive difference to the whole life of the school. Rather than being a service hidden behind closed doors, he shows how to take a whole-school approach to counselling, making it a normal part of school life. The book demonstrates how staff as well as students can benefit from counselling, and how professional boundaries and relationships can be maintained. Key therapeutic aims and how to develop the service are also covered.

Drawing on over 26 years' experience as a school counsellor, Luxmoore combines vivid case material with psychotherapeutic theory to show counsellors how to provide an excellent service and make a positive contribution to the school. The book will be essential reading for school counsellors, headteachers, teachers, and anyone interested in effective counselling in schools.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction. Part One. The Context. 2. The idea of a counsellor. 3. Demystifying counselling. 4. Practical rules. 5. Therapists adapting. Part Two. The Therapy. 6. Containment. 7. Ambivalence. 8. The outside and the inside. 9. A sense of worth. 10. The anxieties of not knowing. Part Three. Developing The Service. 11. The Headteacher. 12. Volunteer counsellors. 13. Peer supporters. 14. Parents. Part Four. Life After School Counselling. 15. What happens next. References. Index.

About the Author :
Nick Luxmoore was a school counsellor, trainer, teacher, youth worker and UKCP registered Psychodrama psychotherapist. He had over 35 years' experience of work with young people and with the professionals who support them. He worked as the Counsellor at King Alfred's Academy, Wantage, UK.

Review :
Nick Luxmoore knows a lot about schools, not least the fabric of their emotional lives. In this book he brings many years of experience, initially as teacher and later as a counsellor, to thinking about and making sense of the human complexities that reside within and between teachers, school staff, pupils and parents - complexities that make up the culture of the whole school. His text is alive with curiosity and good humour, unburdened by theoretical jargon (though he knows his theory) and peppered throughout with slices of engaging dialogue that illustrate so well what he believes to be important. If anyone, professional or otherwise, wants to understand the ordinary extraordinariness of school life, and the meaning and place of counselling in its midst, then this book is a must. It truly goes to the heart of the matter. Life (especially the school counsellor's and young client's) has to be lived without the benefit of magicians. But Nick waves his wand over each chapter of this book, deftly sprinkling the gold dust of theoretical insight and practical wisdom that betrays someone who's earned the right to share. He traces with honesty and humour the interweave of the counsellor and the inner and outer life of the school system in which the work must be done – discerning and demonstrating how the participants can be most effectively and realistically in touch. Creative loitering (to steal Nick's phrase) within the pages of this book will ensure school counsellors steep themselves in a deep understanding of their role and opportunities, while never forgetting their non-magical status among other helpers on the premises. Luxmoore writes engagingly about how to fit in professionally, maintaining boundaries while building rapport... There are helpful chapter on relating to the head teacher and to parents, on the management of volunteer counsellors and on setting up and sustaining a peer support system. Luxmoore provides an almost fly-on-the-wall insight into the harassed atmosphere of schools.