Family is the biggest issue for children seeking counselling
THE equivalent of one child in every school class in Wales received counselling last year. According to new figures from the Welsh Government, one in 28 children and young people received counselling in Wales in 2015-16.
This works out as 11,337 children across the whole of Wales, slightly lower than in 2014-15 when 11,567 children received this support.
Just under two-thirds of them were girls, with boys making up 27% of those referred.
For both boys and girls, family issues were the most common reason for referral.
Anger was two times more likely to be an issue for boys than girls.
And for girls the most common issues they were referred for after family were stress and self-worth.
Anxiety affected one in seven girls who were referred to counselling.
Girls seeking counselling were also four times more likely to have eating disorders than boys.
But that number had dropped significantly from 2.1% to 0.5%.
Girls were also more likely to selfharm, with 10% of those referred compared to just 3.7% of boys.
According to children’s charity NSPCC Cymru, early counselling of young people can help head off problems before they get too severe.
An NSPCC Cymru spokesman said: “Swift counselling for those children that require it is essential for their health and wellbeing and it’s important that worries and anxieties are addressed as soon as possible – before they escalate.
“We know from calls to the NSPCC-run Childline service that mental health problems among children are on the rise.
“In 2015-16, more than 7,600 children from Wales spoke to our counsellors. Low self-esteem, family relationships and bullying were some of the most common subjects they discussed.”
According to the figures, there were differences between boys and girls regarding how they ended up in counselling.
Girls were over 10% more likely to refer themselves compared to boys who were most often referred by school staff.
The place with the most children and young people who received counselling was Rhondda Cynon Taff with 1,607 last year.
This is the equivalent of one in 15 children and young people in the area.
Bridgend had the lowest rate of 10 to 18-year-olds who received counselling with only one in 50.
Of all the different year groups, Year 10 had the highest numbers of counselled children, making up for 21% of the total number.
Despite this the highest growth was seen amongst year seven and eight pupils and 49 more year sevens receiving counselling in 2015/16 compared to 2014/15 and 82 more year eight pupils.
In response a Welsh Government spokesman said: “We publish these figures to get a sense of children and young people’s concerns and to identify trends.
“We have taken steps to support children and young people who are experiencing emotional difficulties through the development of counselling services. Counselling can support children and young people if they feel worried, frightened or afraid. It is also a means of preventing mental health problems from developing or escalating.
“Within schools, counselling complements the different approaches already in place to support the health, emotional and social needs of pupils.
“We have introduced legislation which requires local authorities to make reasonable provision of counselling services for children and young people aged between 11 and 18 in their area and pupils in year 6 of primary school.
“At the same time we provided £4.5m to local authority budgets for the continued support of this service.”