Developing Resilience with Emotion Coaching

Helping children understand and reframe difficult emotions can go a long way to building resilience and countering unwanted behaviours. Janet Rose and Louise Gilbert share a powerful technique for helping both young people and adults improve their emotional intelligence.

Girl sitting at desk holding head in hands with adult sitting next to her

Setting the scene

Recent UK directives increasingly emphasise the role of educational establishments in preventing mental health problems and promoting wellbeing.¹ Changes to the Ofsted School Inspection Handbook include new reference to pupils’ emotional and mental health.² Indeed, parents have identified teachers as ‘the ones who provided the most help in these situations in comparison with other groups such as family doctor and family friends’.³

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      string(6315) "distressedor socially impaired as a result of an extremely abnormal pattern ofattachment to parents or major caregivershttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-health-outcomes-frameworkwww.teachingtimes.com n Vol 5.1Mental health Every Child Journal57n other mental health problems including eating disorders, habit disorders, post-traumatic stress syndromes, somatic disorders and psychotic disorders – e.g.schizophrenia and manic depressive disorder.The Children & Young People’s Mental Health Coalition (CYPMHC) works with third sectororganisations to campaign on behalf of and with children and young people to effectchange in policy and practice that will improve their mental health and wellbeing. 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Identifying good mental health practice in schools

2 Mar 2015

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      string(6221) "primarily affecting children with autism andthose with pervasive developmental disorders■ attachment disorders – e.g. children who aremarkedly distressed or socially impaired as a resultof an extremely abnormal pattern of attachment toparents or major caregivers■ other mental health problems including eatingdisorders, habit disorders, post- traumatic stresssyndromes, somatic disorders and psychoticdisorders – e.g. schizophrenia and manic depressivedisorder.The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition(CYPMHC) works with third sector organisations tocampaign on behalf of and with children and youngpeople to effect change in policy and practice thatwill improve their mental health and wellbeing. 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Leadership

Promoting positive mental health in schools

30 Apr 2015

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      string(5798) "Vol 2.5 n www.teachingtimes.comSocial CareEvery Child Journal16Resilience is often seen as a vagueconcept. But if you adopt a rigorousapproach it can achieve unexpected andsometimes astonishing results, both forchildren and staff says Lucy BaileyGrowingstrongerEmotional well-beingSadly for our children the context is worrying. The UK hasa poor record of emotional well-being. In the most recentUnicef survey of life satisfaction of children in 21 countriesBritain came bottom in the league tables. The Institute ofPsychiatry announced in 2007 that the number of childrenwith emotional and behavioral problems in UK has doubledin the last 25 years. The number of adolescent suicides hasquadrupled and it is reported that 75-80% of depressed youngpeople do not receive the treatment they require and thatdepressed children are more likely to experience depressionas adults. A gloomy picture, although simple interventionscan and do work. They require commitment and investment,but as reported by The Children’s Society’s Good ChildhoodInquiry relieving this suffering would probably pay for itself.A child with a conduct disorder costs the taxpayer £70,000 incrime, social care and remedial costs by the time they are 28compared to £7,000 for a child with no such problems.’ (TheChildren’s Society 2007)This suggests that working with all children and youngpeople to develop skills and competencies to empowerResilience is a popular word that is used in manydifferent domains. For some resilience meansgritting your teeth, shielding yourself from negativesituations, keeping on going regardless of howmany times you are knocked down or maintaining a stiffupper lip. Perhaps useful in some situations, however theseinterpretations are quite rigid and do not allow for the rangeof everyday situations that life brings. Some other ideas ofresilience are about everyday muddling through, knowingyourself and your triggers of emotions and behaviours,stillness, relating to and relying on others, accurate andflexible thinking and having strategies and skills that allowyou the capacity to face and learn from adversity, bounceback from setbacks, but also to thrive and make the most ofyour strengths and opportunities.The ability to develop resilience skills is at the core ofimproving wellbeing, life satisfaction and happiness all ofwhich are of increasing concern for Governments, LocalAuthorities, health and education services. The benefits ofimproving wellbeing are well documented and include;reduction in the prevalence of mental illness, physical health,healthy behaviour, employability, productivity, earnings,educational performance, crime, pro-social behaviour andquality of life. However, the World Health Organisation haspredicted that by 2020 depression will be the biggest singledisease burden, costly to individuals, families, communitiesand the economy as a whole through lowered productivity,absenteeism and unemployment.www.teachingtimes.com n Vol 2.5Social Care Every Child Journal17strategies. It is not intended to solve individual problems,but rather to teach skills that can then be used to deal withproblems.The PRP materials cover a range of activities andmethods that build a safe learning environment for childrenand young people to understand their thoughts andfeelings, learn new skills and coping strategies and then topractice them through case studies, role play, investigationand talking games, worksheets all of which are reinforcedthrough homework. 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Special Needs

ecj2.5_p16-20_Social Care_Growing Stronger

14 Nov 2011

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      string(6136) "n CONTENTSEvery Child UPDATE nwww.teachingtimes.comThismonth’sPolicy &Briefings‹‹ PREVIOUS PAGE n  NEXT PAGE ››DocumentHighlightsThe advice document, ‘Mental health and behaviour in schools:Departmental advice for school staff’ is non-statutory andfocuses on what schools can do to support children andyoung people who appear to have unmet mental healthneeds. It emphasises the important role that schoolshave, particularly in relation to intervening early andstrengthening pupils’ resilience.What are the mental health problems?The document refers to the following mental health problems: n Emotional disorders – phobias, anxiety states and depression. n Conduct disorders – stealing, defiance, fire-setting, aggressionand anti-social behaviour. n Hyperkinetic disorders – disturbance of activity and attention. n Developmental disorders – delay in acquiring certain skills suchas speech, social ability or bladder control, primarily affectingHow do we support students whose behaviourindicates they may have unmet mental healthneeds? We take a look at new guidance from the DfEwhich answers this exact question.Mental health and behaviourin schoolshttp://www.teachingtimes.comhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326551/Mental_Health_and_Behaviour_-_Information_and_Tools_for_Schools_final_website__2__25-06-14.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/326551/Mental_Health_and_Behaviour_-_Information_and_Tools_for_Schools_final_website__2__25-06-14.pdfn CONTENTSEvery Child UPDATE nwww.teachingtimes.comThismonth’sPolicy &Briefings‹‹ PREVIOUS PAGE n  NEXT PAGE ››DocumentHighlightschildren with autism and those with pervasive developmentaldisorders. n Attachment disorders – children who are markedly distressedor socially impaired as a result of an extremely abnormalpattern of attachment to parents or major care givers. n Other mental health problems including eating disorders,habit disorders, post-traumatic stress syndromes, somaticdisorders, and psychotic disorders (for example, schizophreniaand manic depressive disorder).What can schools do?It is important for schools to promote positive mental healththrough: n building a sense of self-esteem and confidence amongst theirpupils n encouraging pupils to believe in their own self-efficacy andability to deal with change and adaptation n equipping them with a range of social problem solvingapproaches.The briefing identifies some of the characteristics of successfulschools, including: n having clear policies on behaviour and bullying n maintaining an ‘open door’ policy for children to raiseproblems n establishing a whole-school approach to promoting goodmental health n maintaining positive classroom management techniques n encouraging a sense of belonging amongst pupils andbuilding on positive peer influences.It suggests that schools can promote pupils’ mental healththrough: n creating a committed senior management team n developing an ethos of high expectations of attainment for allpupils n consistently applying support n the SENCO having an effective strategic role n working with both parents as well as pupils n ensuring the effective and continuous professionaldevelopment of staff http://www.teachingtimes.comn CONTENTSEvery Child UPDATE nwww.teachingtimes.comThismonth’sPolicy &Briefings‹‹ PREVIOUS PAGE n  NEXT PAGE ››DocumentHighlights n securing clear systems and processes to help staff who identifychildren and young people with possible mental healthproblems n providing interventions as part of a graduated approach n applying a whole school approach to promoting the healthand wellbeing of all pupils.IdentificationAn underlying mental health problem can result in disruptive orwithdrawn behaviour. Schools should use data and an effectivepastoral system to identify where a pupil is suffering from ormight be at risk of suffering from a mental health problem.Mental health and behaviour in schools recommends the useof the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and theCommon Assessment Framework (CAF) as ways of collectingevidence.If concerns remain, pupils should be referred to CAMHS.InterventionsSchools can apply a range of strategies to promote positivemental health including: n PSHE education which helps to build resilience and confidence n positive classroom management n facilities which cater for pupils’ emotional needs such as a‘rainbow room’ or ‘oasis’ n counselling and peer mentoring n liaison with parents n child and adolescent psychiatrist either from CAMHS orcommissioned directly n the development of social skills.Where children have more complex problems, additional in-school interventions might be applied, including additionaleducational one-to-one support for the pupil.External support from the health service might be soughtand include one-to-one therapeutic work by a mental healthspecialist, family support and/ or therapy by a mental healthprofessional.Referral and commissioningThe document provides advice to schools on how they mightmake a referral to CAMHS. The advice includes: n establishing a clear process for identifying pupils who needfurther support e.g. using SDQ n documenting evidence of the symptoms n encouraging parents and pupils to speak to their GP n developing a working relationship with local specialist CAMHSthat enables a quick referral process n being clear about the criteria used by specialist CAMHS n consulting CAMHS about what they can do to supportchildren.Addressing specific mental"
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Special Needs

Report summary: Mental health and behaviour in schools

29 Sep 2014