This paper presents results of a comparative international study on some aspects of school counseling in the following 12 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, UK, and USA. The authors explain the multifunctional character of school counseling, give an idea of establishing a…

Canine-assisted activities in schools can benefit students' educational, emotional, and social needs. Furthermore, they could be an effective form of non-clinical mental health treatment for children and adolescents. In the United Kingdom, school dogs are growing in popularity, however, little is known about how parents perceive canine-assisted…

Effectiveness evidence supporting school-based counselling is increasing, yet little is known about its cost-effectiveness. Within an effectiveness trial we tested whether a cost-effectiveness evaluation was feasible and aimed to provide early indications of support and associated costs for students with emotional problems. A service use…

This study is a pilot evaluation of a new avatar-based therapeutic tool, ProReal, with psychologically distressed young people within a school setting. In total, 54 young people, aged 12-18 years old, participated in face-to-face "avatar-based counselling." Young people used the software to represent themselves and others, their problems…

Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or somewhere else on the gender/sexuality spectrum (LGBTQI+) are among the diverse student groups in need of extra support and protection in order to succeed in education and reach their full potential. Because they belong to a minority that is often excluded by…

With reports continually demonstrating increased demand and severity of student mental health needs, it is important to gain a fuller understanding of the impact on embedded student counselling services. The aims of this research were to identify (a) service similarities, (b) factors which impact on services, (c) characteristics of service users,…

The integration of new technologies into counsellor education has progressed slowly. We present "mPath": an online system designed to support iterative, multi-levelled and deep reflection on practice in skills training sessions. We propose the integration of new technologies to counsellor education as an area with scope for future…

Located within a context of intercultural counselling research, this paper highlights the pertinence of the researcher's reflexivity and cultural awareness in relation to research relationships. It draws on an excerpt between a white European interviewer and an Asian trainee counsellor discussing the latter's experience of intercultural…

It is important to demonstrate replicable evidence of the effectiveness of counselling procedures. The study aimed to contribute to the currently limited evidence base examining the effectiveness of university student counselling in the UK. Information on therapeutic outcome [based on Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure…

Bullying affects a substantial proportion of school pupils, and peer counselling services have been established to help tackle this problem. The present study aimed to further the understanding of why affected pupils do or do not choose to utilise this form of social support. Pupils ("N" = 99, aged 12-16 years) from the UK were asked…

This article summarizes prominent themes found in descriptions of school psychology programs in Estonia (Kikas, 2014), Greece (Hatzichristou & Polychroni, 2014), Hong Kong (Lam, 2014), Romania (Negovan & Dinca, 2014), Sweden (Schad, 2014), United Kingdom (Wood, 2014), and United States (Joyce & Rossen, 2014). This paper summarizes…

This article explores how school-based counselling might impact young people's capacity to study and learn. Previous research has indicated that counselling in schools has an indirect positive impact on academic achievement. A mixed methods approach, using a semi-structured qualitative interview and a brief rating scale, was employed with 21 young…

The aim of this article is to explore self-healing processes in young people, and to develop an understanding of the effects of school-based counselling (SBC), by analysing changes in young people who did not receive this intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 young people on a waiting list for SBC. Participants…

This paper presents a proactive process to include young people with learning disabilities in mainstream counselling in secondary schools in the UK based on the findings of a consequential mixed methods research study. Data were collected from a quantitative and qualitative survey (n = 396) and qualitative semi-structured interviews (n = 15) with…

Confidentiality presents particular challenges to practitioners working with young people, on account of the latter's vulnerability and emotional immaturity. Ethical codes place a key importance on confidentiality, from deontological and teleological perspectives. However, young clients may rely on a more pragmatic approach in deciding whether to…