Competences for work with young people (11–18 years)

1 Professional/legal issues Engagement & communicationCore Competences for work with young peopleKnowledge of development in young people and of family development and transitionsAbility to work within a school contextAbility to promote emotional health in schoolsAbility to work within a voluntary and community ( third ) sector contextAbility to use self-help materials for a range of problemsAbility to use applied relaxationKnowledge and understanding of mental health problems in young people and adultsAbility to work within and across agenciesAbility to recognise and respond to concerns about child protectionAbility to work in a culturally competent mannerKnowledge of psychopharmacology in work with young peopleKnowledge of legal frameworks relating to working with young peopleKnowledge of the basic assumptions and principles of humanistic counsellingWorking with the whole personCapacity

2 To balance therapeutic tasksIntegrating the counsellor s experience into the therapeutic relationshipWorking with complex relational issuesWorking in the organisational contextAbility to help young people make sense of experiences that are confusing and distressingAbility to use creative methods and resources to help young people express, reflect upon, and make sense of their experiencesAbility to initiate therapeutic relationshipsApproaches to working with , and making sense of, emotionsAbility to maintain and develop therapeutic relationshipsAbility to engage and work with young people , parents and carersKnowledge of, and ability to operate within, professional and ethical guidelinesAbility to communicate with young people of differing ages, developmental level and backgroundKnowledge of, and ability to work with , issues of confidentiality, consent and capacityGeneric therapeutic competencesKnowledge of models of intervention, and their employment in practiceAbility to foster and maintain a good therapeutic alliance.

3 And to grasp the client s perspective and world view Ability to work with the emotional content of the sessionAbility to manage endings and service transitionsAbility to work with groups of young people and/or parents/carersAbility to make use of measures (including monitoring of outcomes)Ability to make use of supervisionAssessment Competences Ability to conduct a collaborative assessmentAbility to conduct a risk assessmentBasic Competences for humanistic counselling with young peopleAbility to offer a therapeutic relationship that facilitates experiential exploration within a relational contextSpecific Competences for humanistic counselling with young peopleMetacompetences for humanistic counselling with young people working in an organisational contextAbility to use additional therapeutic interventionsAbility to explain and demonstrate the rationale for

4 Humanistic approaches to therapyAbility to help young people to access and express emotionsAbility to help young people articulate emotionsAbility to help young people reflect on emotions and develop new understandingsAbility to experience and communicate empathyAbility to establish and agree a therapeutic focus/goalsAbility to experience and to communicate a fundamentally accepting attitude to young peopleAbility to develop a contract for the therapeutic workAbility to maintain authenticity in the counselling relationshipAbility to conclude counselling relationshipsCompetences for work with young people (11 18 years) Competences for work with young people (11 18 years) Core Competences for work with young people1 Back to map1.

5 Knowledge of development in young people and of family development and transitions Knowledge of child and adolescent developmenti. An ability to draw on knowledge of the needs of young people in relation to their physical, social, cognitive, emotional and psychosexual development ( , need for attachment relationships, education, appropriate patterns of diet, sleep and exercise)ii. An ability to draw on knowledge of normal child and adolescent development and its impact on behavioura. an ability to draw on knowledge of theories of child and adolescent development including: physical development (including brain development in the first years of life (and the interaction of this development with affective experiences and deprivation).)

6 Sensory and psychomotor development) cognitive development (intelligence, language and symbolisation, the Piagetian model, mentalisation, awareness of self and others) social and emotional development (emotional intelligence, interpersonal competence , identity and moral development at adolescence, compassion and self-management, the impact of the social context)b. an ability to draw on knowledge of age-appropriate and problematic behavioursc. an ability to draw on concepts of developmental stages, including physical, affective and interpersonal, cognitive, language, social and psychosexual milestones d.

7 An ability to draw on knowledge of the effects of developmental transitions , onset of pubertye. an ability to draw on knowledge of the interaction between different aspects of a young person s development and between individual and contextual factors such as people and circumstances Core Competences for work with young people Competences for work with young people (11 18 years) Core Competences for work with young people2 Back to Knowledge of the care environment and its interaction with child and adolescent developmentAttachmenti. An ability to draw on knowledge of attachment theory and its implications for:a.

8 An ability to draw on knowledge of theories of child and adolescent development including:b. the development of parent/carer-child, sibling and peer relationshipsc. the development of emotional wellbeing, self-regulation, mental health and mental health problemsd. the development of resilience ( , the ability to cope with stressful and adverse experiences, including difficult interpersonal experiences) e. children and young people who are adopted or looked after Influence of parent/carerii. An ability to draw on knowledge of the impact of the pre-natal and peri-natal environment on child and adolescent developmentiii.

9 An ability to draw on knowledge of parenting stylesiv. An ability to draw on knowledge that the parent/carer s communication, interaction and stimulation of their child interacts with the child s development, attainment and developing mental healthv. An ability to draw on knowledge that effective forms of parent/carer-engagement change as children and young people developvi. An ability to draw on knowledge that the balance of influence from parents/carers, peers, authority figures and other alters as the child or young person developsvii. An ability to draw on knowledge of factors that make it harder for parents/carers to offer consistent or positive parenting ( , emotional and cognitive immaturity, mental health difficulties (particularly substance misuse), loss, abuse, social disadvantage and adversity or negative experience of parenting in their own lives)viii.

10 An ability to draw on knowledge of the positive effects of parent/carer support on:a. attachment relationshipsb. child and adolescent developmentCompetences for work with young people (11 18 years) Core Competences for work with young people3 Back to mapPlay activitiesix. An ability to draw on knowledge of the importance of play for all aspects of social, cognitive and emotional developmentx. An ability to assess whether a child or adolescent s level and type of play is broadly normative for their age groupxi. An ability to draw on knowledge about effective ways of stimulating play activity in young people ( , by providing them with appropriate materials, and by descriptive commenting)xii.