If you’re interested in this topic and want to find out more, you might like to see the on-demand CPD videos we have on this same subject. You can see our video library on this topic over on our sister site Therapy Education Online (ThEO).

We’ve put together this resource list for therapists working with children and young people in their practice, in the hopes it will be something you can refer back to time after time. If you have any further suggestions please do share with us in the comments!

Training

If you would like to learn about working with children and young people, watch our online CPD training via our streaming platform Therapy Education Online, presented by expert .Rebecca Kirkbride

Resources for Therapists Working With Children & Young People

Aside from training, there are many ways to learn and complete CPD so we’re highlighting a range of those resources here – from books for therapists and ones to recommend, to websites with tools to use and more.

Books

If you’re anything like us you’ll have an ever-growing list of books to read – here’s a few more to add to your list, all about working with children and young people.

Therapy Books

The following books for therapists on working with CYP are by the host of our upcoming CPD, Rebecca Kirkbride:

• Counselling Young People: A Practitioner Manual*
• Counselling Children and Young People in Private Practice: A Practical Guide*
• Key Theories and Skills in Counselling Children and Young People: An Integrative Approach*

Other recommended reads include:

• A Therapeutic Treasure Box for Working with Children and Adolescents with Developmental Trauma: Creative Techniques and Activities
• Working with Relational and Developmental Trauma in Children and Adolescents
• Person-Centred Therapy with Children and Young People

Books to recommend to children, young people (and their caregivers)

• What’s Going On Inside My Head?: Starting conversations with your child about positive mental health
• Exploring Emotions: A Mindfulness Guide to Dealing with Emotions
• The Boy Who Built a Wall Around Himself
• After the Fall – How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again
• Coronavirus and Covid: A book for children about the pandemic (available as a free download; suitable for 5 to 9 year olds)
• Mind Your Head – All About Our Mental Health (for teens)

These are just a few recommendations. For more suggestions we suggest checking out Little Parachutes’ list of picture books to help children with worries they may have . 

Articles

Don’t forget we have a blog with therapy articles for you to browse on a variety of subjects. Here are some key articles to give you insight into working with young people – the joys, the challenges and everything inbetween.

• Working with Young People in Therapy – Nine Takeaways – our blogpost covers some of the key aspects of working with young people. Written by a counsellor with years of experience, it’s insightful and reassuring to read.
• Interview with Rebecca Kirkbride – In this interview Rebecca (our trainer for our upcoming CYP CPD) shares her career journey, what drew her to working with young people and insights she can share on this area.
• Risk in Young People – Explore some of the risky behaviours younger clients may be engaged in and what our role as therapists may be when observing this.
• Key statistics about children and young people – This Counselling Directory article looks at the prevalence, and risk factors, of mental health concerns for CYP
• Working with children and young people within the counselling professions – Good Practice In Action – Commonly Asked Questions (BACP) – A great resource to refer back to, this 28-page document outlines many common issues and answers the many questions you may have around working with CYP, including around your own suitability to be doing so. There is also the BACP Competences Map for Working with Young People, an extensive document going into depth on what you need to do this work.

There are many practical tools that therapists can make use of to engage with children and young people in therapy.

Practical resources

These items and worksheets can be brilliant prompts to get a child talking – whether directly about their own experiences or through imagination and creativity.

• Twinkl – This brilliant website is packed full of resources to support children in their mental health, whether as a counsellor, teacher or caregiver. Just search “mental health” on their site to discover what they have to offer. A few examples include an Anxiety and Stress Activity Pack, Emotional and Mental Health Word Search and a Mindfulness Breathing Activity Pack.
• A Therapeutic Treasure Deck of Feelings and Sentence Completion Cards and A Therapeutic Treasure Deck of Grounding, Soothing, Coping and Regulating Cards– Created by Dr Karen Traussman, clinical psychologist and acclaimed author. You can find more of her resources on the Safe Hands Thinking Minds site.
• Story Cubes are a great way to engage in creativity or even to start a conversation. They’re great in person but could work well over Zoom too – whether rolling them on camera or taking a picture and sharing your screen.
• Journal Pages and Cover for Middle School & High School – These printable pages provide inspiration to get teens writing.
• in8 Anxiety Freedom Cards – These illustrated cards outlining varying human needs can get young people thinking and talking about issues in their life. They are widely used by schools, educational psychologists and counsellors.
• The Angry Tent website will be providing resources for therapists and young people around managing anger.

Organisations & Resources to recommend to young people

There are so many helpful resources and places of support for young people now – with the internet making self-understanding and support-seeking a smoother process than it used to be. The following organisations and charities provide meaningful support as well as information and signposting. These charities could be recommended to the young people themselves or to their caregivers.

• Childline – Childline are there to “help anyone under 19 in the UK with any issue they’re going through”. As well as their support service with trained professionals (a helpline, one-to-one messaging and an email service) their website also has messageboards and resources such as a Calm Zone full of grounding activities and exercises, an Art Box page for channelling feelings via creativity, a Games page full of enjoyable distractions (including a “Wall of Expression” where YP can write their worries and then see them “crumble away”) and a Videos page with people sharing experiences and advice on various issues such as bullying and abuse.
• Young Minds – A mental health charity focused around young people, this site is packed full of helpful resources.
• Apps including BlueIce (an evidenced-based app to help young people manage their emotions and reduce urges to self-harm) and the ThinkNinja (aimed at 10-18-year-olds to help them learn about and manage their mental health). Browse a full list of NHS recommended mental health apps here.
• The Mix – A UK based charity providing free, confidential support for young people under 25 via online, social and mobile.
• Winston’s Wish – Winston’s Wish is the UK’s childhood bereavement charity, supporting children and their families after the death of a parent or sibling.
• Carers UK – Providing support for young carers in the UK.
• Mermaids – Mermaids have been helping gender-diverse children, young people and their families since 1995.
• NACOA (National Association of Children of Alcoholics) have support available and brilliant resources including their FAQs (answering those questions they so often get asked on the helpline) and their page with recommended books and videos.
• Flourish YouTube channel – Hosted by Jo, a school-based counsellor in the UK, here you’ll find professional videos aimed to support those aged 10-19 in promoting good mental health. There are over 50 videos with varied topics such as bereavement, motivation and relationships.

Learning resources on therapy with children and young people

We hope you’ve found this blogpost helpful – if so please do share with any peers or colleagues who may value the resources. If you have any resources to suggest to other therapists feel free to share these in the comments.

If you would like to learn about working with children and young people, watch our online CPD training via our streaming platform Therapy Education Online, presented by expert .Rebecca Kirkbride