Young People
What does a therapy session look like?
The rooms and tools offered are adapted and presented in a way that is more appealing to the older child. Often the work is referred to as Creative Arts Therapy.
Games can be a great opener for teenagers, and this often leads on to wider exploration of the room and the other areas offered. Whilst it is possible that young people may wish to talk there is no expectation that they will need to do this. Sometimes having a space to be creative is just what is needed to work things through.
On the team we have therapists who can offer creative therapies including play and drama but as part of the assessment it might be felt that a talking therapy or counselling approach would be more beneficial. We have therapists on the team who can offer these sessions too.
We can arrange for the sessions to be face to face in one of our designated rooms or in the young persons school if a space can be provided. We also have therapists trained to facilitate Zoom sessions if required.
How do I look into starting therapy?
Jigsaw accepts referrals from schools, local authority teams, fostering and adoption agencies GP's and other health professionals. We are also happy to talk through the process with parents or individuals who wish to refer directly into the service.
In the initial stages we will arrange a brief telephone conversation to discuss what is required and from there we can move forwards to a formal referral as appropriate. You can use the contact Jigsaw Play Therapy Form to make this process of initial contact easier.
There is a simple process involved once agreed which Therapy is the right intervention.
An interview with the Parent / Carer will take place to gather information but the main aim at this stage is to build a positive working relationship to ensure the therapy is as effective as possible.
Meetings with teachers and other professionals involved in the young persons world would also be arranged as appropriate.
We use the Goodman's Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as part of our assessment and welcome these to be completed by referrers and parents. When we meet the young person, they would be able to complete an SDQ too.
Once the permission form has been competed by all those with parental responsibility for the young person the work can then begin. The final decision to attend is the young persons and we respect their autonomy.
We are happy for the sessions to be carried out in different settings and will work out where would be the most suitable for each young person. This could be in one of designated therapy rooms or perhaps in their own school.
The SDQ will give us a guide to how many sessions will be needed in the first instance.
This is likely to be a minimum of 15 and can be extended further when required. You will be told how many sessions would be advised as part of the referral process.
Talking Therapies
Sometimes engaging in Play or Creative Arts Therapy can be a little daunting for older children and adolescents so we have people on the team who can offer both counselling and also psychotherapy. They have experience in offering sessions in secondary schools, youth centres and in private practice. The sessions can also be offered via Zoom. The sessions offer a non-judgmental space for discussion and exploration of the underlying reasons for referral. The sessions will be held at the same time each week.
The ending is. as important as the beginning and we will always wish to work towards a planned ending.