It is normal to experience emotional wellbeing issues as a child and with the right support and coping skills these issues usually self-resolve. However, for some children and young people they do not have the resources in place to cope with emotional wellbeing issues. Healthy Minds Lincolnshire and the Mental Health Support Teams believe that education staff are ideally placed to listen to young people and identify emotional wellbeing problems, offer non-stigmatising advice and guidance, be positive adult role models and know when to refer for specialist support.
Did you know?
- 1 in 9 children have low well-being.
- The proportion of children unhappy with their school lives has leapt from 1 in 11 ten years ago to 1 in 8.
- UK children’s happiness with their lives continues to decline.
- Over half of parents and carers feel that the pandemic has had a negative impact on the education of their children.
We want to make it easier for you to get the inforamtion you need by providing clear, straightforward information about ways you can support young people you are working with.
Fear of the unknown:
It is common for professionals to be worried about talking to people regarding their mental health/emotional wellbeing. These are some of the concerns that we have heard:
- What if I say something that makes the problem worse?
- I don’t know anything about mental health, what if I can’t answer their questions?
- What if they get really distressed and I don’t know how to help them?
- What if I say something which ‘opens a can of worms’ and I won’t know what to do?
Think about a time when you have struggled emotionally – what is it that you needed from others at that time? Most people just want someone to listen to them, really listen – to validate that they are struggling, not to make judgements and not to make assumptions about how they feel.
Supporting people with emotional needs is not about having the answers and solutions to their problems; it is about providing a safe space and enabling the young person to find solutions that work for them.
If you don’t know the answer to something, admit that you don’t know. There are lots of agencies that can offer support to you or the child/young person if they need specialist advice.
Remember there are no magic words to make someone feel better. It can take time for someone to cope and find resolutions to the situation they are in before they feel differently emotionally.
If you feel the young person is a risk to themselves or others, you need to advise the young person that you need to make a plan to keep them safe. This would involve informing carers, ensuring the young person is kept safe until a carer can arrive, suggesting distracting techniques that the young person may find useful (listening to music, playing computer games, looking at YouTube videos). Professionals can contact the Lincolnshire Here4You Advice Line 0800 234 6342 for support/guidance. If it is an emergency, please contact 999.
Emotional wellbeing – Looking after yourself
For you to be able to support others with their emotional wellbeing you need to be able to look after your own. Like anything else worth having, maintaining good emotional wellbeing takes effort.
Resources
Here is a range of resources that can support different emotional wellbeing concerns. The NHS has no control over the contents of these sites or resources. They have not been tested or assessed by the NHS.
These have been broken down based on target user, this is not to mean that other demographics would not benefit from the content included.
In Lincolnshire we provide a range of services to help children, young people and their families with their emotional wellbeing and mental health. Before referral professionals can seek advice from the Lincolnshire Here4You Advice Line on 0800 234 6342. If it is an emergency, please contact 999.
For more information on how to refer please review our 'Service offer and referrals' webpage.
