Telephone support service for secondary pupils launched by Aberdeenshire Council
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Aberdeenshire Council has set up a confidential self-referral telephone listening service for secondary school pupils aged 14-18 years.
The service is open to all Aberdeenshire school pupils during the school holidays as well as term time and any young person who is struggling with their emotional wellbeing can access the service directly.
Booking is available online via the Listening Service bookings website
A council spokeswoman said: "Young people can choose a day and appointment time after entering their name, school and contact details. A counsellor will then call at the selected time.
"Appointments can be booked up to seven days in advance and cancelled up to an hour before the appointment.
"The service is confidential so data on who calls the service will not be passed back to schools. However, counsellors are aware of the young person’s name and school in order that child protection protocols can be followed where necessary.
"The counsellor may also contact a school’s depute head teacher for pastoral care if a young person asks for something to be passed onto their school."
Any further questions about the service should be emailed to schoolcounselling@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
In addition to the new telephone appointments being provided by the council, two new confidential online services for children and young people as well as adults across Aberdeenshire were launched last month.
Kooth, for those aged 10 - 18, provide one-to-one sessions with counsellors and emotional wellbeing practitioners available via drop-in or booked appointment which helps to reduce waiting times for young people seeking help, removing stigma around mental health.
This service is completely anonymous and can be accessed by young people directly by registering at www.kooth.com
Togetherall, for the 16+ age group, will help to bridge the gap between youth and adult services with appropriate mental wellbeing support.
Trained and accredited professionals are available 24/7 to support the community members and there is a choice of safe therapeutic services, including courses, self-assessments and wellbeing resources to improve mental health.
This means anyone who may be struggling can get support at a time that suits them, from a place of their choice.
The Togetherall community is completely anonymous. This service can be accessed by the person inputting their postcode at www.togetherall.com and creating a user account.
