Building resilience in children and young people through school-based counselling

Abstract

Students experiencing poor mental health symptoms are more likely to miss days of school than other students. By improving the mental health of children and young people, we can increase their school engagement. Universal resilience-focused interventions provided in school and community settings are an effective way to improve the mental wellbeing of students.

This presentation provides insights from a rapid literature review focused on community-based counselling interventions aimed at improving resilience amongst children. The aim was to determine what types of interventions are most effective in supporting children in the general population with a focus on prevention and mental health promotion, facilitated by non-clinicians / non-specialists. The review sample consisted of 9 international literature reviews and 3 Australian primary data studies published since 2019. Evidence mostly comes from interventions in school settings by a combination of teaching staff and professional mental health practitioners. Firstly, this presentation will provide a map of risk and protective factors associated with resilience at the individual, family, community and cultural levels. Second, findings relating to what works in community-based interventions will be presented, divided into three intervention types: psychoeducational, relaxation/mindfulness and counselling with art. This content covers features of interventions as well as multiple resilience and wellbeing related outcomes.

Reference

MacDonald, J. B., Dobud, W., & Muir, S. (2024). Building resilience in children and young people through school-based counselling. MacKillop Family Services Symposium, 8 October. Melbourne, Australia. (Keynote)