The Place2Be: Measuring the effectiveness of a primary school‐based therapeutic intervention in England and Scotland

Abstract

Aim: There is increasing awareness of the prevalence of mental health disorders in children in the UK, but research on the efficacy of interventions meeting this need is limited. This study assessed whether The Place2Be model of individual and group intervention has a positive influence on children's social and emotional wellbeing. Providing emotional and therapeutic support to school age children in England and Scotland, The Place2Be delivers school‐based therapeutic interventions to around 47,000 children in 143 primary schools, two secondary schools and one independent school. Method: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire data was collected from a national sample of primary school children aged 4–11 (N=1,864) both before and after accessing an individual (n =1,645) or group (n =215) intervention. Results: Repeated measures t‐tests revealed that children had significantly lower Total Difficulties scores post‐intervention than pre‐intervention as rated by their class teachers and parents (Teacher‐rated: p<0.001, d = 0.39; Parent‐rated: p<0.001, d = 0.47). Children also had significantly higher Prosocial scores post‐intervention (Teacher‐rated: p<0.001, d = 0.25; Parent‐rated: p<0.001, d = 0.15). Conclusions: Children's social and emotional behaviour, as perceived by their teachers and parents, was improved following therapeutic intervention with The Place2Be. These findings have important implications for service providers looking to commission projects for the benefit of their local community.

Impact Evaluation of a School-based Counselling Intervention in Northern Ireland: Is it Effective for Pupils Who Have Been Bullied?

“…The significant reduction in SDQ Total scores and Peer problem subscale scores experienced by victims of bullying following their engagement with the school counselling intervention reported in this paper is also supported within the more general school counselling evaluation literature, which presents school counselling as an effective support intervention for young people coping with a range of life and school-related issues (Burnison, 2003;Cooper et al, 2010;Education and Training Inspectorate, 2005;Fox & Butler 2003. This is particularly evident in the results reported by Lee et al (2009) from evaluating the effectiveness of the Place2Be school counselling service in the United Kingdom, and the meta-analysis of noncontrolled school counselling evaluation studies across the United Kingdom reported by Cooper (2009). A systematic scoping review of the evidence on counselling and psychotherapy for children and young people (Pattison & Harris, 2006, p. 112) concluded that ''counselling is a positive, useful and effective intervention for children and young people across the full range of issues''.…”

“…Bearing in mind these methodological limitations, a recent meta-analysis of non-controlled UK-based school counselling evaluation studies documented a mean weighted effect size of 0.81 from pre to post counselling. Lee, Tiley, and White (2009) also report effectiveness of the UK-based The Place2Be school counselling intervention (n 01,864) with enhanced emotional health and well-being reflected in SDQ scores post intervention compared with pre intervention.…”

The Art Room: An evaluation of a targeted school-based group intervention for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties

“…An evaluation of the Place2Be intervention demonstrated a significant reduction in teacher and parent-reported SDQ Total difficulties scores and improvement in prosocial scores (Lee, Tiley, & White, 2009). Kids Company works to counter the effects of developmental adversity and support vulnerable children.…”

‘She's not going to leave me' – counsellors' feelings on ending therapy with children

“…An evidence base confirming the effectiveness of counselling in schools began to accumulate: Fox and Butler (2009) reported on the success of the National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children Schools Counselling Project, where before and after TEEN CORE questionnaires from 104 secondary pupils indicated fewer problems and/or less distress; the Place2Be reported the effectiveness of primary-based counselling, showing lower total difficulties, using the data from over 1800 Strengths and Difficulty questionnaires across England and Scotland (Lee, Tiley, & White, 2009). A comprehensive review of 30 audit and evaluation studies by Cooper (2009) found that counselling significantly reduced the psychological distress of young people.…”