The establishment of school-based mental health supports for primary school children was called for at a conference hosted by the National Parents Council Primary and St Patrick’s Mental Health Services on Tuesday.
Attendees heard how models for such services in parts of the UK and in a school in Limerick can help children when mental health issues first arise and in some cases prevent the escalation to more serious mental health difficulties requiring specialist intervention.
“Our mental health support teams are able to prevent crises further down the line by dealing with mild to moderate mental health issues in partnership with schools,” said Lesley Wakefield, programme manager for children and young people’s mental health teams in the south-west of England.
Reduction
Wakefield and her colleagues spoke at the webinar about how six to eight sessions of cognitive-behaviour therapy for young people dramatically reduced separation anxiety, panic, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive behaviour and depression in children and prevented almost 500 young people from entering specialist services.
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The average wait time for referral to these early intervention services in England is 29 days.
Áine Lynch, CEO of the National Parents Council Primary said that the mental health issues previously expected in older age groups were now more present in a younger cohort of children.
“Parents would be very grateful here of a four-week wait for support. There are long waiting lists here for community mental health services,” she said.
Paul Gilligan, CEO of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services said that children’s mental health is a children’s rights issue.
“But there is also justification for the service because early intervention will reduce the number of children referred to community Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Trauma
Tiernan O’Neill, principal of Corpus Christi Primary School in Limerick spoke about the therapy provided for both children and parents in a wellness hub at the school.
“If we are serious about dealing with disadvantage, we need to tackle the social and emotional complexities and the trauma and difficulties in so many young lives,” he said, quoting the American author, Frederick Douglas’s famous line “It’s easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken men.”
Mr O’Neill said that the wellness programmes at Corpus Christi Primary School made teachers’ jobs easier.
“Early intervention supporting children in a meaningful way gives teachers more time and scope to teach and improves the outcomes for children but parents are crucial which is why we run adult education and counseling for parents too,” he said.
Speaking at the webinar, Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children referred to a speech he gave in 2015, calling for more mental health supports to children at primary schools.
“Why are we still fighting for the concept of counseling in schools instead of making it happen and planning for its implementation?” he asked.
Mr Muldoon referred to a Joint Oireachtas Committee on the impact of Covid on primary and secondary school education in August 2021 which recommended that the National Educational Psychological Services should be expanded to have counseling on site in all schools.
