School Counselling

Through the Scottish Government’s counselling in schools projects, access to school counselling is available to all young people age 10+ in South Ayrshire who may be struggling with a variety of mental health and wellbeing difficulties.

There is at least one counsellor in every secondary school in SAC. The school counselling service is private and confidential – that means that the counsellor will listen to you and, if you’re age 12+, your parents’ consent is not required for you to access this service.

If you’re a young person, you can access this support by making a self-referral (the exact method for this may vary depending on your school, but most schools have self-referral forms which can be dropped into a particular post box or handed directly to the counsellor). You can also access this support by talking to a teacher or member of the guidance staff and they can make a referral to the school counsellor on your behalf.

If you’re a parent, you can refer your secondary pupil to the counselling in schools service by contacting the school & speaking to a staff member about the reason for this potential referral. Young people can be referred to school counselling (with their consent) by a teacher, guidance/pastoral teacher or member of the SMT – if you’re a professional supporting a young people who would benefit from school counselling, you can encourage them to self-refer or link with any of the aforementioned members of education staff.

The 3 most common mental health difficulties supported by school counsellors in 2021 were anxiety, depression & family or relationship difficulties.

Click here to view the school counselling leaflet for parents.

Click here to view the school counselling leaflet for young people.