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\"Adolescent Counselling Psychology: Theory Research and Practice provides a thorough introduction to therapeutic practice with young people. As an edited text, it brings together some of the leading authorities on such work into one digestible volume. The text is divided into three major sections. The first provides a context to therapeutic work with young people. This outlines the historical background to such work, the types of settings in which individuals work and the allied professions that they will encounter. Following on from this, the second section introduces the psychology of adolescence and provides an overview of the research into youth counselling. Finally, the third section considers more applied issues. Initially the infrastructure of counselling services is discussed before moving on to reflect upon pluralistic therapeutic practice. To end, the ways in which outcomes may be assessed in such work are described. In covering such a wide territory this text acts as an essential resource to those working within the field of adolescent counselling. It provides a foundation to the work that individuals are undertaking in this arena and advocates that individuals enter into therapeutic work in a critically informed way. At the heart of such considerations is the need to utilise psychological theory alongside research findings to inform therapeutic decision making\"-- Provided by publisher.

Youth and young adult mental health concerns are rising globally, with digital mental health platforms offering a promising solution for accessible support. Among the various features these platforms provide, goal setting and achievement have been shown to positively influence behavior change and mental health outcomes. However, there is limited understanding of how user-set goals compare to those set collaboratively with a practitioner regarding their impact on user engagement and mental health outcomes in digital mental health platforms. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between various goal-related variables (eg, the number of goals created and progress in user-set and practitioner-set goals) and user engagement as well as mental health (ie, psychological distress) on a free digital mental health platform. A secondary exploratory aim was to assess how different user-presenting issues were associated with platform engagement. We leveraged secondary data from a free, web-based mental health platform for youth aged 10 to 25 years in the United Kingdom that offers goal-setting features, emotional journaling, peer support, asynchronous chat with practitioners, and various self-guided well-being activities. Data included in the analyses were from youth and young adults (mean age 15.84 years, SD 2.88; 522/691, 75.5% female) who engaged with the goal-setting feature and completed both pre- and postengagement psychological distress measures between January 2020 and December 2023. We examined the relationship between user-set goals and practitioner-set goals on user engagement and psychological distress via linear regressions. The impact of different user-presenting issues on engagement was also explored via linear regression. The number of practitioner-set goals created was positively associated with platform engagement (β=.16; P<.001), whereas the number of self-set goals and goal progress, whether self or practitioner set, were not. Progress on practitioner-set goals was significantly associated with reduced psychological distress (β=-.27; P<.001), while progress on self-set goals showed no significant association (P=.16). Physical health-related and school-related presenting issues were the strongest predictors of increased platform engagement (β=.21; P<.001 and β=.17; P<.001, respectively). These findings underscore the importance of collaborative goal setting in improving mental health outcomes for youth and young adults on digital mental health platforms. By highlighting the role of guided support and goal progression, this study enhances our understanding of how digital mental health platforms can better support young people's mental health and well-being. This paper also highlights how digital mental health platforms can serve as a valuable resource for addressing a wide range of mental health needs.

Purpose The aim of this research is to gain an insight into the attitudes that therapists, both qualified and trainee, have towards the use of artificial intelligence (AI)/machine therapy in therapeutic practice. The paper also aims to gain an insight into attitudes towards machine therapy and the potential of developing a therapeutic alliance with a machine therapist. Design/methodology/approach A short questionnaire was developed to gauge therapists and trainee therapists’ attitudes towards machine therapy. The questionnaire included a scenario for participants to read and then respond to questions on the therapeutic alliance using questions based upon those asked on the working alliance short inventory scale. At the end of the questionnaire, there was also the opportunity for participants to respond to an open-ended question. Findings It is evident from the responses that there is a clear reservation about the use of AI technology within the therapeutic setting. In spite of this reticence, many participants recognised the potential and are open to the possibilities this technology can bring. It was notable that the therapists largest concern was about the potential to create a strong bond with a machine therapist. Originality/value This paper presents findings on therapists’ attitudes towards AI use within therapeutic practice and machine therapy. Whilst limited in scope, it provides a yardstick for considering the way that attitudes towards these emerging technologies might change in the future.

Young people are increasingly seeking out web-based support for their mental health and well-being. Peer support forums are popular with this age group, with young individuals valuing the fact that the forums are available 24/7, providing a safe and anonymous space for exploration. Currently, little systematic evaluation of the helpfulness of such forums in providing support has been conducted. This study examined the helpfulness of the support offered within web-based mental health and well-being peer support forums for young people. It specifically investigated the self-reported user ratings of helpfulness reported through the completion of a developing experience measure. The ratings will be used to consider further development of the measure and reflect upon the overall helpfulness of the forums as indicated by the reported scores. The study used routinely collected practice-based outcome data from web-based mental health forums for young people. These forums are hosted by the UK-based web-based therapy and support service, Kooth. A cross-sectional design was used to explore-using a range of inferential statistical measures-the outcomes reported by those accessing the forums using a Peer Online Community Experience Measure (POCEM). To consider the helpfulness in general, 23,443 POCEMs completed in 2020 were used. A second data set of 17,137 completed POCEMs from the same year was used to consider whether various engagement indicators had an impact upon the helpfulness rating. Female users aged between 11 and 16 years predominantly completed the POCEM. This is in keeping with the majority of those using the service. In total, 74.6% (8240/11,045) of the scores on the POCEM indicated that the individuals found the posts helpful. An ANOVA indicated that male users were more likely to report obtaining intrapersonal support, whereas female users obtained interpersonal support. Furthermore, the POCEM scores reflected the internal consistency of the measure and provided an insight into the way that young people made use of the peer support resource; for instance, posts that were rated more helpful were correlated with spending longer time reading them, and the topics discussed varied throughout the day with more mental health issues being discussed later at night. The results seem to demonstrate that, overall, the young people involved in this study found web-based peer support helpful. They indicate that peer support can provide an important strand of care within a supportive mental health ecosystem, particularly during time periods when in-person support is typically closed. However, limitations were noted, suggesting that caution is needed when interpreting the results of this study. Although such services are incredibly well used, they have received little research attention to date. As such, further investigation into what constitutes helpful and unhelpful peer support is needed.

Many young adults diagnosed with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) intend to go to college and/or university, yet research suggests that these individuals find aspects of college and university life challenging. To explore the views of individuals directly affected by these challenges, a systematic review of the existing qualitative literature in this area was conducted. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis of these articles identified six superordinate themes: the involvement of professionals; academic, environmental, and social factors; wellbeing; communication; and understanding. The facilitators, obstacles and needs of students pervaded these themes and are discussed alongside implications for counsellors and psychologists working in schools.

Online digital mental health communities can contribute to users' mental health positively and negatively. Yet the measurement of experience, outcomes and impact mechanisms relating to digital mental health communities is difficult to capture. In this paper we demonstrate the development of an online experience measure for a specific children and young people's community forum inside a digital mental health service. The development of the Peer Online Community Experience Measure (POCEM) is informed by a multi-phased design: (i) item reduction through Estimate-Talk-Estimate modified Delphi methods, (ii) user testing with think-aloud protocols and (iii) a pilot study within the digital service community to explore observational data within the platform. Experts in the field were consulted to help reduce the items in the pool and to check their theoretical coherence. User testing workshops helped to inform the usability appearance, wording, and purpose of the measure. Finally, the pilot results highlight completion rates, differences in scores for age and roles and “relate to others”, as the most frequent domain mechanism of support for this community. Outcomes frequently selected show the importance of certain aspects of the community, such as safety, connection, and non-judgment previously highlighted in the literature. Experience measures like this one could be used as indicators of active therapeutic engagement within the forum community and its content but further research is required to ascertain its acceptability and validity. Multi-phased approaches involving stakeholders and user-centred design activities enhances the development of digitally enabled measurement tools.

The Internet has the potential to help young people by reducing the stigma associated with mental health and enabling young people to access services and professionals which they may not otherwise access. Online support can empower young people, help them develop new online friendships, share personal experiences, communicate with others who understand, provide information and emotional support, and most importantly help them feel less alone and normalize their experiences in the world. The aim of the research was to gain an understanding of how young people use an online forum for emotional and mental health issues. Specifically, the project examined what young people discuss and how they seek support on the forum (objective 1). Furthermore, it looked at how the young service users responded to posts to gain an understanding of how young people provided each other with peer-to-peer support (objective 2). Kooth is an online counseling service for young people aged 11-25 years and experiencing emotional and mental health problems. It is based in the United Kingdom and provides support that is anonymous, confidential, and free at the point of delivery. Kooth provided the researchers with all the online forum posts between a 2-year period, which resulted in a dataset of 622 initial posts and 3657 initial posts with responses. Thematic analysis was employed to elicit key themes from the dataset. The findings support the literature that online forums provide young people with both informational and emotional support around a wide array of topics. The findings from this large dataset also reveal that this informational or emotional support can be viewed as directive or nondirective. The nondirective approach refers to when young people provide others with support by sharing their own experiences. These posts do not include explicit advice to act in a particular way, but the sharing process is hoped to be of use to the poster. The directive approach, in contrast, involves individuals making an explicit suggestion of what they believe the poster should do. This study adds to the research exploring what young people discuss within online forums and provides insights into how these communications take place. Furthermore, it highlights the challenge that organizations may encounter in mediating support that is multidimensional in nature (informational-emotional, directive-nondirective).

Purpose This study is exploratory research which aims to understand how users gain support from the online mental health community (OMHC) 18 percent and whether engagement with this community may possibly lead to increased self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach In total, 128 users of an OMHC, 18 percent, completed an online questionnaire that asked open-ended questions about the community and how users engaged with it. The results were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Findings Based on the construct of self-efficacy within social cognitive theory, it is evident that the platform provides users with increased self-efficacy and encourages further support seeking in a professional capacity, either via an online or offline platform. Originality/value OMHCs provide a therapeutic, peer-to-peer space for users in times of crisis which have the possibility to increase self-efficacy when engaged with. However, users must acknowledge that although the online platform is an efficacious resource, it cannot be used as a principal proxy for offline treatment.

Adolescent Counselling Psychology: Theory Research and Practice provides a thorough introduction to therapeutic practice with young people. As an edited text, it brings together some of the leading authorities on such work into one digestible volume. The text is divided into three major sections. The first provides a context to therapeutic work with young people. This outlines the historical background to such work, the types of settings in which individuals work and the allied professions that they will encounter. Following on from this, the second section introduces the psychology of adolescence and provides an overview of the research into youth counselling. Finally, the third section considers more applied issues. Initially the infrastructure of counselling services is discussed before moving on to reflect upon pluralistic therapeutic practice. To end, the ways in which outcomes may be assessed in such work are described. In covering such a wide territory this text acts as an essential resource to practicing counselling psychologists and other mental health professionals. It provides a foundation to the work that individuals are undertaking in this arena and advocates that individuals enter into therapeutic work in a critically informed way. At the heart of such considerations is the need to utilise psychological theory alongside research findings to inform therapeutic decision making.