We employ part-time counsellors to provide quality counselling support to Grade R to Grade 7 learners at Lourier, Steenberg, Sullivan, Westlake, Ithemba Primary Schools and Sinai Academy. We counsel children through bereavement, trauma, behavioural problems, neglect, substance use and abuse, gang initiation, bullying and psychological, physical and sexual abuse. Because we believe in providing holistic support, we counsel the child while also offering psycho-social support to his or her educators, family, friends and other social networks.
All our counsellors are qualified professionals, and offer a variety of services including individual counselling, group counselling, staff development, debriefing and child protection services. We offer ongoing training, supervision and debriefing services for all our counsellors, safeguarding their personal and professional wellbeing.
Our Counselling Centres in the schools are equipped with a variety of play therapy and movement resources such as playdough, finger paints, balls, dolls and games. We practice child-centred therapy in the counselling room where children are encouraged to choose their own medium of play and initiate conversation. Our counsellors observe, listen and respond accordingly, all the while adjusting their therapeutic approach to the child.
We also practice resilience and empowerment counselling with the aim that every child who leaves our counselling room is affirmed in his/her identity, abilities, goals and is given coping mechanisms to help them thrive while living in extremely difficult circumstances.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we no longer recruit volunteers for counselling. We are however always looking for potential funders for this programme so please get in touch if would like to consider contributing to a counsellor’s salary.
Zenab* was referred for counselling to deal with the loss of her grandmother. During the first session our counsellor identified warning signs for abuse, which Zenab went on to disclose. Our counsellor assisted her in reporting the abuse to the police and by the end of the school day her grandfather was arrested, and the family was receiving counselling support from the Department of Social Development.
Zenab is now free to talk about the loss of her grandmother.*Name changed to protect her identity.
