CONNECT
Therapeutic Mentoring
What is therapeutic mentoring?
Connect Mentoring has been designed to support young people with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) by building a relationship with one of our specialist mentors who are also trained and qualified therapists.
This provides an alternative to formal mental health talking therapies for young people who may not yet be ready or willing to speak to a professional in a counselling service.
Young people go out and about into the community to do low-pressure fun activities that they are interested in, and the mentor helps them open up and explore the things that might be holding them back, such as anxiety, self-harming, emotional dysregulation or trauma related challenges amongst other things.
Our mentoring sessions are minimum two hours and this can be over several days a week depending on the young person and what is needed. We also, understand that support doesn't stop when school does, which is why our mentoring can and often continues through the school holidays.
How it works
The connect mentoring approach incorporates principles from DDP, attachment theory, and Neuroscience to create a nurturing, supportive environment for children and young people:
• Mentors establish a safe, non-judgmental space where young people feel accepted and understood.
• Accessing PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) from DDP, mentors foster a strong, trusting relationship with their young people.
• Mentors act as a secure base, providing comfort and encouragement as young people explore new experiences and emotions.
• Co-regulation supports young people in developing skills to manage their emotions and behaviours.
·The mentor-young person relationship serves as a safe foundation for personal growth, emotional exploration, and the development of healthy relational skills.
CONNECT Programme Benefits
- 1:1 mentoring with therapeutically trained professionals
- Designed to help improve mental health
- Support to better regulate emotions and behaviours
- Designed to help young people with Emotional Based School Avoidance (EBSA)
- Preferential access to a qualified Counsellor if needed
- Opportunity to transition into small group sessions
Next steps...
Schools & Authorities
If you are working with a young person who you think might benefit from this programme, please either get in touch to discuss their case or send in a referral. Every engagement is tailored to provide the most effective package of support that meets the young persons needs, so we will require as much information as you can provide us with such as their educational history, any risk assessments, official documentation such as an EHCP, and any safeguarding context.
Students
If you think this programme might be helpful for you we would love to hear from you! You can self-refer for our programmes and we will work with you to decide how we can best support you, identify any funding options, and make sure we fully understand how you need us to work with you so that you get the best out of the programme. The more you can tell us about yourself the better – understanding things like your hobbies, career goals and any fears or challenges you have helps us to make sure we can meet your needs. Get in touch if you would like to discuss how we can help or dive straight in and make a referral for yourself if you’re super keen!
Parents & Carers
Our range of programmes have all been designed to support young people at various stages of life who may be experiencing a range of different challenges. If you think that one of our programmes might be able to help a young person you are caring for please do get in touch to discuss their needs and how we could put together a bespoke package of support to help. We work closely with other agencies to make sure that we can provide wrap around support, so any information you can provide us with regarding their educational history, any mental health or lifestyle challenges, and any additional needs they have it is hugely helpful to make sure we can support them as effectively as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a session last?
We believe that too have any meaningful connection the session needs to be two hours, and the length of the support package will vary depending on the needs of the child, but our minimum package is 12 weeks.
How much does it cost?
Each 2-hour session is £105, and for more comprehansive packages to support young people with complex needs we may also require an activity budget to support their development.
How old does a child have to be?
We believe this is based on each childs understanding rather than just a chronological age. The youngest our mentors have worked with is five years old.
What about transport?
The young person will be collected and dropped off at a point agreed in advance.
Why work with us?
There are a huge number of benefits to having your students work with us, our success rate shows that 89% of the young people we work with go on to achieve a better outcome. Be this transitioning back into school, a managed move or onto college or employment.
Are the CONNECT Mentors trained and qualified?
Many of our mentors are trained therapists, therapists in training, mental health professionals or have multiple years of experience working therapeutically with children and young people.
Safeguarding
This organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all of our staff and volunteers to share this commitment because we believe that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility. All postholders (paid staff AND volunteers) are expected to work in line with our safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures and all positions are subject to an Enhanced DBS check and check against the barred lists via the Disclosure and Barring Service.