The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), with its three forms (youth, parent and teacher version), is widely used to assess emotional and behavioural disorders in children and adolescents. The present study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the teacher version of the scale (SDQ-T) with adolescents from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background. It also explored the impact of demographic factors on the mental health outcomes of CALD adolescents in the school setting as indicated by SDQ-T. Teachers from a Special English language transitional school in Brisbane, Australia completed the SDQ-T for 175 culturally and linguistically diverse adolescents. The exploratory factor analysis indicated a 23-item scale with a four-factor structure: Prosocial Behaviour, Hyperactivity, Emotional Symptoms, and Behavioural Problems. The revised scale had sound internal consistency. Findings indicated that CALD adolescents from refugee backgrounds scored higher on Emotional Symptoms, Conduct and Peer Problems, and SDQ total difficulties. There were no differences on subscale scores based on gender or English language proficiency. SDQ-T emerged as a promising scale that can be used to understand CALD adolescents’ postmigration emotional experiences, risks and protective factors. The implications of the SDQ-T in schools with adolescents from migrant and refugee backgrounds are discussed.

Adverse life events and situations such as educational failure, social rejection, traumatic loss, family breakdown, abuse, migration and dislocation, natural and manmade disaster, chronic illness and death are not uncommon in the lives of children and adolescents. Considerable empirical evidence exists concerning both short- and long-term deleterious effects of such events on the mental health of children and adolescents. There is broad acceptance of the need to find means of preventing, or at least reducing, psychopathology associated with such events or situations. However, those working with children and adolescents are often overwhelmed by the expectation to provide for the legitimate needs of an individual child or adolescent, while having the daily responsibility for large groups of children, many of whom are distressed by adversity. Consequently, a valuable contribution to any program aimed at improving the mental health of children and young people would be the identification of a common aspect of adverse situations, the understanding of which could guide carers and educators in the provision of care for children and adolescents facing diverse life challenges. This paper argues that loss, and the grief associated with loss, is this common element. It reviews and integrates the literature concerning loss to enhance the understanding of families and practitioners of this central aspect of adverse life events.

The aim of the study was to examine the nature of perfectionism, to gain a better understanding of the construct using the Chinese population. The study also explored the relationships between perfectionism, self-esteem and depression after identifying the three dimensions of perfectionism. A sample of 292 Chinese university students completed the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS), the Hewitt Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (HMPS), the Almost Perfect Scale — Revised (APS-R), the Self-Esteem Scale (SES), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). As hypothesised, the confirmatory factor analyses revealed that multidimensional perfectionism is explained as a three-factor construct with dimensions of maladaptive perfectionism, adaptive perfectionism and order factor. As predicted, the structural equation model analyses indicated that self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression. Implications for counselling interventions and future research are discussed.

Students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Republic of Ireland are required to have a formal psycho-educational assessment from an educational psychologist to register with Disability Services in HEIs, to be eligible for support through the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD). Such assessments are expensive and often beyond the financial means of students and their families. However, there is a sustained demand from students experiencing academic difficulties for diagnostic assessment of SpLD (Association for Higher Education Access and Disability [AHEAD], 2012). This study describes the SpLD screening and assessment practices implemented by HEIs in Ireland (n = 14), finding that (a) there are no defined parameters for assessment of SpLD in higher education (HE), meaning that methods and accuracy of identification of positive indicators may vary across HEIs; and (b) the majority of HEIs screen for dyslexia only, with little or no recognition of the need to assess for comorbidity of learning disabilities. Findings support the requirement for a reliable and valid standardised assessment procedure for Irish HEIs, which would provide equitable access to an initial diagnosis. Finally, a screening model is proposed, which is currently provided by one HEI.

Counselling children often requires the use of supplementary strategies in order to interest and engage the child in the therapeutic process. One such strategy is the Metaphorical Fruit Tree (MFT); an art metaphor suited to exploring and developing self-concept. Quantitative and qualitative data was used to explore the relationships between children's ability to use metaphor, age, gender, and level of emotional competence (N = 58). Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed a significant negative relationship between self-reported emotional competence and ability to use the MFT. It is proposed that children rely on different processes to understand self and as children's ability to cognitively report on their emotional capabilities via the Emotional Competence Questionnaire (ECQ) increases, their ability to report creatively on those capabilities via the MFT is undermined. It is suggested that the MFT may be used, via creative processes and as an alternative to cognitive processes, to increase understanding and awareness of intrapersonal and interpersonal concepts of self in the child during counselling.

The Three Approaches to Psychotherapy (TAP) videotape series introduces students to three major schools of psychotherapy: client-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, and rational–emotive therapy. A sample of undergraduate students viewed the TAP series. The students were surveyed about their observations of Gestalt therapy and Fritz Perls' interactions with and treatment of Gloria, the client. This importance of the film series is its presentation of psychotherapy as done in that time by the founders of these schools. Videotapes are routinely employed educationally to show therapy techniques and illuminate theory. This paper examines the usefulness of this video to teach gestalt therapy to psychology students in four sections — two underclass and two upper class sections — in the same term. Student perceptions of this 40-year-old film series are explored. The gender relationship of therapist and client is shown as an example of the apparent sexism of the culture and cognitive processes of the time and its participants. Results found to today's instructionally sophisticated students agreed with Perls' explanation and portrayal of gestalt therapy and interactions with Gloria, his adult client.

The present study aimed at testing and exploring the psychometric properties of the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI) in Greek school counsellors. Two hundred school counsellors from all over Greece participated in the study. The confirmatory study revealed four dimensions of the Greek version of CBI; namely, exhaustion, deterioration in personal life, incompetence, and negative work environment. Adequate psychometric properties of the version were revealed as well. The results also showed a negative relation between age and three dimensions of CBI, imposing the need for special training offered to young school counsellors in order for them to cope effectively and early enough with the burnout syndrome.

The purpose of this article is to define and describe the issues relating to acculturation and acculturative stress. A proposed counselling approach for acculturative stress is presented and has been adapted from interventions for social phobia, which considers of the role of the crosscultural counsellor as well as models of cultural orientation and identity. Suggestions for counsellor preparation for dealing with culturally diverse clients are provided drawing upon resources and methods from the field of cultural anthropology. The intention of presenting these ideas and strategies will propose ways to assist minority groups, like international students, improve and maintain psychological wellbeing and quality of life. Finally, recommendations for further research in the areas of acculturation and acculturative stress are identified.

In an investigation of the problems and coping strategies of Australian high school students, comparisons were made between the responses of 1664 students enrolled in Years 8 to 12 in 1988,1620 students enrolled in the same year levels in 1993, and 178 high school teachers in 1993. The subjects completed the High School Stressors Scale (Burnett & Fanshawe, 1997) and the Adolescent Coping Strategies Scale (Burnett & Fanshawe, 1996). Data analyses using MANOVAs, ANOVAs, and t-tests revealed close similarities between the responses of the 1993 students and those of the 1988 students, but a considerable amount of incongruence between the responses of the students and those of the teachers. In particular, the teachers generally seemed to regard their students' problems as being more serious than was acknowledged by the students, and the teachers generally seemed to project a less positive view of adolescents' coping strategies than did the students. These discrepancies are discussed in terms of the different orientations that students and teachers bring to the student-teacher relationship. It is suggested that teachers and counsellors need to take cognisance of the differences between adolescents' perspectives and their own if they are going to be effective in assisting students to develop positive coping strategies and in creating more positive learning environments.

This paper investigates the use of Narrative Therapy in a high school. The focus is on demonstrating the use of Narrative Therapy in working with students who demonstrate at-risk behaviours especially with a view to building resiliency. It is proposed that to fully understand the value of Narrative Therapy, theory supporting this approach should be discussed. Underlying this approach is the recognition that a better understanding of theory will extend the practice of Narrative Therapy. To that end this paper approaches the use of Narrative Therapy on two levels, (a) a description of the theory that supports the practice of Narrative Therapy. This description focuses on the language and practices associated with Narrative Therapy. Specifically, issues around stories are discussed at length, and (b) a case study is presented attempting to bind theory to practice. It takes the reader on a journey by a student who was at-risk to her developing resilient behaviour. Initially, several key words and phrases are introduced as direct representations of the theory of Narrative Therapy. As the case study unfolds additional descriptions of theory impacting on practice are presented. The final outcome is a comprehensive description of a counselling approach that has relevancy in dealing with the complex issues of mental health resiliency in schools.

During the developmental stage of adolescence young people face many stressful challenges (Dacey & Kenny, 1997). Some adolescents manage these challenges adaptively but others do not and are therefore at the risk of adopting maladaptive responses to stress (Frydenberg & Lewis, 2002; Patton & Noller, 1990). Because adolescents are generally reluctant to talk in the first instance to parents, or other adults including adult counsellors, programs have been established to train adolescents in peer counselling. The present study examined the conversational skills that young people prefer to use when helping their peers and investigated their response to the use of traditional counselling skills with regard to ease of use and helpfulness. The results suggest that adolescents find some commonly used counselling skills difficult to use and unhelpful. Additionally the study suggests that young people found that some normal adolescent conversational behaviours which have been discouraged in adolescent peer counsellor training programs were helpful. The findings of this study have important implications with regard to training adolescents.

Despite the fact that many research studies (Canon & Lipscomb, 2011; Jimerson, 2001a, 2001b, 2004; Martin, 2011) have shown that grade repetition offers few benefits to students, it continues to be used as an early intervention practice to address students’ low levels of readiness for school or early school failure. The study contributes to the evidence-based research on grade repetition in Australian schools by drawing on, and analysing, the most recent data on grade repetition from Queensland’s state education department, the Department of Education and Training. Descriptive statistics and relative risk ratio, used to analyse the data, found that boys aged 5 years are overrepresented in grade repetition in the first year of schooling, ‘Prep’, in Queensland state schools. Possible reasons for the disproportionate overrepresentation of boys aged 5 years repeated in Prep are discussed, together with recommendations for future policy and practice.

School students are increasingly using apps for health-related purposes, either on their own or when recommended by psychologists or counsellors, as apps offer a way to assist students to change their behaviour. However, there is a growing need for psychologists and counsellors to be able to evaluate the quality and usefulness of such apps to effect behaviour change. This study was therefore undertaken to identify methods by which school psychologists and counsellors could evaluate health-related apps for clinical use or research purposes. After examining 15 studies of apps that met the inclusion criteria, it was clear that researchers used a number of taxonomies to evaluate the apps. There were seven taxonomies identified, of which five were generalisable to all health conditions, with the behaviour change technique (BCT) taxonomy being the most comprehensive, containing 13 key behaviour strategies. Despite the utility of the taxonomies to identify the amount of behaviour change content within the apps, it was difficult to determine how the behaviour change strategies were measured, thus reducing the ability to predict app effectiveness. Approaches to improving methods by which apps can be developed and evaluated are proposed.

This is an edited version of the inaugural Constance Davey Memorial Lecture, delivered by Dr Rosalyn Shute on 23 February 1995, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the educational psychology (guidance) service in South Australia. Constance Davey's background and the beginnings of the psychological service in 1924 are described. The role of the educational psychologist as she established it is discussed, and its breadth contrasted with the narrow role which educational psychologists often find themselves taking today. The unique and vital role of the educational psychologist is outlined but concern is expressed about current professional problems both in Australia and overseas. This lecture was sponsored by the South Australian Department for Education and Children's Services.

Suicide-related behaviours are relatively common among school-aged young people, and schools are an appropriate setting for activities that aim to prevent and assist recovery after suicide. headspace School Support is a specialist service that assists Australian secondary schools to be prepared for and recover from suicide. Through the responses of secondary school personnel to two surveys, this study explored awareness of and need for such services (n = 214), and satisfaction with and impacts of the service (n = 359). Findings indicate that most schools are aware of headspace School Support and regard specialised suicide support as needed. Most respondents indicated that the service increased their perceived knowledge, skills, and capacity in managing suicide issues, and reported satisfaction was high. Continued availability of suicide support to secondary schools is warranted.

This paper proposes that sandplay can be a useful tool for counsellors within the school setting. It follows previous work by O'Brien and Burnett (2000a, 2000b; O'Brien, 1999), who proposed that sandplay allows the counsellor to integrate all eight intelligences proposed by Howard Gardner (1983). A short historical account of sandplay therapy is followed by a discussion of its therapeutic value, aims and client–therapist relationship. The authors propose that sandplay uses a combination of spoken language, deductive reasoning, art and music therapy, symbols, narratives, and social and intrapersonal skills. This combination is inclusive of children with disabilities and appreciates the diversity all learners bring into the counselling sessions. Constraints on its effective use in schools are also discussed. The conclusion encourages counsellors to overcome the constraints and use sandplay on a regular basis within the school setting.

Previous research shows that the first year of a school counsellor’s career is one of the most critical stages. However, despite this importance, there is a limited number of studies that examine what novice school counsellors experience during their first year. The primary purpose of this qualitative study is to examine in detail the common experiences of novice school counsellors who have worked the first year of their professional career and to explore comprehensive themes regarding these experiences. Following a purposive sampling strategy, 33 school counsellors who started their profession in 19 different cities of Turkey were interviewed. As a result of the thematic analysis, five major themes emerged describing the first-year experiences of school counsellors: ‘Introduction’, ‘Fighting against Prejudices’, ‘Organising Counselling Service Room’, ‘Incongruence between Training and Work Definitions’, and ‘Longing for College Years’.

Australia has one of the most highly mobile populations in the Western World and yet there is very little awareness or appreciation of the social and educational impact of the phenomenon in this country. School personnel are particularly culpable in this regard, maintaining an image of schooling as a system focussed on relatively stable class groups. The available data, however, paint a very different picture, and one which compels not only the attention of educators but a variety of individuals from the helping professions and welfare agencies.This article explores the nature of student mobility and its effects on children. Particular attention is given to support programs for mobile children with the focus on policy development, remedial instruction, and counselling.

The dynamic nature of Australia's population is a significant demographic feature of Australian life and yet it is not widely recognized or appreciated by the community at large or by the country's policy makers. As with other highly mobile populations in developed countries around the world, there exists an illusion of stability in both the work-place and in domestic life (Settles, 1993).

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in children and adolescents requires school psychologists and counsellors to be informed of evidence-based elements of interventions through which they can tailor their treatment to the individual in a school context. This meta-analysis identified common practice elements within evidence-based trauma interventions for schools. A small to medium effect size was identified in the 10 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) included in this meta-analysis. Within these RCTs, 31 common practice elements were identified, with social skills training, coping skills training, relaxation techniques, psychoeducation, mind-body techniques, group work and creative-expressive techniques correlating with the most effective outcomes. The findings suggest that common practice elements exist across multiple school-based trauma interventions of varying modalities.

The field of school mental health promotion could be considered to be a new field of research and practice; however, this is not the case. Theoretically it is firmly grounded in both health and education bodies of research that have coalesced to advance practice to meet current imperatives. In reviewing these foundations prevailing dilemmas and challenges become evident. These include the ideologies of stakeholders about mental health; decision-making about entry points around risk and protective factors, and/or social context; and ethical and methodological problems in research and evaluation.