Carlie Marshall, an experienced and passionate counsellor, is our ‘Someone to Talk To’ mental health campaign manager. In this interview, she shares insights from her past experiences working with both children and adults and explains what led her to join the ‘Someone to Talk To’ campaign at Little Lives UK.
Can you tell me about your education background and what inspired you to specialise in child psychology?
I have a degree in Person Centred Counselling a Level 5 Qualification in CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) as well as a level 5 teacher’s training qualification. Working with adults over the years has highlighted that so many adults need psychological support due to childhood trauma.
As adults we carry our inner child with us every day, which follows us through our lives, you may will still feel like you did at age 13 inside as an example. Any damage that happens in childhood can be carried with you into your adult life. Therefore, if we can work with children and try to stop that damage from happening and give them the tools to build self-confidence or self-esteem and give them the voice to speak up it will support their mental health. Our goal is for the child to feel heard, supported and empowered. Working with adults made me realise how much we need to put more funding support into working with children and young people.
What types of psychological issues do you most frequently work with in children such as anxiety, ADHD, trauma?
Currently, we are seeing a significant increase in anxiety among children. I believe COVID-19 has been a major contributing factor, as children missed out on valuable time with friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other important people in their lives. Spending most of their time at home has made it harder for them to communicate with others, often leaving them feeling self-conscious and anxious. Additionally, the countless hours spent on computers each day have likely impacted their social interaction skills, from home learning to playing videogames for some children they may have hours on YouTube. We have noticed in the counselling sessions that some children and young people have stated that they believe that they need to look like a particular social media person. They begin to doubt their appearances or intelligence because they do not resemble this person.
Over the last year we have had an increase in children experiencing panic attacks and feeling anxious about going out and talking to others. Our aim is to help them regain their confidence and provide them the tools to manage their panic attacks. We’ve found that many of the children have become carers for their parents who are suffering from anxiety or depression too. Through our sessions, we hope to teach them to feel better about themselves and to build on having a strong mental health. Another big issue at the moment is self-harming, we have seen an influx of children self-harming in many different ways to release the stress and anxiety that they’re feeling inside.
Can you describe a particularly challenging case you’ve worked on and how you approached it?
One of the hardest cases for me was working with a child who got sent indecent photos via Snapchat by an adult that was a family friend. This was really challenging because I had to explain that it’s not acceptable for them to send those photos and the repercussions of what was going to happen.
The child felt abandonment from their family who did not believe her. This caused a knock-on effect of the child wanting to self-harm and actively trying to take their own Life. We worked together for some time the child is doing well they are happy, and enjoying life again. Counselling is confidential, but if there is a safeguarding issue, we must take it outside the room, as I had to in this case.
Has there been any significant change in the demand for children’s psychological services within the NHS in recent years?
The NHS is doing an amazing job; they make the most of the funding and resources available to them, and once you’re in, they provide you with the help you need. However, the problem is getting in, there are still so many children that are suffering, and the waiting list is far too long, around 35 days. The Children’s Commission and Document of March 2024 estimates that more than a quarter of a million children and young people are still waiting for a mental health appointments. There are nearly 40,000 children that have waited over two years for help. These figures are shocking and I feel more has to be done to support children.
As a campaign manager for ‘Someone To Talk To’ charity project, could you share the inspiration behind this initiative and what its core mission is?
The core mission for ‘Someone to Talk To’ is to provide free and fast mental health support for all children in need. A lot of parents will find that they want to support the children as much as possible, but they can not financially afford it and they do not want to wait 35 days. A child should not have to wait 35 days for support, so the quicker we provide a place for the child or young person to have counselling with no cost, the better it is for the children. The goal is to build a bigger team of qualified counsellors and to provide counselling to as many children as possible all over the UK.
How has the campaign been received in schools so far? Could you share some success stories or key milestones achieved through this initiative?
We’ve received really positive feedback from the schools so far and from the children. The counsellors have received so many lovely thank you cards and drawing from the children that they have worked with. Also from parents who have called in after the sessions thanking the counsellors for all their support with their child’s mental health.
One of the schools stated, “I didn’t realise how much we needed you until we were in the school”. You have made a big difference to the children’s mental health. The schools have noticed that some children who could be disruptive in class before counselling has become highly engaged and happy. As now they have the tools to express themselves in different ways.
What are the next steps for the ‘Someone To Talk To’ project? Are there any upcoming expansions, partnerships, or new strategies that you’re particularly excited about?
It would be fantastic if we can expand and run our programmes in schools across the country and receive some support through government funding. We need to put a proposal together and show the work that we’re doing now is helping children. The more evidence we have, the easier it will to get some government funding. It is never a simple task, but the more money and support we receive, the more opportunities we will have to spread our wings. The government has noticed children are struggling and have put a five-year plan in place to support them. However, some of those children may not be here in five years because of their mental health struggles so it’s important we try to do this as quickly as possible.
Do video games affect children?
The problem is, it’s not necessarily the games. It’s that the children are play games that are not age appropriate. You have six-year-olds playing an eighteen-year-old games. We had children state that they play up to five hours at a time, sometimes all weekend. If they’re playing games that is not age appropriate and has constant violence it has an effect on the child’s well-being. They’re not getting any exercise or eating or drinking the amount they should be. As they may of been sat down all weekend, when they do go to school, they are a ball of energy and need to run around and be active. As children learn through play, they’ll want to play out what they’ve seen on their games. When they’re watching someone constantly being hit over the head, it’s likely they are then going to repeating this type of behaviour with their friends.
Children that are playing games, do you suggest them to replace them in another game?
I would gently, try and give other options of games to play that are age appropriate to them because they are still children and need to have the boundaries. It is really difficult though because some kids are playing it with their parent, and that might be the only time they interact with them. While we obviously don’t want to stop the child from playing with their parent, we are aware of the negative effects of engaging in those kinds of violent games.
Are you a fan of alternative way of counselling for example meditation?
Yes, we use meditation in our sessions as part of mindfulness, it is fantastic. This is something that the child can practice at home, especially if they are really struggling with anger issues or anxiety.
During mindfulness we also teach the children how to body scan which can help with relaxation and sleep issues. They start from the toes, and work their way up to the head, this helps to relax the whole body and check in on their body if anything hurts. We have noticed a lot of children are struggling to sleep because their minds are active. This is making them so tired and struggling to wake up for school the following day. So, if we can teach the children to relax their minds, it will help them to switch off at bedtime. By learning breathing techniques, the child/ young person can control their anxiety and panic attacks more effectively.
Discover our charity campaign, ‘Someone to Talk To.’ We provide free one-on-one therapy sessions to support children who need it most.
