Our Young People and Children’s service

About our service

Sycamore provides counselling services to children and young people from the age of 5 at both the centre in Chelmsford but we also support young people aged between 13 – 19 through the outreach centres with Connexions in Braintree, Chelmsford, Maldon and Witham.

We work with third party organisations to reach as many young people as possible. In partnership with Connexions, WHCM Sycamore provides counselling to young people in more rural areas and from Connexions offices.

To find out more about Essex Connexions click here.

WHCM supports young people who experience emotional difficulties, or who are at risk of exclusion at school. We support them through their difficulties and resolve personal issues. Young people contact us for help for the following issues:

• Identity issues
• Stress and anxiety
• Confidence and self esteem
• Bullying
• Relationships; families, friends and school
• Self harm

Some of the reasons people choose Sycamore Young People service

• Several years experience of delivering counselling to CYP in the mid Essex area.
• Working with professional, qualified child and adolescent counsellors and art therapists.
• Clinical and management supervision for those working with CYP in fields such as social care and voluntary sectors.
• We run a Diploma training in Counselling (child and adolescents).
• We also have a long standing and growing children’s service receiving referrals from statutory services such as Social Care teams, Child and Family Consultation Service, GP’s and Paediatricians from St Johns Hospital. We have on a case to case basis clinically liaised with Great Ormond Street children’s Hospital and we work with the child and adolescent mental health team at Mid Essex PCT.

We understand the financial pressures facing young people, there is no minimum fee for this service at our centre, but a donation will be asked based on a sliding scale and subject to income. 

What can be expected from counselling?

At Sycamore Counselling we provide a safe and un-pressured environment that assist in lowering anxiety levels, and give young people an opportunity to express themselves, either through creative play or verbally. Allowing them to develop the capacity to cope with their difficulties and express their feelings in a more productive way. This is because young people who are anxious, distressed or violent can be too preoccupied with their feelings to be able to function.

Working jointly, a young person and counsellor evaluate areas of difficulty and together set goals for the direction of their work. Regular reviews take place when the young person is encouraged to feedback their perspective of how counselling is working for them.

We encourage young people and teenagers to provide feedback on how the service is delivered and make us aware of any developments that could be beneficial to WHCM or Connexions staff, so that our service can continue to be flexible and responsive to the needs expressed our clients.

How to book an appointment

• To book an appointment for a child under the age of 12 please contact Evelyn Hornsby 01245 359 353
• To book an appointment for a young person over the age of 12 please contact Justine Colley on 01245 359 353. Please note that young people 16 and over must book their own appointments. 
• To book an appointment for a young person through our Connexions work contact Allison Marshall on 01245 359 353