Our emotional health support workers at Mind the Gap are so important as there are a huge number of young people suffering with mental and emotional health difficulties. Young people need supportive services where they feel safe to explore who they are and open up about their challenges. This is especially important given how long the waiting lists are for other services. Our emotional health support workers offer crucial support to young people while they are waiting for higher support services or other support. This service literally fills that gap; a time that without any support, young people’s mental and emotional health can deteriorate.
Katherine is our Mind the Gap Emotional Health Support Worker based in Worthing. She offers one-to-one sessions and group work to young people between the ages of 11-25 who have emotional and mental health challenges. The sessions work on a wide range of topics such as coping skills for anxiety, anger, low mood or sleep, safety plans for suicide ideation or self-harm, advocacy work, onwards referrals to CAMHS or other counselling through the Single Point of Access (SPoA), or positive groups such as youth groups – there’s so much that these sessions can cover.
Katherine said: “It’s a real privilege to work with young people and help them to be who they want to be. I really love that young people feel comfortable enough to share their challenges with me and to trust me during such hard times in their lives.
“Sometimes it can be hard to see how amazing a young person is when they can’t see it themselves. It can be a challenge to find ways of helping them learn to like themselves, value themselves and be proud of who they are.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to be a part of young people’s journeys in discovering what they’re capable of and helping to empower them.”
To have support through our Mind the Gap service, a young person needs to be referred. The young person can email [email protected] to refer themself, or this can be done by an adult. There is also a form here.
