SEMH Treatments
Children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs semh treatments have immature social skills, and may display their concerns through becoming withdrawn and isolated or through challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. They often experience depression, anxiety, self-harming and eating disorders, or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained.
Exploring Effective SEMH Treatments: Strategies for Success
National data shows that, without adequate support, children with SEMH are more likely to leave school without qualifications, become stuck in a cycle of unemployment, develop drug problems or become homeless and vulnerable to sexual exploitation. It is vital that teachers recognise signs of these issues, and take action to identify what the child is really trying to tell them.
Taking time to build up trustful relationships and communicate with children is one of the most important things we can do to help them, but it can be hard when they are struggling with their emotions. It is also important to monitor their behaviour, and look for the underlying reasons behind their actions. It is these underlying issues that should be the focus of the support, rather than their behaviour itself.
There are many strategies that pastoral staff can put in place to help students with SEMH, and many of them require very little funding (if any). Creating a worry box is an effective way for youngster to express their feelings, as they can write down what worries them and leave it at the end of the day for someone else to read and offer advice. Providing self-help resources, such as books and worksheets focusing on common, easily identifiable issues like excessive worrying or low mood can be very beneficial to students, and again are a relatively inexpensive form of SEMH intervention.