Like many psychologists, I have symbolic art upon my office walls. My favourite piece is an Icelandic etching called The Woman Who Didn’t See the Angel, by Karolina Larusdottir. This depicts a forlorn woman staring blankly out of her window - yet if only she got off her chair and looked properly, she’d see the angel waiting there to transform everything.
Having examined recent public policy documents on Scotland’s mental health, it’s clear that the predominant concern is around children and young people, including those with disabilities.
Far be it from me to glorify my own profession by applying the unseen angel metaphor exclusively to educational psychologists (EPs). But why, when it comes to mental health, is the hardworking and accomplished profession of educational psychology, like that angel, invisible to policymakers and resource managers? Which politicians are wise enough to get off that chair and discover the transformational power of the expertise waiting outside the window of every family and school in the nation?
My office is in a Scottish secondary school that has almost 1,500 pupils. I am an EP with particular skills in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) counselling, mental health, learning difficulties and autism, delivering a public service to this school (and others), to teachers, support specialists, pupils and families. I collaborate with colleagues in the third sector, social work, child health and CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services).
From my perspective, the recently launched 10-year Mental Health Strategy begins well enough: early intervention in schools, evidence-based approaches, training, assessing risks, accessing “counsellors” in schools, working with families, multi-agency collaboration, children with disabilities, looked-after children, child protection and building skills in teachers. Educational psychology is at the forefront of all of these initiatives on a daily basis. It’s our bread and butter.
It seems brilliantly stupid, therefore, that, while pages of policy are dedicated to CAMHS funding and commissioning, EPs are mentioned on one line within the whole document (page 13 refers to “ensuring access to educational psychologists for schools”).
Temporary solutions won’t work
Educational psychologists in the field have been squeezed in recent times. Hence, there is a gulf between the policy rhetoric and the most economically viable, skilled and evidence-based way of putting it into practice.
Attempting to replace this infrastructure with more clinicians and ad-hoc voluntary or private individuals in schools is like replacing the nation’s railway network with more buses and cars without ensuring that the vehicles are fit for purpose or that the drivers have a licence. Removing funds from educational psychology and donating them to health may allow a few more clients to climb the CAMHS waiting list but will not stem the flood of youngsters needing support. It also scapegoats children by medicalising difficulties for which they are not responsible.
The Education (Scotland) Act requires EPs to work with children and families, to assess them and intervene as necessary. In 2002, the Currie Report provided the profession with an infrastructure of core duties that includes consultation, assessment, training, research, policy and development work. This infrastructure is vast, far-reaching and, importantly, very economical. Every school in Scotland has a named EP with psychological expertise who is able to work with staff, families and children in need.
The renowned psychologist Tommy MacKay put it this way a few years ago: “[EPs] are the most generic psychologists, with more postgraduate training time devoted to the child and adolescent sphere than for any other branch of psychology. In terms of role, they are the most contextualised, working across the domains of home, school and community. In terms of background, their knowledge of educational settings is unparalleled.”
Everyday practice
So how does all of this translate into the everyday practice of an educational psychology service (EPS)? Any EP could be working therapeutically with an individual child; with teachers and classes on improving understanding and support, training schools and, at authority level, building nurturing policies and practices in educational establishments.
A recent national survey of secondary schools and EPSs indicated a high demand for support from EPs but also difficulties accessing them to deliver training, as well as capacity issues for EPs and teachers. On the other hand, EPs and school nurses were judged the most effective support. Crisis services such as social workers, CAMHS workers and volunteer counsellors were reported as not effective. Indeed, it may not be a coincidence that as EPs are diminished, mental illness rises in the young.
I conclude with a plea to policymakers and resource managers nationwide. Invest in your educational psychology service and initial training courses. Nurture this nurturing profession; look after its wellbeing, for in doing so you remove pressure from your crisis services, build wellbeing in children and schools, and thereby create a mentally stronger nation. Don’t fail to see the remarkable economic infrastructure and resource that exists in our profession. CAMHS needs us, teachers need us, parents need us, children desperately need us. It’s your job to ensure that support is in the right place, by the right professional, at the right time. So, take a good look out of your office windows - don’t be the woman who did not see the angel.
Dr Anne Greig is a local authority educational psychologist and a teaching fellow at the University of Strathclyde
