The Government is set to recommend one-to-one counselling sessions in primary schools.
Young children's mental health and resilience in life can be improved by one-to-one counselling sessions in primary schools, a Government-backed report will say.
The report by the National Education Psychological Service will be published this morning by Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton.
The report is an evaluation of a pilot scheme of counselling sessions in primary schools.
It is based on the work of school-based counselling and education well-being practitioners.
Among its key conclusions will be that young children become better at regulating their emotions and improve both their resilience and coping skills in difficult moments after taking part in one-to-one counselling sessions.
The report focused on the experience of children with mild to moderate mental health needs who received support in seven counties, including Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary.
The evaluation, conducted by the Centre for Effective Services, will say that one-to-one counselling and EWP support were positively received by pupils, parents, school leaders and staff.
It also will say that children reported improvements in emotional regulation, resilience, communication skills and coping strategies.
The pilot scheme is now likely to be expanded to other areas of the country.
