The importance of feeling heard

Have you ever asked “how was your day?” Or “what’s wrong?” Or “how can I help” and be met with a “don’t know” answer.

Image of girl looking unsure

That “don’t know” might be a real ‘don’t know’ or might be because the question is just too big or complex.

There are often layers of, for a better word ‘stuff’ which makes it difficult to unpack these big questions. As a Speech Therapist I frequently work with young people to help build greater understanding of what’s going on under the surface which then helps to move things on.

Image of hand written rating scale with 8 year old to think about how school is going. Shared with permission

In the above example, we worked through how school was going and learned new information including that there were some worries around people in their class, that being touched unexpectedly felt really uncomfortable and that their new coloured overlays made reading and writing much easier.

This was then shared with their teachers at a child planning meeting and triggered moving forward with a dyslexia assessment and additional support for literacy plus reassurance to parents that the peer concerns would be closely monitored.

Importantly, the young person felt positive that they had been heard and that their feelings had been validated and this build confidence to use the rating scale strategy for other things.

If you would like to know more about strategies to support young people to share their views and feel heard get in touch now.

Katy