"caring involvement": A core concept in youth counselling in school health services

Abstract

This article aims at providing theory for use in school health services. By exploring the accounts of young people on helpful interaction during difficult life periods, the study intended to capture the characteristics of helpful support viewed from the young persons' perspectives. Forty-six students aged 1622 years were interviewed with a semi-structured interview that focused on how the young persons describe and perceive difficult periods and life events. The study evolved from a larger action research project designed to develop counselling in school health services. The grounded theory method provided the analytical guidelines. When asked to reflect retrospectively on what had been helpful during difficult periods or stressful situations, somebody who cared about them was highlighted by the respondents. Caring covered personal interactions that varied from direct and active intervention to providing a space for reflection and learning. We found that the concept caring involvement captured essential dimensions and properties of what the young persons judged as vital in adult support. We suggest that counselling in school health services should be informed by a theory of caring involvement characterized by: a personal approach, the practitioner's readiness for being active, attention to the young person's agency, and balancing active involvement and attending to agency.