Learn more about our work in Scotland, including our in-school mental health support in Scottish schools and expert mental health training for school staff.

Our approach to children and young people's mental health is to intervene early to prevent life-long mental health issues. This approach complements Scotland's Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which states that we should focus activity and funding on early intervention to minimise poor mental health.

Place2Be pioneered – and continue to develop and deliver – a whole school approach to mental health, supporting teachers, school leaders and families to create mentally healthy classrooms. In doing so, we can support schools to address the big challenges they face, such as rising absence, dysregulation in the classroom, and teacher burnout. 

On this page, you can find out about our work in Scotland, including:

• in-school mental health support
• community-based and peripatetic mental health support
• mental health training and consultations for schools
• support for parents and carers
• support for student teachers
• counselling placements for child counselling trainees
• our collaborations with other organisations in Scotland.

In-school mental health support

Our Place2Be room and clinicians are embedded in schools: by being rooted in the school we can take support to where children are. Our Whole School Approach to mental health focuses on intervening early and includes:

• self-referral drop-in sessions (Place2Talk) and one-to-one counselling for pupils that build resilience through talking, creative work and play
• whole-class and group work on mental health and wellbeing
• support and training for parents and carers
• guidance and reflective supervision for school staff.

We work in both primary and secondary schools, with significant experience delivering Scottish Government-funded counselling for children aged 10+ in several local authorities. 

In schools in Scotland in the 2023-24 academic year we delivered: 

• almost 4,000 self-referral (Place2Talk) session
• nearly 6,000 one-to-one counselling sessions
• over 900 reflective supervision (Place2Think) sessions for school staff.

Community-based and peripatetic mental health support

We listen and respond to evolving local need across Scotland, with more services delivered in communities. Our experience includes:

• delivering community-based counselling to children and young people experiencing Emotionally-Based School Avoidance and are disengaged from education
• delivering peripatetic services across whole local authority areas to primary school through Single Points of Access or Referral
• delivering digital and hybrid counselling services, particularly in rural and remote areas 

Training and consultations for schools

We offer a variety of training and consultation services for school staff, including:

• a comprehensive Senior Mental Health Leads programme based on a whole-school approach to mental health
• an online mental health training course, free for teachers, school staff and others that work with children and young people
• reflective supervision sessions for education professionals to help them support positive mental health in their school communities (Place2Think).

Support for parents and carers

We have developed a whole family approach: helping parents and carers support the mental health of their children and improve their own parenting skills through advice, guidance, and training. This includes:

• the participation of parents and carers when we support their children with 1-1 counselling
• our Parenting Partnership universal offer to parents of children in our partner schools: giving them advice, signposting and support with concerns about their child
• our a network of Family Practitioners that support our partner schools and deliver our targeted Personalised Individual Parent Training
• delivering our Place2Be's Parenting Smart - Online Course in our partner schools, as well as a bespoke version for foster carers – both of which can be commissioned by local authorities and community organisations 

Support for student teachers

We partner with Moray House of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow School of Education to support student teachers in creating mentally healthy classrooms - reaching over a quarter of new student teachers in Scotland.

Our Initial Teacher Education services aim to strengthen students' understanding and knowledge of children and young people's mental health. Services include:

• providing a therapeutic space where students can reflect on their practice, their pupils' mental health and their own wellbeing (Place2Think)
• delivering lectures and seminars to help students improve their understanding of child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing.

Counselling Placements

Our counselling placements in schools allow us to work with children and young people in a safe therapeutic setting. Since January 2022:

• 70 Counsellors on Placement have started placements in partner schools in Scotland
• 30 Counsellors on Placement have started onboarding for the 2023-24 school year. 

Policy and Public Affairs

We use our evidence and experience to shape policy at a local and national level in Scotland to ensure no child faces mental health problems alone. In 2024, this included:

• hosting an exhibition stand in the Scottish Parliament, giving over 30 MSPs the opportunity to learn more about our work in schools
• publishing two briefing papers on education issues and mental health (behaviour, attendance, teacher wellbeing) and on children’s mental health services in Scotland
• responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the future of foster care

You can find a full set of policy recommendations for Scotland, as well as our consultation responses, reports and evaluations here. 

Our collaborations with other organisations in Scotland

We work with a variety of organisations in Scotland to extend our reach and help more children, young people and student teachers achieve their potential.