A case study of how school counselling changed the life of a teenager who had struggled with anxiety and depression was among our most popular articles in 2019.

Liam, 17, described how his school counsellor helped give him the confidence to complete his GCSEs, move on to sixth form and even perform on stage.

He said: “Those sessions have saved me, definitely. They completely changed my life.

“I don’t think I would have done my GCSEs if it hadn’t been for counselling. I don’t think I would have got where I wanted. I would have sat at home, hiding away, like I did before.”

As we begin 2020, take a look back at the last 12 months and revisit the top stories on the BACP website.

Most-read

The most-read article of the year was a preview of BBC television series Sex On The Couch, which followed real-life couples as they receive therapeutic support for their sexual and emotional issues.

BACP members Lahoni Noor and Silva Neves were among four therapists who featured in the series offering support to couples as they try to solve their problems.

The second-most viewed article was the SCoPEd panel discussion featuring our former Chair Andrew Reeves, our Chief Executive Hadyn Williams and Fiona Ballantine Dykes, our Chief Professional Standards Officer.

SCoPEd

They were filmed being questioned by Faisal Mahmood, a senior lecturer in counselling at Birmingham Newman University, on a variety of aspects of SCoPEd.

The interview with Liam was our third most-read website article, followed by Fiona Ballantine Dykes answering members’ questions about SCoPEd.

Fiona, who is chair of the project’s technical group, responded to a range of questions about the project on our BACP Members’ Community Facebook Group which were then posted on our website.

Fifth on our most-viewed articles of 2019 was a preview of a BBC1 film featuring Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain in therapy.

Nadiya, the TV presenter and author, said she was “nervous and excited” about having therapy to explore the panic attacks that she had experienced since childhood.