The primary aim of NTU SHIELD is to deliver therapeutic support sessions to young people aged between 11 and 17 years old. The service will initially focus on those aged around 11-14 years of age, and then work with older age groups as the service expands.
The service will support those who may be struggling for a variety of reasons, helping to empower them to seek solutions to the problems they face. The individuals supported will have low-level problems that do not need the input of specialised child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
They will be assessed for suitability for support through NTU SHIELD to engage with a programme of:
- learning about understanding themselves
- learning about their emotions
- how to manage the everyday challenges of being an adolescent.
Information for NTU students
Find out how to get involved in the NTU SHIELD programme as an NTU Psychology student.
Information for young learners
Find out how to access the services provided by the NTU SHIELD programme, as a young learner or as someone referring a young learner.
- Katie Bush (on secondment from Base51), SHIELD Clinician
- Melina Throuvala, SHIELD Clinician
- Vimbai Mutimutema, SHIELD Manager
Additional information
We will be formally evaluating SHIELD from the perspectives of students and the young people accessing the service.
All adolescents who access SHIELD will be asked to complete a baseline questionnaire assessment and another at the end of their time with SHIELD. Students may be able to be involved in some aspects of this work.
NTU SHIELD is funded by Nottingham Trent University. In the future we hope to gain external funding in the future and partner with other organisations to continue to develop the programme further.
SHIELD is run by the NTU Psychology department.
In addition, we have developed a strategic partnership with Base51, an established support service for young people. Base51 will be forwarding referrals to the service, and they will also be providing support and input to the safeguarding procedures alongside the NTU Safeguarding team.
We have also developed a partnership with the School of Computer Science at NTU, who are helping us to develop an app for SHIELD, which will deliver therapeutic content to adolescents.