SUICIDE, self harm, body image and sexuality are just some of the challenges facing young people across Carlisle and west Cumbria.

Therapists at charity PAC are there to help but say their services are so in demand, there is a six month waiting list to see them.

The organisation, which has its base on Carlisle’s Lowther Street, provides a free counselling service for children and young people.

This includes talking therapy, but also art, drama, dance and movement therapy for those who are not able to express their problems verbally. They have even started offering equine therapy.

PAC - which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year - takes a person-centred approach, ensuring each individual gets the type of therapy that is right for them, and is completely confidential.

The team sees young people who are struggling to deal with the death of a loved one, have suffered or witnessed abuse, or are feeling suicidal. Others are dealing with sexuality issues, eating disorders, school pressures, relationships or many other life stresses.

Mark Harkness is one of the PAC therapists. He said some clients are referred by a GP, their school, a social worker or youth group, while they are also contacted directly by families and young people themselves.

“We all work differently and have different clients. It’s very unique to have all these different aspects of therapy, and for it to be free. I don’t think anyone else does that.

“It’s also open-ended. They can come for as long as they need to come. Some only need a few sessions but others come for a year or longer,” he said.

As a therapist, he sees firsthand the challenges that young people today are dealing with.

“A lot is around self-harm, low self-esteem and confidence. They talk about suicide a lot. That’s something we all face weekly, if not daily with our clients.

“I think a lot of it comes from the world we live in.

“Social media has a huge part to play in that. It can be a blessing and a curse.

“Anxiety is another common issue. A lot of young people are under a lot of pressure at school, more so than I ever was.

“Also with bullying, when we got home from school and you were safe. You weren’t accessible. Now that’s not the case, because of social media. It’s a very stressful world that we live in.”

Mark said they provide a safe space for them to come to.

“I don’t think young people are as resilient as they used to be, for various reasons. That’s starting to take its toll. There’s no room for failure. There are high expectations and they feel they have to be the best,” he said. “There are also social expectations – body image is a big one. That expectation is there 24 hours a day. It never stops.”

Mark said that they don’t tell young people what to do, but allow them to work through their own feelings with support.

“Those who are feeling suicidal are not thinking the same way as a non-suicidal person is. They think that’s the only answer. They are scared to speak about it. They feel out of control.

“We try to explore why they don’t want to be here, and why they feel like that. If they use the word suicide we will be really frank about what that means.

“This is a very safe, non-judgmental place to be. They can say anything they want and confidence is always upheld, unless there’s a really serious concern for their safety.

“Anything a young person brings here, we can deal with. Nothing they bring here is wrong. It’s about giving them permission to have the feelings that they have.”

Before training as a therapist, Mark worked as a children’s healthcare assistant, in Carlisle, Newcastle and London. He also worked in end of life care at the city’s Jigsaw children’s hospice and in a bereavement counselling service.

“I didn’t want to be a nurse but knew I wanted to be involved in a supportive role. I’ve always been one of those people that others just start talking to, and psychology always interested me. It just seemed to fit,” he explained.

“I’m very lucky to have a job that I love. We all get a lot of satisfaction from our work. It’s a very unique place.

“It’s very much about what each young person needs. If it takes 10 sessions before you make any progress, that’s fine. It can take several sessions just to work out why someone is here. That open-ended approach works really well for young people.

“Quite often they can present with one issue, but as time goes on we end up talking about something else. And it’s an open door policy. They know they can come back if they need to.”

He said in today’s society, the charity is needed more than ever.

“There’s a big demand for what we do. Young people’s mental health is a hot issue at the moment, and it needs to remain a hot issue,” said Mark.

“Mental health is not something that’s just going to go away. You don’t just cure it. What we do is help young people live with and manage it. It all goes back to resilience. We give them that emotional toolbox, to be able to deal with it.”

In contrast to Mark, Gilly Brown does not rely on clients talking about their problems and feelings. As PAC’s lead art therapist, she allows children and young people to explore their emotions through creativity and expression.

“Artwork can provide a valuable alternative to verbal communication as some of our inner experiences are hard to put into words,” she said.

Gilly stressed that it is not about using art as a diversion or pastime, or about artistic skill. “Art therapy is different from art teaching in that it is not concerned with the merits of ‘good’ art,” she said.

“The active creative process facilitates change by providing the young person with a safe opportunity to explore and express inner conflicts and feelings.”

Paul Block, chief executive office of PAC, is not a therapist. He works behind the scenes to secure funding, manage the referrals and keep the building up and running - leaving the therapists with nothing else to worry about other than helping their clients.

Having had a family member who struggled with mental health issues for years, he has his own reasons for joining the charity. And he couldn’t be prouder of the work it does.

“We are dealing with some of the most vulnerable and fragile children and young people. They are often from dysfunctional or disadvantaged backgrounds. Yet we have a retention rate of about 92-93 per cent.

“When you think that some of these young people won’t get out of bed and go to school, yet they will make the effort to come here. That shows that our model works. They know it’s safe and non-judgmental, and they aren’t going to be told what to do,” he said.

But Paul said they could do even more if they had more funding available, to see more people and reduce waiting lists.

“We are inundated. Sometimes the messages you get will make you burst into tears, then you have to write back and say they will have to wait six months. We could honestly do with two more full time counsellors, but we would need more funding,” he said.

In recent years PAC has had both local and national funding support, including from Comic Relief, Children in Need and the lottery. But Paul said they are usually one-off grants, so he has a constant battle to secure more funding.

And he said there is always more they can do. “We don’t work with under 11s, but more and more we are seeing this age group needing support. We want to take on a creative play therapist. We are also looking at developing support for parents and carers and are starting some group work, using facilities at Carlisle Youth Zone,” he added.

n Young people or families can approach PAC direct or see their GP for a referral. For more details visit pactherapy.org.