Hi I am wondering about how much of childlines services will still be available to me after I turn 19.
I have been using childline for just about a year now and thanks to your services i have managed to deal with several issues i have had for years and just didnt know what to do about them and as I am soon to turn 19 I would like to know what will still be available or even if there is a next step you would recommend.
Either way I would like to thank childline for their help as they have supported me at my worst and seen me through various stages of recovery, you have been a great help to me.
Sam
Hi there,
When you’ve had support from a service it can feel scary when that comes to an end. You might worry where you’ll get help in the future and what might be different. Childline can support you until your 19th birthday and our counsellors can help you to prepare for when you turn 19.
It’s great to hear how much we've helped and Childline is here to support young people with anything they’re facing. We know how hard it can be to move on and while you’re still 18 our counsellors can support you to make the change to adult services in other areas of your life.
The type of advice and support you need will change as you get older and Childline won’t be the best service for you as your needs change and the problems you’re facing will be different. Although it might feel hard to imagine not speaking to a counsellor at Childline anymore, the time you’ve spent building trust and working through your problems might help you to build relationships with other services in the future.
Once you are too old to talk to a counsellor you can always get help from our Info and advice pages and you’ll still be able to read my letters no matter how old you are. Your account will stay open and you can log in to look back at emails, images and your mood journal whenever you want to. That can be a good way to reflect on how far you’ve come and to remind yourself of some of the great advice and help that you’ve had when things are difficult in the future.
It can be hard to change the type of support you’re used to and it can take time to build trust with new people and new communities.
The Mix has lots of advice and can offer help until you’re 25 and you can talk to Samaritans at any age.
Thank you for your letter.
Take care,
Sam
Need help straight away?
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
Ask me a question
You can ask me about anything you want, there's nothing too big or small. I read every single letter but I can only answer a few each week. My replies are published here on my page.
