“We’re on the cusp of something that’s just going to explode” – Parent and SENCO views about self-harm and mental health factors in adolescents.

The mental health of young people in the United Kingdom (UK) is an area of growing concern and an increasing priority for national and local government agendas.

The increasing volume of need in addressing young people's emotional wellbeing and mental health has an impact on the communities, services and systems around them; including parents, schools and Educational Psychology Services (EPS).

This thesis includes a systematic literature review of the efficacy of web and phone based interventions on young people's self-compassion; which is argued to be a robust resilience factor against some mental health difficulties.

Potential implications of the findings are discussed with particular relevance to the role of EPs in supporting young people with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs.

The empirical paper of this thesis outlines research exploring how the parents and SENCOs of secondary age pupils conceptualise adolescent self-harm behaviour, and how they understand the role of schools in responding.

Semi-structured interviews and vignettes were used to explore these perspectives based on hypothetical scenarios.

Data were analysed using thematic analysis for each participant group and a cross-case comparison to explore whether parents and SENCOs have a shared understanding of the phenomena.

Findings suggest that there are some key areas of overlap in their understandings as well as some particular differences, such as over who holds primary responsibility in responding to a young person's self-harm.

The final chapter of this thesis consists of a reflective discussion of evidence-based practice and practice-based research and also outlines a dissemination and impact plan for the current research and the implications for Educational Psychology practice.