#5

ok - so things are starting to make a little sense in my little head.

I would now describe myself in phase 1 of my phd. Maybe this isn't the significant part, maybe it's the fact that i now understand what phase 1 is a little better. Presently i am getting my head around what the organisation (Kooth) is. To start with i automatically assumed that it was just an online counselling service. However now I am acknowledging that it is not only more than just this in practice, it is also a project with a massive politcal agenda.

So differences from my initial perceptions:

- firslty the website has many other elements. For example, it has a lot of referral stuff, it has the message boards, it has private messaging (I guess asynchronous therapy) , it has a magazine and all of this is moderated by counsellors and (this is the crunch part) other professionals. Therefore kooth is also there for drugs workers etc etc to have an online presence.

- secondly the politcal agenda. Presently there is a massive lacking in the parity of counselling services for young people. This spreads throughout the country but i think kooth is going to highlight this within cheshire. I guess Steve (probably the centre of the project for the time being) has a role, notably something like developmental worker for interagency blah blah blah kinda sums up this agenda. He hopes to bring together statuatory and voluntary sector organisations and link them in a more fluid way. This is where it becomes a massive task, there are 3 PCTs in the area and getting them to talk to the vol sector won't be easy - and likewise the questions around the quality of provision flow the other way too. Mmmm - bringing the medical and social models of counselling together seems like a thankless task. However, i guess my sense is that this needs to happen for youth services to work fluidly - mmm - however, i guess this needs a lot of thought - mmm - i will stop here with this one

- thirdly - i also shouldn't forget the face to face provision that is also being funded from the same pot oif gold.

Anyhow time to go