In the context of growing concerns about the mental health of children and adolescents in the United Kingdom, it is recognised that social support offered by parents, peers and teachers plays an important role in the emotional and psychological well-being of young people. This thesis (Volume One) was produced as part of the written requirements for the Doctoral training in Educational Psychology. It contains four chapters. Chapter One provides an overview of the volume of work and foregrounds my identity and epistemological position. Chapter Two provides a critical review of the theoretical and research literature on social support for children and young people. Chapter Three reports on findings from a small-scale study carried out with adolescent girls within a friendship group at a secondary school. The research employed qualitative methods to explore participants’ lived experience of social support, and data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Chapter Four comprises final reflections on IPA as a methodology and the contribution of the study to my practice as an educational psychologist (EP).