Emotional literacy is the ability to understand, express and regulate ones emotions and recognise the emotions of others. It falls under the broader term social and emotional learning (SEL). The ‘ELSA programme’ is a intervention where one or more teaching assistants within a school are trained in emotional literacy and provide intensive targeted emotional literacy support to a young person or group of young people. This study explored the experiences of Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) (n=8) and the young people they worked with (n-7) using a semi structure interview. A thematic analysis revealed that ‘relationships’ seemed to be an important aspect of both ELSAs and children’s experiences of the ELSA programme and pivotal to the change process. It seemed that the child-ELSA relationship was viewed by children as a coping mechanism in itself that children draw on to a varying degree after formal sessions have ended. Factors influencing the formation of this relationship were also identified. For ELSAs these included ELSA qualities, self-confidence and implementation factors. For children these included the qualities of the ELSA, confidentiality and sessions being perceived as fun and enjoyable. The results are discussed with reference to relevant research and the implications in relation to the implementation of the ELSA programme and the support offered by educational psychologists are summarised.