Our Counseling Approach

As professional school counselors, we are personally committed to serving all students in their personal, social, and academic interests and needs by providing them with care, resources, and guidance curriculum necessary to their individual success.  All students are deserving of services that maximize their individual potential in every regard.  While it is important that a student's conversations with a school counselor be kept confidential, confidentiality does have its limitations.  According to the American School Counselor Association's Ethical Standards for School Counselors, counselors must "keep information confidential unless legal requirements demand that confidential information be revealed or a breach is required to prevent serious and foreseeable harm to the student" (American School Counselor Association [ASCA]. 2016)

The most frequent type of breaches include a student verbalizing the following: 

• Verbal, Physical or Sexual Abuse

• Neglect

• A desire to harm him/herself

• A desire to harm someone else

• An unreported sexual assault

Here is a link to our professional code of ethics:  ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors

PROGRAM COMPONENTS:
Our guidance and counseling program is a comprehensive developmental program addressing the whole child to maximize achievement, social and emotional development, and post-secondary college and career readiness.

The program consists of the following 4 program components.

GUIDANCE
The Guidance Curriculum component includes skill-based lessons designed to help all students develop competence in essential life skills. Guidance lessons are based on student need. Some of Legacy's guidance topics may include: bully awareness and suicide prevention, high school endorsement selection, and personal safety.

RESPONSIVE SERVICES
The purpose of Responsive Services is to intervene with or on behalf of a child whose personal circumstances, concerns, or problems are threatening and interfere with healthy career, educational, social, and/or personal development. Responsive Services includes both individual and small group counseling.

INDIVIDUAL PLANNING
Individual Planning guides students in planning, monitoring, and managing their own career, educational, social, and personal growth. Individual Planning is achieved by assisting students in setting their own goals, course elective choices, and endorsement selections.

SYSTEM SUPPORT
The System Support component describes the management of activities which assures the delivery of a high-quality guidance program. This component indirectly services our students. System Support includes: research development, outreach, and professional development.

SMALL GROUP COUNSELING:
Small group counseling is an excellent way for students to learn skills, develop self-awareness and confidence, practice new behaviors and better understand how to effectively deal with some issues/concerns that life presents. Small group counseling involves students with shared concerns and goals. Each group varies based on the student's career, social/emotional developmental issues and situational concerns.

Small groups: The following is a list of groups that we can offer (groups will be formed based on student need)

Organizational Skills/Goal Setting

Managing Emotions

Adjusting to Change
Friendships/Social Skills
Self-esteem
Grief/Loss
Changing families

If your child is interested in participating in small group counseling, please have your child visit the counseling office for a screening. Sometimes small group counseling isn't the best placement for your child. If that is the case, we will support your child through individual counseling for responsive services.