School Counseling
School Counseling Program
The counseling program at Heathrow Elementary addresses three areas: academic development, career development, and social/emotional development. As a school counselor, I advocate, mediate, coordinate, consult, lead and collaborate with teachers, administrators and parents to help students be successful.
School Counselors provide preventative and intervention services where appropriate. I offer individual short-term counseling to help resolve personal or interpersonal problems and provide support during a personal crisis. I can develop and deliver classroom presentations to discuss topics systemic to a class or grade level or to discuss career goals and aspirations. I facilitate small group counseling to help enhance listening and social skills, to learn to empathize with others, provide appropriate tools for communicating, making decisions, and developing positive coping skills.
Confidentiality
It is important to understand the parameters regarding confidentiality. Confidentiality is an important aspect of counseling and is a crucial way to build trust with a student. What the child says during counseling is to remain between the counselor and the child unless: the child is in imminent danger, the child is threatening to harm him/herself or someone else, the child reports an incident of abuse or neglect, or the child gives permission to disclose. When a breach in confidentiality is necessary, I would make a report to the appropriate agencies, support staff, and/or parents/guardians depending on the situation. Please note: all school personnel are mandated reporters and are required by law to report to CPS any time a student is suspected of being in danger.
Referrals
Students may be referred to the Counseling Department at Heathrow Elementary via self-referrals, parental requests, administrative referrals, and/or teacher or staff referrals. Sometimes the nature or the severity of the concerns warrant an outside counseling referral. Our School Social Worker and I work very closely together and have many amazing resources within the community that we can provide information on. We can even collaborate with your private providers on an as-needed basis if parents/guardians fill out our disclosure forms.