Embedded Files
If you or a family member is experiencing a mental health crisis, contact Perform Care: 1-877-652-7624, for 24/7 support.
If your child is experiencing a life-threatening situation or is in immediate risk of harming themselves, you must take your child to the nearest emergency room or dial 911 for immediate assistance.
School-Based Counseling Services
I provide students with brief, solution-focused individual and small group, school-based counseling, as needed. Referrals for individual and small group school counseling may come from parents or teachers. School-based counseling sessions seek to help students:
identify, understand and appropriately express their emotions
develop coping strategies for handling big emotions
learn to problem-solve with help from others and independently
identify a support system within and outside of the school
School-based counseling is appropriate to address needs that impact your child during the school day. I will work with your child to develop coping skills to help her/him be happy and successful at school. School-based counseling is not a therapy session. To appropriately treat your child's mental health, please consult a licensed children's therapist. Many services can be billed through insurance or offer financial assistance programs. Click the Resources link at the top of the page for some local counseling and behavior intervention practices.
FAQ
I am having concerns at home, but I'm not sure if it's a concern at school. What should I do?
Please call me to discuss your specific concerns. I will act as a liaison between you and your child's teachers to determine whether your concerns carry over into the school day. In the event that they are isolated to home, I can still help you develop strategies for working with your child, and help guide you as to when and where to seek additional professional assistance.
Will the counselor tell me about the sessions with my child?
Counselor's are bound by law to keep the information disclosed by a client (or in this case a student) confidential. Unless a student discloses: a desire to hurt self or others, or abuse of a child or elder, I cannot discuss the details of our sessions. However, I will update you on our progress and provide you with tools to use at home after termination of services. I will also encourage your child to share with you, and with his/her permission, I will also share more serious details of our sessions.
What does a counseling session look like?
Students may meet with the counselor 1:1 for individual sessions or in small group sessions; this will be outlined in the Counseling Permission Form prior to services starting. Both individual and small group counseling sessions typically meet once weekly for a period of 20 minutes, for roughly 6-8 weeks. I will coordinate a time with your child's teacher that will cause the least interruption to academic learning. I will not meet with students during their specials periods or during their lunch or recess periods (unless it is a specifically for a 'Lunch Bunch' group, which will be outlined in the Counseling Permission Form prior to services starting. Children learn through play, and that translates to counseling as well. Counseling young children is not accomplished through talk-therapy but through play. We use board games, coloring, dolls, puppets, Play-Doh and other fun materials to help us identify problems and work on building solutions.
Page updated
Report abuse